Has anyone tried their hand at publishing a book? What are the potential pitfalls to be aware of?

Thanks in advance for any comments.

Does self-publishing suffer or benefit from an established or rigorous editorial process?

I believe that is an optional extra.

The pros/cons of self publishing depend very largely on your goals with the book. Are you publishing something to give to friends / family? Are you trying to sell a lot of copies? Do you want to position yourself as an expert?

Each of these possibilities leads to very different answer, in terms of how to go about the entire process.

In all of the cases –– thinking clearly about your goals, and what you can do to support them, is always useful.

Hi Jacob,
Thanks for your input. I have some experience with getting things published albeit on a limited scale. I made a bit of money and it was satisfying so I want to go to the next level.

I have done some research for a book idea and written about 20 pages. But I haven't touched it in over a year so I am looking to get back on it.

It is a fairly niche subject so I am not expecting to make big bucks.

P.S. It is not related to mystery shopping!

I can give you directions to some online groups for self-publishing if you want. I've done editing for many fiction and non-fiction books. You can do a lot with Createspace.

Hi Mysterygirl,
That's great. It is good to get input from a pro like yourself.

Please feel free to PM me or post info in this thread if you prefer.

Regards,

Moose

Self publishing is the way to go most of the time! If you go through a publisher, they are going to take such a large cut of the profit, but they aren't going to do much for the cut that they take. Unless of course you can get a HUGE publisher interested in your work, but that's extremely difficult, obviously. You'd spend so much time writing query letters, figuring out how to write them, who to contact, etc. You would think that publishers would help marketing at least some, but the truth is, most don't!

My husband has written two books and self published through Amazon's company Create Space. We did a ton of research and now we even have a business helping people write their books. He does the content portion, knowing how to actually write the thing, and I do the editing portion. In regards to having something edited, you can definitely find an independent editor that will charge a reasonable rate. Often times, they will also help you format the document so it can be correctly uploaded to whatever platform you use to publish it. (Most books start out as a word document, and there's a process to make it into an actual book!

If you go through a traditional publisher, they usually have a minimum amount you can order. With Create Space, you can order one book if you want. It's a print on demand service, which means the books are made when someone orders them. You can order in bulk and sell them in person, or direct people the Amazon page to order themselves.

There is a lot more that I can share, but this is a good place to start! I put this here instead of messaging you because others may have the same question. Feel free to send me a message