A Book Publication Journey

Posted by Jerry Lopper Nov 14, 2007

Publishing Decisions

This blog continues from Self Publishing Again describing my experience self publishing a Personal Development book. The good news about self publishing is that I can have things just the way I want them. I can pick and choose content (no editorial changes), font, style, cover, color or black and white, book size, binding, ISBN registration, marketing, printer, and on, and on.

That's also the bad news. Everything is up to me, which is a great way to learn, but it does require that I understand the ramifications of a dozen or more decisions and choose options that will yield the end product I want.

I investigated two print-on-demand printers, Lulu and Wordclay. Print-on-demand printers store an electronic copy of your book and only print it when someone makes a purchase. Therefore, there's no inventory and no up front costs.

I'm also familiar with AuthorHouse, since several of my friends and partners in Sauna Friends use it. AuthorHouse provides lots of technical support services and turns out a very good product. But there is an up front charge. I estimated that a modest sized book such as I'm planning would cost several hundred dollars in advance.

Will I shell out a few hundred and get professional help? Or do it myself? My decision is in the next chapter.