I love writing story since I was a mere teenager. After college, I am planning to pursue my dream by taking the next step and that is to publish my book. Since I don't have any knowledge with literature publishing and has a completely different educational background from literature, I don't know what steps should I take in order to see my book in print. Just to publish my book, I am willing to spend some money to self-publish my book since I hardly know anybody in the publishing world who can help me. I tried to search publishing houses which offer publishing with a definite amount and I am quite surprise with the amount that an author should pay. I don't know how much publishing costs so I decided to ask for advice whether 700$ is worth it to pay for publishing my book. The publishing house seems credible although I have only seen their works through searching in Google, it seems they are doing a good work. Do you know any other publishing house that offers a cheaper price? How much are you willing to pay in order for your book to be publish?
If your dream is to be published, learn about the submissions process and iwork on your writing until it is good enough to be accepted by a traditional publisher. Self-publishing is a hollow victory, because the only criterion is being able to shell out the money. It's vanity press, because no one other than the author sets the bar for writing quality. Get publishe the traitional way, and you have accomplished something you can really feel some pride about. Traditional publishing only costs time and postage. The publisher pays you when your work is accepted.
Not a single penny--well, not a single penny beyond what I'd spend on stamps, paper, and envelopes to submit my work to agents or publishers for their consideration for traditional publishing. The dream of being published for me is being _published_, traditionally published, having my work recognized by a professional as worthy of publication and distribution. Paying to have my book printed just means that I like my own book. That isn't a fulfillment of my dream; I can like my own book without spending a lot of money that I'll never get back.
If you learn about trade publishing and how it works, I agree that's the place to start. It's a long road, and frustrating, but it won't cost you one thin dime. I have to disagree, however, with equating self-publishing with vanity publishing. Vanity publishers (who have now started morphing into self-publishing service businesses) charge a great deal of money to do very little that the self-publisher can't do themselves. Steer clear of them. The only real costs to the self-publisher are for editing and cover design - and those can be contracted individually for; as with everything else, of course, you get what you pay for, and again, research is needed in order to find the right people for the job. Many self-publishers do the editing and cover design themselves - with varying levels of success, unfortunately. My advice - learn patience. Then learn about publishing, both trade and self - and learn to be skeptical if people say things that sound easy. Going either route the right way will not be easy. But don't get into a rush to get the book out there. Give it the time it deserves.
I agree with ChickenFreak. You shouldn't spend anything other than time, effort and stamps. If you are desperate to self-publish, you can do so for free on Amazon site. Just make an e-book using their guidelines and put it on Kindle. They take percentage of sales, but it doesn't cost you anything. However, if you think the work is good enough to be successful, don't put in anywhere on line, tidy it up and keep looking for a traditional publisher.
You can publish a novel as an e-book and print-on-demand paperback for about $2 for a decent stock image for the cover (less if you can take good photos or paint yourself). So either submit to trade publishers or learn to do it yourself, don't pay someone lots of money to do it for you.
I'm going to submit my latest work to a manuscript assessment company, one that typically deals with scripts. This is to get feedback from professional readers with significant publishing experience. They write a summary of the story, as they see it, and also a few pages of notes and critique. It's a few hundred bucks and I wouldn't bother with most places, but this particular service is well regarded and has been very useful to produced screenwriters that I know. But that will be all I spend money on.
Scripts are a special case because of the strict formatting and content guidelines. But again, the key is notes and feedback, not making the changes for you. The objective MUST be for you to learn to do it yourself.
Hi, I'll agree with the rest, the first road you should take is the trad pubbling route. This is good starting ground, if you're lucky you'll get an agent / publisher, and even if you're not you may still get some useful feedback. My only caveat, if they charge you money, things like a 'reading fee' run. However, don't dismiss the self pubbing route. It's always there if you need it, and it should be free as well. However, there is damned little chance of making a fortune that way. There is an almost certainty of selling some books and making some money, I look forwards to my monthly checks as they keep my cats in the style to which they wish to become accustomed, but its not an esy road to success. And last, don't rush to publish. Either through trad or self pubbing. Finish your work. Make it the absolute best that you can. Then when its as good as you can make it, start throwing your hat in the ring. Cheers, Greg.
It's a novel ms, and while they primarily deal in scripts they also provide services for novels. This isn't my first rodeo.
I agree. Publishing shouldn't cost you, the author, anything. That is unless you decide to go for the self-published route. But if you do, it should be a *decision*, not something you go for because you don't know about or haven't explored the other options. Do a lot of research, and if you decide that self-publishing might be a good route to go, then go for it, but make sure to do it yourself, and don't pay a vanity press an exorbitant amount for a set of very basic services.
