SELF-PUBLISHING KNOWHOW Reasons to Self-Publish
Sick of waiting for
your Fairy Godmother? One too many rejections? Don’t like the odds of your book
ever making it to the shelves? Thinking of doing it yourself? You need Camilla Chester’s new KnowHow series on self-publishing!
1. It will be published
Why do you write
children’s books? So children will read them, right? In this competitive market the
odds on getting your book published are slim. Even if you have written the best
piece of children’s literature since Watership Down, it has to get into exactly
the right hands at exactly the right time. If you do it yourself you get your
book published - it really happens, in the real world!
There's nothing like the feeling of handling a copy of your very own book! |
2. Control
You’re in charge on everything,
the content, the cover, the blurb, the quotes, the size, the layout, the
pricing EVERYTHING! You also keep the rights to your book, there’s no signing
anything away and it can stay in print for as long as YOU decide it stays in
print.
3. Time
Quick. It can be very
quick. There is no year of waiting for your publishing contracts then another
year for the book to be out there, we are talking months, even weeks of turn
around time. Super fast.
4. Having the product
Being a children’s
author is a business. How can you have your business running without your
product? You need that book, or books in your hand before you can go into
schools, libraries, start doing events and establish yourself as an author.
5. Getting on with it
Self-publishing is an
enormously satisfying way to get rid of that pent up feeling of frustration;
that ‘chasing your tail’ feeling of going nowhere fast. It’s a bit like that
moment when you’ve been waiting for someone else to fix the dripping tap, when
finally you reach into the toolbox, pull out the spanner and realise you can do
it yourself.
NB: A little word of warning…
I am giving a nice rosy
tint on self-publishing because these are all the reasons to do it but there is
one thing you need to know, it takes energy. You have to be an entrepreneur
type. You need to be willing to learn as you go, be open to the process and
stay confident with your decisions.
But hey, you are that
kind of person, you have to be if you’ve decided to stop waiting for that
illusive piece of good luck and do it yourself. Go for it! If you talk to any
self-published author they will all tell you that it was worth it.
Header image: Medieval printing press (Wikimedia Commons)
Camilla Chester writes for children aged 8 to 12. She has always written fiction, but after moving to
Hertfordshire with her family in 2010, she enrolled onto an OU Creative Writing
Course (receiving a distinction), joined several writing groups and then
discovered the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)
before publishing her debut, Jarred Dreams in 2016. Camilla’s second
book EATS came out at the end of April 2017 and her third, Thirteenth
Wish is due to be published in April 2018. In addition to being a children’s
author Camilla runs a small dog walking business.
I agree with all these points about being self-published, esp having control over everything and not having to wait all that time for it to be published.
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