Self-publishing is the publishing of books and other media by the authors of those works, rather than by established, third-party publishers, or by vanity presses. Although it represents a small percentage of the publishing industry in terms of sales, it has been present in one form or another since the beginning of publishing and has seen an increase in activity with the advancement of publishing technology, including xerography, desktop publishing systems, print on demand, and the World Wide Web. Self Publish for Free at Lulu.com
Cultural phenomena such as the punk/DIY movement, the proliferation of media channels, and blogging have contributed to the advancement of self-publishing.
Quality Issues
Many self-published books utilize printing and binding techniques which are chosen for their suitability for short press runs. They may be printed with a xerographic process rather than offset printing. In many cases, the covers are designed by amateurs, or a standard template is used. Recently, the majority of the self- and subsidy-published books have been perfect bound, although some are hardbound, and some are still saddle-stitched (large metal staples in the fold), comb, or coil bound. Technology has enabled high-quality short-run print jobs to become less expensive, but they are still more expensive per copy. Self Publish at Lulu.com
Print on Demand (POD)
Short run printing is also called Print-on-demand (POD) or Print Quantity Needed (PQN). POD publishers generally do not screen submissions prior to publication, and many are web-based. They accept uploaded digital content as Microsoft Word documents, text files, HTML or RTF files, as printing services for anyone who is willing to pay. Authors choose from a selection of packages, or design a unique printing package that meets their requirements. For an additional cost, a POD publisher may offer services such as book jacket design with professional art direction; content, line, and copy-editing; indexing; proofreading; and marketing and publicity. Some POD publishers offer publication as e-books in addition to hardcover and paperback. Some POD publishers will offer ISBN (International Standard Book Numbers) service, which allows a title to be searchable and listed for sale on websites. Market your book
Many critics dismiss POD as another type of vanity press. One major difference is that POD publishers have a connection to retail outlets like Amazon and Books in Print that vanity presses generally do not.
Self Publish at Lulu.com Lulu.com offers physical book printing as well as ebook publishing on Kindle, Ireader, Nook and more.
Self Publishing on Amazon
Amazon now offers authors the chance to publish their work to the Kindle e-reader.
Here’s what they offer
- Keep control. Make changes to your book at any time.
- Distribute globally. Publish once and reach readers worldwide.
- Get to market fast. Publishing takes less than 5 minutes. Your book appears on Amazon within 24 hours.
- Earn 70% royalty. Available to customers in the US, Canada, UK, Germany, India, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, Brazil, and more.
- Multiple languages. Publish in English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Japanese.
- Publish to Kindle platform. Make your book available on Kindle devices and on free Kindle apps.