There's a lot of change occurring in the publishing world -- a lot of change. Perhaps you've heard of it -- all the recent advancements in the self-publishing field? And while it is far too early to predict the precise direction that all of these changes will take us, one thing is certain: self-publishing is shaking up the world of traditional book publishing, and self-publishing is not going to go away.

Although self-publishing has been an option for writers since the very beginning of the invention of the printing press, and although many very famous writers in the past self published some or all of their works, it is still nevertheless true that traditional publishing companies maintained a virtual stranglehold on the book publishing industry. Because of this, traditional book publishers could be very selective in their choice of authors and book titles. But this is all changing now, thanks to the self-publishing phenomenon.

Let me be very clear right from the start: most traditional publishing companies do not want you to learn how to publish a book on your own; they would rather you remain in the dark about all of this, as a way of keeping you dependent on using their book publishing services.

Self-publishing advances have been largely technologically-driven. In particular, book publishing software has become more and more advanced. It has become widely recognized that this software enables self-published authors to put out books with a quality of printing that rivals the big boys.

Another area of technological advance is print on demand publishing technology. Print on demand publishing technology allows books to be physically printed and bound very quickly after an order has been received for them. The advancement of print on demand publishing technology means that even traditional publishers no longer have to maintain huge inventories of back listed books.

And here is a dirty little trade secret: even the big boys will sometimes rely on print on demand technology -- for example a publisher may use this technology to meet customer requests for a particular book, one which does not sell in high volumes, but remains in constant demand. If you order such a book, it will be printed as requests are received and not before -- but you will never know it, because only the publishers imprint will be on the book.

Self-publishing can be a wonderful option for authors who might have difficulty in getting their books into print using the traditional approach. For example, self-publishing has revolutionized the children's book publishing industry, and technologies such as print on demand mean that no one needs to take a financial risk on printing copies that may not be sold (which frequently happens in the children's book publishing field).

Of course the self-publishing field has its naysayers as well -- and at times their criticisms are well deserved. For example it is still true that far too many self published books are of inferior quality (poorly edited, crappy cover designs, inferior materials, poor page layout). Because of this many retail bookstores refuse to carry self-published works. And this lack of access to bookstores should be taken into careful consideration by any one who is exploring a self-publishing option for their own book.

However, many authors still find that self-publishing provides benefits that far outweigh the risks. Writers who are publishing on highly controversial matters may find that no traditional publishing company is interested in publishing a book. The same thing is true for those who have written books on highly specialized or very technical subjects. For these books the potential market can be far too small to justify the kind of up-front financial commitment than a traditional publishing company will have to make. For these authors, self-publishing may be the best -- indeed the only -- option for them.

So if you are considering a jump into the self-publishing world, you should carefully consider not only the potential benefits but the potentially negative aspects as well before you make a final decision.