A few years ago, the publishing industry did not offer an aspiring author much choice. Thus, if you were not publishing to make money, what exactly could you have ever hoped to achieve as an aspiring author? Bragging rights? For several thousands of dollars, say $5,000 or $10,000, an author could access mainstream editing, book formatting and publishing services, on condition that he commits to buying several copies himself, most of the time a thousand or more. Then what? For most authors, the titles gathered dust in their garages!

There are mainly to ways around the self-publishing business: assisted self-publishing that focuses on paperback publishing and eBooks and No-Frills online publishing firms. Both have their own strengths and weaknesses.

Digital technology has come up as something of a game changer to make it possible for many self-published titles to see light of the day. Today, a wide array of options exists for a writer that has already been frustrated within mainstream publishing circles. It involves very simple steps to self-publish a title in the eBook format, thanks to assisted self-publishing firms. Even non-tech savvy authors can solicit professional book formatting services and deliver world class titles.

Additionally, a myriad of companies (especially online based) support Print on Demand (PoD) publishing, which has significantly reduced the burden on the part of the author in publishing and delivering titles into bookstores. With PoD, physical (paperback) copies of a title are printed when being purchased. On top of all that, assisted self-publishing companies will also render an array of services including, book formatting, cover design, marketing and publicity etc. 

The success of self-publishing has become so phenomenal that self publishing has itself become the subject of many eBooks. Successful authors are now making a fortune out of telling their own success stories with self publishing or just shading some light on what may come off as a dark tunnel to non-published authors. 

From an economic point of view, the thresholds for take-off in self-publishing have been lowered as authors gain more control of rights to their book and pricing.

However, studies indicate that most self-published titles are not doing very well in the market, especially as compared with those coming off mainstream production lines. According to reputable self-publishing company executives and authors, some titles sell fewer than 200 or even 100 copies. Honestly speaking, there are several phenomenal success stories in the self-publishing market. The most successful self-published authors will even attract lucrative deals with mainstream publishers. Just to be sure, authors can take advantage of the low costs in self-publishing and offer their titles at reasonably competitive prices.

Still, a greater proportion of self-published titles do not sell a lot of copies, according to Mark Coker, Smashwords’ founder and CEO. This is a fact that aspiring authors need to content with as they embark on their journey towards successful self-publishing.

 The Fast Fingers invite all aspiring self-published authors to engage us for the best book-formatting, cover design and eBook conversion services.