Self-Publishing: the Right Way and the Wrong Way

With certain segments of the book industry in a tailspin, it’s unsurprising that more people are deciding to publish their own books than ever before. We’ve always felt that there was a right and a wrong way to proceed on the self-publishing course, but Writer’s Digest managing editor Zachary Petit -- who has had reason to think carefully on the topic -- does a great job of pointing out the joys and pitfalls possible when starting down the self-publishing path in a recent article that looks at the topic through the lens of someone whose journey has been successful:

No matter how you feel about self-publishing, it’s undeniable that there’s a bad way to do it -- think sloppy covers, poor binding quality and wild spelling. And a good way -- like Daryl Pinksen’s Marlowe’s Ghost, the grand-prize winner of WD’s Self-Published Book Awards this year. After hearing that agents liked his project but didn’t believe he had the platform to make it salable, Pinksen then ruled out university presses (the book was too unorthodox) and small presses (his audience was spread too far) and decided to go the independent route. I interviewed Pinksen for the March/April issue of WD to see how he went about it. Here are a few of his thoughts on what makes for a solid self-published text.

The full piece is lengthy, timely and here.

A few years ago, January Magazine took a look at several books relating to self-publishing and that piece is here.