Is Self-Publishing Your Book the Best Route for You?

You hear it every day in articles, blogs and authors, “Self publish your book, it’s so easy!” “Anyone can do it.” These are true statements and with so many tools available now, a person can self-publish pretty easily. But, is it right for you? It still takes planning to take your book from an idea to a final printed product.

Is self-publishing the best route for your book? I ask my clients to start backwards in order to decide if self-publishing is right for them. Before writing your book, it’s important to do big picture planning first. The following are a few questions to ask yourself before starting.

• How do you plan to distribute your book once it’s complete? 
• Is your dream to see it on bookstore shelves or at online book distributors? 
• Or do you want to use it in the “back of the room” at your workshop or speaking engagement? 

These are different ways to distribute your book and publishing processes as well. If you want to sell your book on the book shelf in stores or online, it should have a topic that is current and relevant to most people. Usually these distributors require many printed copies on hand, which may sit in a back room and never get sold. This could be a huge investment for you. Small royalty percentages will be provided for each sale and they control how your book is promoted. 

So maybe big book distributors aren’t for you and you would rather sell it yourself or use it as a sales tool for your business or as a way to receive more speaking engagements. By self-publishing your book yourself, you make 100% of the sale and can control how it’s promoted, the design and can print “on-demand” as you sell your book.

Decide if you want to be a single author or co-author with others. If you like to collaborate with other like-minded businesses, co-authoring a book is another way to make the process easier. Depending on the number of authors involved, it will cut down your writing time significantly. My advice to clients who want to co-author, is to find out about the other authors being featured in the book and do they follow your same core values and ethics that you use for your business. Remember, you and your business will be associated with those other authors for a long time, so be sure to do your research. Co-authoring gives you more exposure to a wider audience and you can share the costs as well. So co-authoring might be a better fit for your desired purpose.

How much time do you have to write a book? If you want to use your book to promote your expertise, my suggestion is to write your own book or co-author it with one other person. It may seem like a big task, but you will be amazed at how much information you actually know. If you only have enough time to write a chapter or two, be sure those few words are written well and have a strong message towards you and your expertise.

By asking yourself these questions and thinking through the process backwards while understanding your end goal will help you decide how to begin. Then writing a whole book or a chapter, won’t seem so daunting.

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To learn more read Diane's book, Demystifying Graphic Design – How to Successfully Work with Your Graphic Designer, co-authored with Gina O’Daniel.

Buy the book at http://www.vizcomdesign.com/Order_My_Book_.html

In 1995, Diane moved from the corporate graphic design field to start a graphic design company that provides government agencies, associations, speakers and authors with easy access to a wide variety of professionals, without the creative limitations and overhead of the typical design firm. Since then, she has combined her education in organizational communication and marketing with her experience in design to help clients make the best design choices for their marketing efforts.

She also owns speakerpublisher.com that helps speakers and authors create the informational products they need to increase sales in the back of the room. With over 20 years of experience in the design industry her mission is to help demystify working with graphic designers and help educate small businesses to get the most out of their budgets.

Diane can be reached at info@speakerpublisher.com.