Author! Author!

Not too long ago, one of our library patrons wanted to self-publish a book, which she eventually did not once but twice (and counting).  It got me thinking that there may be more budding authors out there interested in publishing their books but have no idea where to start.

Once upon a time, you wrote a book and then tried to get an agent who would present your book to publishing houses that would hopefully accept it for publication, put out X many copies of it, get it into bookstores, market it, etc., etc.  That still happens today, but with the increasing costs of publication, fewer and fewer publishers want to take a risk on a new and unknown author.  This is where self-publishing comes in.

Self-publishing allows new authors a way to publish their books easily and without the middlemen of agents and publishers.  Some famous writers have done it, including Edgar Allan Poe, Beatrix Potter, Mark Twain, and Virginia Woolf.  More recently, Lisa Genova and Christopher Paolini self-published Still Alice and Eragon, respectively.

It does take a bit of work to self-publish because you have to edit, revise, and format your book yourself, rather than have others do it for you.  However, you have more control over your product and get a higher royalty.  There are a number of authors who have even switched to self-publishing some of their books, such as Stephen King and J. K. Rowling (but keep in mind that they published traditionally first and no longer need to market their names).

If you're interested in self-publishing a book you wrote, there are a number of self-publishing platforms available to give you a start.  The following are just a few of the platforms out there:

• CreateSpace
• Light Switch Press 
• Lulu
• Smashwords
• Xlibris 

So, good luck to all you budding authors out there!  I can't wait to see some of your work!

Wishing you literary success from the perch.