Out of curiosity, has anybody ever gone for self-publishing, for example with Pen Press? And if so, what was their experiences, and was it worth while? Or is it a money trap for the promoters? There just seems to be so many adds these days, but with little feedback.

Steve

Steve, those ads are not for true self-publishing, but rather a package whereby they offer editing, proofreading, registration of ISBN and other services. They also place your book on their websites, but how many sales this generates I've no idea. Mostly too they are Print on Demand companies, so apart from printing a number of copies for the British Library for cataloguing purposes and some 'free' copies for the author there's no need to print a large first edition. I believe they advise on marketing, but basically it's up to the author. And you have to buy the books to sell, apart from the initial set up fee.

You can do all of that yourself, and either go for POD or more traditional printing methods, although if you go for litho printing you'll have 1,000 copies of your book delivered. There's lots of advice on the Net, and an excellent article by our own Richard Brown on site.

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Here's the link: http://www.writewords.org.uk/articles/self_publishing1.asp

Actually, I think self-publishing, done in the right way, is becoming more and more acceptable and rightly so. As above, read the self-publishing interview on this site for more information. As a friend of mine recently said, writing should make an effort to become more like painting where, even if you can't get into the "big" galleries or sell lots of stuff to important people, you can still get a buzz and learn something about yourself and others by putting your work into local shows or setting up a small business for yourself. There's no shame in it, folks! And, in the current UK market, there's a lot to be said for ensuring that the quirky or the "different" also gets a chance for its own shelf space. As for the marketing angle, most new authors in any publishing house, let alone their own, have to do their own marketing - there's no budget for anything else!

Meanwhile, to show I'm well prepared to put my money where my mouth is, I intend to self-publish my first collection of poetry, called "Tidal", in January, with the proceeds, (should there be any!)going to my local church. Later on, and knowing what I write about is very specialised, I plan to self-produce a novel too.

What I say now is what I say always - learn about the subject, take advice and then go for it!

Anne B

Holly,

Good luck with your adventure.

Steve