Self-publishing has a long standing history. In fact, 78% of books sold come from small and self-publishers. Self-publishing is a viable means of publishing. Mark Twain, Richard Nixon, L.Ron Hubbard, John Grisham, Henry David Thoreau, and even Edgar Allen Poe have self-published. You might be familiar with these self-published book titles: "What Color is Your Parachute?", "The Celestine Prophecy", "The One Minute Manager", and most recently the children's fiction book "Eragon" which was picked up by a major publisher. The movie rights were sold and the young author is well on his way to fortune and fame.

Publishing via traditional means i.e. publishing houses, is an endlessly frustrating experience. It involves hours of work creating a book proposal. Hours of work crafting query letters to agents and then waiting days, weeks, months, and even years receiving rejection letters in the mail. Often times your material has not even been read! None of this means you do not have a book worthy of being published; it means simply that you are communicating with the wrong people. Self-publishing is your direct route to the right people, your reader and your customer!

Self publication means more money. Generally speaking, hardcover books pay royalty rates of 10% on the first one to 250,000 copies sold. If your book has a cover price of $25.00, then you will earn a $2.50 royalty on every copy sold, up to 250,000 copies.

This means that if you only sell 1,000 copies, then you will only earn $2,500. Keep in mind that your agent gets 15% of this too, and all of this is paid after you have earned your advance. Paperback royalties pay an average of 6%.

However, if you are willing to do the legwork yourself, meaning packaging, printing, distributing, and promoting your book, every single cent from every single sale goes directly into your pocket. So if you sell 1000 books at $25.00, you have made $25,000.

Lastly, 60% of publishers do not give you final approval on copy editing. Self-publishing gives you 100% control. You make the decisions about your book. Now that does not mean that you ca not seek guidance from experienced publishers. Many publish or print on demand companies offer valuable guidance with cover design and typesetting, but ultimately the final decision is yours to make.

More money, more control, and all the fame and fortune you can muster? Why would not you self publish?