Self Publishing: Why You Should Write and Publish Your Book Now

While it might not be the best time ever to be a book publisher, and while it's definitely not the best time to be a bookseller, it's a great time to be a self publishing author.

If you believe you have a book inside you, whether it is the next great American novel or your own memoir, there has never been a better time to write it than right now. While it might not be the best time ever to be a book publisher, and while it's definitely not the best time to be a bookseller, it's a great time to be a self publishing author.

Why is THIS the best time to write a book?

1) It has never been easier to find help with any stage of writing a book or publishing it.

Whether you want to find people to review your writing, learn how to write better dialog, take writing classes, create a book cover design, format your book as an ebook, or market your book on Facebook, or any other aspect of writing or self publishing, there are more resources available to you than you could ever get around to using in one lifetime. Some are in your community, but many can be found without leaving the comfort of your own home, on the Web. And most of them are even free.

2) It has never been easier to get your book into print.

Even only a decade ago, if you wanted to have a copy of your book in print, your options were limited to running off copies at Kinkos, or filling your basement or garage with boxes of your small-but-still-too-large-to-sell print run.

Today, self publishing a print book no longer means investing in hundreds or thousands of books you have to sell and ship. From one-off printers like Lulu.com, to the growing selection of print-on-demand services like CreateSpace or Lightning Source, there are options that remove many of the barriers and costs to print publication.

3) Ebooks present new opportunities that have never existed for authors before.

Self publishing a book doesn't even have to include print publishing any more. You can be a successful, published author and not have a single copy of your book in print form. The technology, the ease of delivery, and the immediate access to readers is makes this an exciting time for authors, and the window of opportunity is wide open right now.

4) Self publishing has never been as risk-free.

Along with the decrease in costs associated with printing due to print-on-demand, and the new sales and marketing avenues brought about by ebooks, there has also been a diminishment of the bias traditional publishers have had about self published books.

Even a few years ago, I would have advised anyone who was considering self-publishing their book as an ebook while still looking for a publisher not to proceed. Publishers looked unfavorably on books that had been previously self published in any form, but especially as ebooks.

That has changed, however, as publishers are now looking at successful self published ebooks as the new slush pile. If you can self publish your book digitally and grown your own fan and follower base, it makes you even more attractive to a traditional publisher.... if you decide you want one.

5) It has never been easier to connect with readers.

Think about the way books were sold before the Web. Authors and publishers were many steps away from the actual reader. Maybe a few popular authors had fan clubs, but the people who were members were only a tiny fraction of the readers who bought every book. Even bookstores didn't know exactly who was reading what.

Today with blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Amazon reader boards and the ever-expanding list of social media available, authors can connect directly with readers -- and do it without a six-figure marketing campaign.

Right now is the best time ever to be an author. So what are you waiting for?

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