If you ever think of publishing your book fast with very low or no budget, well then the answer is self-publishing. Don’t ever think of approaching literary agents or traditional publishers because they take 6 months to reply that your manuscript doesn’t meet their criteria.
But the further argument is to understand types of self-publishing. Basically, it can be bifurcated into two i.e. ‘DIY self-publishing’ and ‘Supported self-publishing.’ Both are self-publishing but differ in intensity and nature. So, you can choose what suits best for you. Let’s see them one by one. It will help you in choosing the best for you.
DIY Self-publishing:
In this type of publishing, the author is responsible for everything. He/she does everything from designing cover page to setting galley to editing to book marketing to listing the book on Goodreads.
Generally for new authors it is a cumbersome process. In this process it’s not guaranteed whether the book will be available on leading online book stores like Amazon, Kindle, Kobo, and Flipkart. Often DIY self-publishing is good for experimenting. It lacks that polish and standardization. Books taken care by professionals are class apart. I will not recommend it to authors that are serious about their writing career. Best examples of this DIY self-publishing are Pothi and Notion Press’ Express Publishing.
Supported Self-publishing:
This is advanced type of self-publishing. This form of self-publishing gives complete freedom to authors over almost all aspects like editing, cover designing, setting prices, print on demand, setting price, book marketing, and distribution. Also, authors have the opportunity to avail services that one feels are compulsory or in need from a publishing company.
From my experience, I would recommend you BookMedia Publishing Company for supported self-publishing. They offer almost 360 degree support and help in publishing a book. They have a responsive team, from emails to WhatsApp chat – they are always connected. BookMedia is one of the best publishing platforms I found to publish my second book. My first book was a total fiasco as I chose to experiment with it on Pothi platform.
I would like to list some of the benefits of the BookMedia:
- There runs freedom. They give you time and space while deciding the content, title, design, editing, marketing plan, distribution, price of your book. You will get chance to work directly with editors and designers.
- They will publish your book within 10 days or according to your scheduled date. Once the agreement and payment is done, consider the work is done. They are honest and never cheat. You own all the copyright of the material.
- Their royalties are best in the industry. Always above 80 percent – no matter what package you choose.
- They have great online and offline distribution network. Their books are also sold in bookstores across the world, and they also supply a good amount of number of books in public and private libraries and in the book fair.
Hope this helps you in understanding the basic mechanism of self-publishing. Do research and make a smart choice.
ibooksta 