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Before you publish your book

There is a difference between publishing your own book and having it published. Having your book published means you authorize a mainstream publisher to publish your book, either as an e-book or hard copy. This publisher will pay you a certain amount of fee for a start and will certainly pay you again if he wishes to publish another edition later on unless your hand over the copyright of that book to him. The disadvantage is that you have to edit your work the way they want it to be.

Your copyright is under your full control and you may authorize another publisher to publish the same title later on. The advantage of having your book published is that you need not worry about advertising the title which is always expensive. The publisher does it for you.

However, if you wish to publish your own book, then all expenses incurred will be your full responsibility. But don't let the printer or the book distributor cheat you. Every printer will tell you it is cheaper to have 2000 copies printed, for a start. It is not true. He only wants to charge you more because the more paper and ink you used, the more he can charge. You will have to cough out more money. For an unknown author, in any part of the world, 1000 copies would be a good start.

After your book has been printed, the next job is to find a book distributor, to represent you. He will consign your books to bookstores where he has an account. For his commission and the commission of the bookstores, he will normally charge you 60% of the sales price, leaving you only 40%. This is the standard market rate and your books will also be displayed for only 12 months, after which the bookstores will decide whether or not to allow you the space in their valuable shops.

Moreover, at the 60% rate you are also allowed to display the book in standing position, with only it's title and author's name visible. For your book to be displayed horizontally on a table or rack with the front cover clearly visible, you need to pay more.

Some bookstores may only allow you three months to display your books. They can simply tell the distributor to collect the unsold copies after three months and close the account. One bookstore confirmed that if a title does not sell more than five copies during the three months, it is normally removed for good.

The next thing you have to look into is whether all those bookstores carrying your books, actually display those books in their shop. One author discovered

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