Comparing Self-Publishing with Traditional Publishing

Self-publishing is the publishing of books and other media by the authors of those works, rather than by established, third-party publishers (Wikipedia.org). A small part of the publishing market, it has been around since traditional publishing. The self-publishing market involves traditional books and eBooks.

1. Allows you to control how many books you want to print out. For example you many want to give a copy of a book to family members and friends.

2. You keep all the rights

3. You do not have to make changes to his book.

4. The author can set his price and keep all the profits.

5. It is faster to publish a book

6. You do not have to make a commitment to write more books

7. You can produce second editions faster than traditional publishing

8. It may be easier for you to go through a traditional publisher once you have self-published several books

Cons:

1. It can be expensive if you are trying to reach a large market.

2. You have to do all the marketing of the book himself.

3. You may have to hire a free-lance editor.

4. You may fall victim to a fraudulent self-publishing company. Check a potential company out to see if there have been any complaints about it.

5. It may be hard to get your book into a traditional bookstore.

Traditional Publishing is when the author goes through a publishing house to get a book published. When authors think about advances, royalty checks and more bonuses, they tend to try to send the book to well-known publishers.

Pros:

1. Publishing companies promote your book for you. You do not have to go store-to-store.

2. If your book is accepted, most likely you will receive an advance for your book.

3. Potential royalty checks, depending on how you book sells

Cons:

1. Most publishing companies require authors to get an agent.

2. An agent gets a percentage of your profits.

3. Rejection letters. Be prepared for these if you are trying to publish your first book.

4. It can take at least a year before your book, once it has been accepted, is finally on the bookshelf.

5. The publishing company will most likely make changes to your book.

6. You may have to agree to a long-term contract.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S elf-publishing