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Many authors today are turning to self-publishing for their first choice as a way to get their words out. The process no longer carries the stigma it once did.

Once the ugly step-sister in publishing circles, self-publishing is gaining in popularity these days, thanks in part to the digital age. And with traditional publishers cutting back on the number of new authors they accept, what's an author to do? Self-publishing is one answer.

Self-published books were once referred to as vanity press, scorned by the publishing world because anyone could publish a book if they had enough money. Quality did not come into the picture. Today, many authors are turning to self-publishing as their first choice and finding success. Some are even getting their books picked up by traditional publishers, which attests to their high quality.

Self-Publishing Calls for Hard Work

Self-publishing is harder work than traditional publishing because the author must do all the work himself after writing the book. This includes selecting a publishing platform (print or ebook), deciding which publisher to go with, marketing and distribution after the book is out.

Authors who have not published before need to educate themselves on the process. A good place to start is with A Guide to Book Printing and Self-Publishing. The 64-page soft-cover book is available free from Gorham Printing of Centralia, Washington. The company uses it as a marketing tool for their printing services, so it includes their price lists. Ignore those. The book offers easily understandable explanations of publishing terms and the self-publishing process.

ParaPublishing Delves Into Nitty-Gritty of Self-Publishing

More advanced authors should check out Dan Poynter's website, ParaPublishing. Poynter is considered the guru of self-publishing, having successfully self-published more than 70 books since the early 1970s. Now he's set up a business advising others how to self-publish. His website is very comprehensive, and authors can sign up to receive a weekly email newsletter on self-publishing.

There are many companies that specialize in self-publishing, starting with the local printer in your community. Authors can expect to pay anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars to see their books in print. What an author pays depends on the level of services she requires. For example, editing and design services invoke extra charges, so an author who can do this work herself can save a lot of money. Each company has its own specifications for formatting books; authors can find this information on their websites.

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Authors Can Check Out Online Publishing Houses

Some of the big names in self-publishing include IUniverse, Lulu, XLibris, Amazon's CreateSpace and Book Surge, and Booklocker. Authors need to take time to thoroughly review each publishing house to determine which one best fits their needs and pocketbook.

Using as online publisher such as ones listed above provides an online selling presence, as books are available for sale around the clock, as compared to early days of self-publishing when an author had boxes of books stacked in the garage waiting to be shipped to buyers. But just as they did before, authors still need to spread the word about their books. If people don't know about the book, they can't be expected to buy it.

Ebooks Usually Published for Free

Many publishing houses offer ebook publishing free when a print platform is chosen. Some, like Lulu, offer free ebook publishing that is not tied in with a print book. Smashwords, a relatively new online company, offers free ebook publishing that is downloadable to a variety of devices such as IPods or to computers as PDFs. Smashwords accepts only manuscripts in text formats no graphics but warns even then the finished product may not look like what the author intended.