Mark asked: With so many self-publishing options available anymore, why should I seek a publisher? What's the advantage?This is a great question because it is a huge topic of conversation in the writing and publishing communities. The following is a list of pros and cons of self-publishing to help aspiring authors make their decision. Basically, it comes down to your overall goals for the book--local vs. national audience, and amateur vs. professional production.
Pros
You have more control over your work, where it’s sold, how it’s edited and designed, and where it’s submitted for reviews. Resources are available through self-publishing companies to help you learn how to do this.
You receive a greater royalty percentage.
Most self-publishing companies will help you have an online presence at bookstores.
Self-publishing, especially through print on demand, is ideal for short print runs. If you only want a few hundred books published, POD offers an affordable option. Also, you don’t end up paying for books to be printed, paying for storing them, and then getting stuck with them if not all of them sell.
Quick publication time. How quickly your book gets out depends on how much time you spend on it. You could have it submitted into the POD database and have your marketing materials sent out in one month’s time.
Cons
You do not have access to a team of professionals to do all this for you. You will spend large amounts of time reading books and attending seminars to help you learn how to do these tasks yourself and even more time actually doing them yourself. You will also lack the established reputation a publisher has, which helps immensely when approaching retailers to buy your book.
You pay more money up front and do not receive an advance. Also, bookstores have the option to return books that are not selling as well as they hoped. When you go through a publisher, the publisher takes this financial hit. When you self-publish, you take it.
An online presence may not be enough. Few customers enter a bookstore with the name of a book they want to buy and request to order it. Instead, they have an idea of the type of book they want, they browse the bookshelves, and choose one to buy. If your book does not have a presence on the shelf, your sales will not be as strong.
Print runs that are 1,000 or more are not as economically productive when you print one at a time. You’d be looking at about $8.00 for printing of each book (according to lulu.com), whereas publishers who outsource large print runs to professional printers pay $2 or less per book, and you pay nothing. In addition, POD options usually use lower-quality paper, ink, and glue, so your books will not last as long. You can see the difference in quality.
A publishing house takes longer, often a year or more, because the staff is working on multiple books at a time and it simply takes longer to print 20,000+ books than it does to print one.
Publishers who focus on political books will have a shorter turn-around time because of the urgency of the reading trend, so they would work with you for quick release of the book, but it would probably still be a few months at least.
Here are a few more articles that consider the pros and cons of self-publishing:
http://www.writershelper.com/self-publishing.html
http://www.googobits.com/articles/p0-545-pros-and-cons-of-selfpublishing.html
http://www.writing-world.com/publish/PODstats.shtml
http://www.opinionjournal.com/la/?id=110004578
Whatever you do, be sure to have your book professionally edited, designed, and printed. It will make all the difference when you approach bookstores about carrying your book.
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