The Times, my friends, they certainly are changing... that's how the song goes. And that statement was never more true than in the world of self-publishing. Almost from the beginning, self-publishing was an option, but not one that was commonly used. The "accepted" method of getting your book into print was to cart it around to various book publishing companies in the hopes of getting it excepted. In most cases manuscripts were rejected out-of-hand.
Via this "sifting" process, very few writers actually saw their manuscript put into print. But things are very different today! And the reason for this sea change? The advent of self-publishing technology, which makes it possible for any author who is willing to learn how to get their book published to do so without the assistance of the old-line publishers.
We should understand this right from the very beginning -- traditional publishing companies have a stake in maintaining the status quo, so they are working furiously to give the field of self-publishing a black eye. They would rather that you do not learn how to publish a book on your own -- is better for them to keep you in a position where the traditional approach is your only viable alternative.
What is driving all of these changes? It is largely technological advance that is bringing self-publishing to Main Street. Thanks to the advent of computers, and the ability to store, edit, and consequently print books in digital format, self-publishing has become a wonderfully effective option for many contemporary writers.
A good example of the incredible technological advance is seen in the field of print on demand publishing technology. The print on demand allows for the real-time publication of books. Gone are the days when a publishing company must maintain extensive inventories of books, physically storing the copies in a warehouse for sale in the future.
Another area of the self-publishing world which has experienced a lot of changes is children's book publishing. In the past it was difficult for writers to get children's books published because a glut of these books on the market meant that they could be difficult to sell. As a consequence, traditional publishing companies would not take them. The advent of print on demand publishing means that children's books can be printed as they are ordered and paid for, whether 100 or 10,000 copies are needed.
Self-publishing can be a wonderful option for authors who might have difficulty in getting their books into print using the traditional approach. For example, self-publishing has revolutionized the children's book publishing industry, and technologies such as print on demand mean that no one needs to take a financial risk on printing copies that may not be sold (which frequently happens in the children's book publishing field).
Of course the self-publishing field has its naysayers as well -- and at times their criticisms are well deserved. For example it is still true that far too many self published books are of inferior quality (poorly edited, crappy cover designs, inferior materials, poor page layout). Because of this many retail bookstores refuse to carry self-published works. And this lack of access to bookstores should be taken into careful consideration by any one who is exploring a self-publishing option for their own book.
Still, self-publishing can be a good choice for certain authors: for example, those who have written books on controversial subjects (which commercial publishing houses may not be willing to risk publishing) or on subjects for which there is a limited appeal (specialist hobby books, for example).
So if you are considering a jump into the self-publishing world, you should carefully consider not only the potential benefits but the potentially negative aspects as well before you make a final decision.
This article provided courtesy of http://www.self-publishing-world.com/ This and other unique content 'writing' articles are available with free reprint rights.
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