Services for Self-Publishers
Self-publishing is not just for vanity any more. Today, more and more authors are opting to publish their books themselves. The rise of Print-On-Demand technology and online booksellers makes self-publishing a viable option for many authors.
Perhaps you can't find a publisher. Perhaps you think you can make more money on your project if you forgo the middleman, or perhaps you feel a publisher has done you wrong in the past and you think you can do better on your own. All of the above are valid reasons to self-publish.
The most intriguing reason to self-publish your book is to ensure it gets the attention it deserves. If you sign with a publisher and find yourself paying to promote your book, hiring a freelance publicist, and doing the lion's share of the marketing work yourself, why bother giving away a portion of the profits to a publisher who is more concerned about cash flow and overhead than the success of your book?
Authors choose to work with publishers for several reasons: editorial guidance, design and production services, publicity and marketing help, distribution, hopes of a big advance, and prestige. A conventional book publisher provides all of these in varying degrees. Some publishers do better in some areas than others. Authors need to decide which of these elements are most important and choose a publisher accordingly.
However, authors should know that virtually all of the services offered by conventional publishers are available to them through other means. The exceptions, of course, are the prestige and the big advance. Unfortunately, prestige and a big advance don't guarantee a book's success and, it is argued by some, a large advance can do as much to impede the book's success as it does to help it. (That is a debate that I will reserve for the blog.)
Self-publishing is not for everyone, but if it is for you, City Desk Productions can provide access to all of the services provided by a conventional publisher without you having to give up control over the book's success and without you having to give away 90% of your book's profits.
Self-publishing companies like iUniverse and AuthorHouse can offer great solutions to the problems of manufacturing and distribution, both of which are not readily available to average people. These companies also offer a variety of templated services for book design and marketing. If you want a professional product and marketable book, I strongly advise avoiding the templated approach to book publishing. City Desk can help authors put together a package that is uniquely reflective of the content and style of their book. This applies both to the design and production of the book as well as the marketing of the book.