Is Self Publishing Worth the Price?

Posted by Cliff on Tuesday December 30, 2003 @05:45AM from the dilemmas-for-budding-authors dept.

vonFinkelstien asks: "I have written an adolescent novel and am having trouble getting it published. I have recently started looking at self-publishing, print-on-demand firms like Trafford or the many listed at pdfcreator. Trafford looks legitimate and offers a discount for those who do the layout themselves (I would use LaTeX). But the 'Bestseller Package' (which offers some promotional support) still costs $1399 when you create the layout yourself. Are such services worth the high initial cost ($500-$2000)? If any of you could give your experiences with or advice about these companies, I and other aspiring authors would be grateful."

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Re:There may be three reason no publisher wants it by shaitand · 2003-12-30 06:41 · Score: 2, Interesting

I've seen this several times in comments so far, the idea that publishers are magical and if they don't accept a book it must suck.

Do you realize that Stephen King couldn't get published for YEARS? You'll find the same with Piers Anthony and a number of chronic bestseller authors.

There is nothing uncanny or special about publishers. They merely have a market lockin much like the music industry, the publishers after all, are NOT the readers.

P.S. Controversial books usually sell well simply because their controversial.