A brief look at self-publishing — what it is, what it isn’t, and why anyone would be crazy enough to try it.

by Wendy J. Woudstra

Although the term self-publishing seems to confuse many people, in reality it’s very straight forward. A self-publisher is an author who, for any number of reasons, chooses to bypass the traditional publishing houses and publish his or her own work.Publishing a book means far more than sending off the manuscript to a “publishing service” to print and distribute it. A self-publisher controls all aspects of the book, from layout and cover design to marketing and sales. The author chooses which cover designer to hire, which editors to hire, and which printer to use when self-publishing. But all this control comes at a price. Self-publishers shoulder the entire cost of producing and marketing their books, with no guarantee of a return on their investment.So why do they take the risk?

Read more at The Joy of Self-Publishing