Self vs Traditional Publishing

Writing and Publishing

How and where to publish? How will my books appear in bookstores and online sites? These are the two questions that come to H many writers as soon as they finish their first book. This article will give the differences between the two.

Depending on your knowledge and imagination writing a book may be easy. But the real effort starts after you have written the book and that is to get it published. Now, who will publish your manuscript and get the books into bookstores and other places? There are two ways to get this done. The first method is by contacting publishers and literary agents who deal with your type of genre. The second method is self-publishing. Both have their advantages and disadvantages as outlined below. And each has an army of raving and raging fans who will give you a long list of reasons why their publishing method is fantastic.

The literary agent method: In this method, you must approach an agent or publisher with your manuscript. A literary agent is a qualified person who will professionally evaluate your manuscript to see if it can be published. There are hundreds of agents listed on the internet, or you can buy a book, DVD, or an online list containing a directory of all reputed agents. Find out which agents will accept your type of book.

This is very important because all agents do not accept all types of manuscripts since each will specialize in only certain types of books. Hence, you must study each agent's submission guidelines before firing your manuscript in all directions. For example, if you send a business management manuscript to an agent who deals with only gardening or romance books, then you will be simply wasting your time. Now, let us look at the advantages of going through an agent. First, they will have an established platform, marketing muscle power, and connections to major publishers to get your book publicized to worldwide audiences.