- Restricted Access
Book publishing is not an easy activity and business. These days, the number of readers who invest in books is significantly declining because of the popularity of the Internet. Expect publishers to be stricter in accepting manuscripts and books for publishing. It is basically harder to impress publishers these days. If you are determined to become an author, you should turn to self-publishing.
Nobody says self-publishing would be easy. In fact, it could be as hard, if not much harder, than traditional book publishing. If you aim to become an author through self-publishing, you are bound to exert more effort. It would take simply much more for you to be able to launch your book, sell like hotcakes, and succeed.
But as always, the road to success is not always paved. Most of the time, it could be full of challenges. There are common obstacles that are often faced by authors who take a shot at self-publishing. Here are some of those.
Gathering enough money to fund the initiative could be exhilarating. Because you are publishing your own work, no other entity or people would be able to subsidize you or shoulder the costs for you. It is important that you have much money in the back prior to such an endeavor. Also, do not spend all you have in self-publishing your own book. You could never be sure whether you would be able to gain back or get returns for your investment. It would not be wise to make loans just to fund your book. The financials is always the top challenge that bothers self-publishers.
The second obstacle is the stigma about self-published books being amateurish. You could not blame critics for generalizing. Most of the time, self-published materials are of inferior quality. This could be because of the fact that the content did not pass through the scrutiny of editors and publishers, who set very high standards for book publishing. Third-party scrutiny and criticism could really help bolster the quality and appeal of books.
There are obstacles of promotion and marketing. Your book should be treated as a usual product, which should be targeted to specific audience or readers. How could people learn about your book if you would not make a fuss about it? As always you have to establish and raise awareness about your book. Doing so could just be difficult because you obviously and logically would need money. When putting up book publicity, you have to develop lists of book reviewers and editors who would make issues and critics about your content. They do not do services for free, whether they would say constructive or destructive opinions.
Minor obstacles could accumulate to provide greater problems. Bookstores are usually not dealing with small publishing firms, so how could you expect them to deal with independent publishers like you? Such stores only trust in dealing with major publishers, wholesalers, and distributors. Then there is a gush of intense or extreme competition. There are just too many authors like you who are aiming to mark big in the market. An influx of self-published books could make yours just among the crowd.
If you have the determination, the confidence, and the drive, you could proceed to self-publishing. Do not let such obstacles prevent you from doing so. But moreover, be practical and realistic.