Advice on self-publishing

by Veer
10:01am - 7th August, 2008


Hi all

I’m in the process of writing my first book and I wanted some advice on self publishing

I have seen a couple of companies who self publish but how do you distinguish who is genuine or not? Has anyone self published their book?

I have been going through the writer's handbook and contacting publishing companies but I found a lot of them suggested that if you were not a celebrity or already an established writer then it would be diffcult (have had stuff published over the years, but mainly articles, features and reviews but not creative writing such as poetry or fiction) but I discovered that self-publishing was a good option for new writers. My only concern is, you pay a lot of money to get it published, but what do you get back?

Publishing my book would be a huge achievement, but I would want it to sell as well

I am still writing and researching companies. Because my book is a collection of poetry, I have been told it is more difficult to sell than fiction. Plus some of the fees the agents charge are extortionate!

I am sure there must be some agents who don’t charge fees until the book sells, but can’t seem to find them in the writers hand book

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!