Sci Fi & Fantasy Writers at the Table : Forum : Publishing advice please


Publishing advice please

8 Years Ago


I am finishing my YASFF story and am getting ready to pursue publishing. I was wondering how much it cost financially to get started. I've been reading that a huge part of the publishing cost, marketing, etc. is the Authors responsibility. Would it be advantageous to skip the hard-copy route and go strictly E-book? I've also been looking at Google and Amazon self-publishing. What is your view on those options?

Re: Publishing advice please

8 Years Ago


Hello,   

I wouldn’t exactly call myself an expert on this subject since I only published my first book a couple of months ago, but I can throw around my two cents I suppose (I know that you posted this two days ago so I don’t quite know if you’ve already found some conclusive answer already elsewhere).   

I would skip the hard copy route for now unless you already have a fanbase or a business plan because hard-copy printing as an independent author can be very expensive. Depending on where you go, publishing through E-book is a free transaction and some places will give you the option to make hard-copy prints later on if you so choose. Personally, I used Lulu Publishing, which is free to publish through (so long as you publish in E-book) and they will put your book on Amazon, the iBookstore, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and their own online bookstore. It is just one option though, there are plenty of other places to go, but it is the place I would recommend. I’ve read up on other people’s experiences with the Amazon self-publishing business and while not everyone had a negative experience, it is just not worth the hassle if things do go wrong with it.   

Frankly, so long as you publish through E-book you don’t have to pay much of anything, although I don’t quite know how different the laws of copyright might be in your country and whether or not you have to pay to claim it.   As for marketing, if you are self-publishing then that is where all your expenses will go. The way I’ve been doing it so far is I’ve been putting the first couple chapters of my book around other websites like this, DeviantArt, FictionPress, etc. It has not been very successful for me, but it is at least getting your work out there. If I remember correctly, this site allows you to advertise your work for about $2.50 a day, so that’s a start I suppose.   

That’s as much as I know, I would recommend getting as much information as you can before spending any money as of yet. I hope that was at least some help.