When I first started out in the world of writing and publishing, I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t know anyone else who had self-published their books like I do now. In fact, I wasn’t even sure how to get my book published.
I started looking. I asked some people I was familiar with who published their own books. After much looking, thought, prayer and the like, I decided to take the plunge and use Xulon Press. For a price they designed my cover, did the layout and I got 5 free copies of my book! I was thrilled! But I figured it would be another 5 years or so before I was able to publish another book because of the cost (it cost me $1500.00).
While using a Publishing House like Xulon can be good (my great uncle uses them for his books which are non fiction), for most want-to-be self-publishing authors who write fiction, I wouldn’t recommend it.
Pros.
- You have someone else to design your cover.
- The Publishing House will create your layout.
- You get a few Free copies of your book.
- You can order more copies any time you want and don’t have to buy a thousand copies to collect dust in your garage.
- Your book will be available on Amazon.
- You keep the rights of your book and anything else you want to write and publish.
- If you decide you want to change your publisher, you can.
- Your book will have a publishing house logo on it.
- Your royalties will be a little higher than traditional publishing.
Cons.
- You have to pay a large price upfront to use the Publishing House.
- You can’t ask for a different cover without paying.
- You have no say in the price of your book.
- You can’t put your book on sale when you want.
- If you want your book made into a kindle you have to pay more money.
- If you want your book promoted or advertised by the publisher you have to pay.
- You won’t be able to fix mistakes unless you pay more.
- Adding illustrations is not an option unless you want to spend more.
- Your royalties won’t be as high as self-publishing.
The good news is, if you use a place like Xulon, you can, at any time, un-publish your book and republish it yourself. That’s what I did with my first book Home Fires of the Great War. Though I wouldn’t recommend using a publishing house like that, it was a learning experience for me and, because I really wanted to publish another book, but didn’t have the money to use Xulon, I learned how to use CreateSpace.
Which route would you go? Have you tried more than one of these ways to publish your books? Traditional? Self-Publish? Indie? If so, which do you like the best? If you haven’t used any, which would you like to use? If you have, what was your experience like?
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