How to Self Publish Your Own Book

I've never really tried to get my work published by other publishers, preferring to publish it myself. That's not for everybody, but if you like being in control of your work from start to finish then that option becomes more attractive.

The option to self publish is particularly attractive if you write poetry and want to get out a collection of your poems. Self publish your own work, and you don't need that much money to have printed a paperback book - less so a booklet, which you could produce yourself on your computer. Now as a publisher of paperback books on a small scale, from 1995 to 2004, I would mostly have small print runs of 200 paperback books printed, consisting of 100 pages. The cost would work out cheaper than you might think, so it would for you, too - especially in an age where most people are skilled enough in DTP to prepare their own work for printing.

Before DTP, and I first self published before that came into being, you would have to really consider paying out for a professional layout, which upped the overall cost considerably. That hurdle has really been overcome for most writers and poets now. There are many printers, too, who can print your work after its been mailed to them electronically, and there are also a number of print-on-demand companies, who will print as many copies as you need.

If you want to include photographs in a book (and in terms of cost, black and white photographs are the better option), then you will need to have them scanned. I quickly learnt that if I put several photographs on one piece of card it would keep the cost down! For artwork, again, black and white is the better option. Using b/w copies of full color artwork will not work so well.

Do the Hustle

To self publish you do need a certain amount of drive and confidence. I wasn't an overly confident or pushy young man, but I knew that the copies wouldn't sell themselves. I was around 21 in 1980 when my first collection of poetry, Psychedelic Poetry, came out, and I managed to get a local bookstore to stock some copies. Now I wasn't naïve enough to think (or maybe I was!) that my booklet would be in the shop window alongside Wilfred Owen and John Keats, so I needed to get some publicity. To my amazement the local newspaper were only too happy to feature me. So, don't be shy about contacting your local newspaper, local radio and television station. You can try and sell your work via the internet, but, from my experience selling paperbacks, that is the most difficult option.

I sold a few copies of my first collection, and subsequent anthologies, but, being young, I was too complacent, as I guess publishing just one collection and selling a few copies was job done for me at that age. I moved into other creative areas, and also gained more satisfaction publishing other people in my magazines, and later paperback anthologies.

If you are determined to sell anything you publish yourself, then you do need to hustle. Of course you may just want to self publish your work as a gift to yourself and your family and friends, which a lot of writers and poets are happy to do. That's good, too. If you think you've written a lot of good material, then it's a classy way of getting your writing in one place. If you are really ambitious then you can apply for your own unique International Standard Book Number (see this Wikipedia article here), and also donate your book to various libraries.

Avoid vanity presses. It's easy to get sucked in by vague declarations. Their normal approach will aim to feed your ego, but though they'll print your work, they will not properly publish it. You'll be left with the copies to shift yourself. Be wary of "manuscripts wanted" advertising.

I would, overall, advise you to try self publishing - even if it is only on a tiny scale - unless you're patient enough to endure the possibility of many rejections by major publishers! If you're really successful at promoting your own work via the self publishing route, then they'll take notice of you anyway...