There are many reasons why people consider self-publishing over the traditional route and this was covered in this post.  A further investigation of self-publishing may be needed for the potential author to understand the ins, outs, and type or self-publishing available to them.

The key distinctive characteristic of self-publishing is the absence of a traditional publisher.

Self-publishing is the publishing of books and other media by the authors of those works, rather than by established, third-party traditional publishers. Although it represents a small percentage of the publishing industry in terms of sales, it has been present in one form or another since the beginning of publishing and has seen an increase in activity with the advancement of publishing technology.

When it comes to self-publishing there are many ways to get the job done.

• True self-publishing- authors undertake the entire cost of publication themselves, and handle all marketing, distribution, storage, etc. All rights remain with the author, the completed books are the writer’s property, and the writer gets all the proceeds of sales.

• Subsidy publishing – very similar to traditional publishers, subsidy publishers distributes books under its own imprint, and is therefore selective in deciding which books to publish. Subsidy publishers, like vanity publishers, take payment from the author to print and bind a book, but contribute a portion of the cost as well as adjunct services such as editing, distribution, warehousing, and some degree of marketing. As with commercial publishers, the books are owned by the publisher and remain in the publisher’s possession, with authors receiving royalties for any copies that are sold. Most subsidy publishers also keep a portion of the rights from any book that they publish. For the most part, authors have little control over production aspects such as cover design.

• Print on Demand – also called short run printing or Print Quantity Needed (PQN). POD publishers generally do not screen submissions prior to publication, and many are web-based. It is the author’s duty to choose from a selection of packages, or design a unique printing package that meets their requirements. For an additional cost, a POD publisher may offer services such as book jacket design with professional art direction; copy-editing; indexing; proofreading; and marketing and publicity. With some POD publishers the author can have their publication as e-books in addition to hardcover and paperback. Some POD publishers will offer ISBN (International Standard Book Numbers) service, which allows a title to be searchable and listed for sale on websites.

• Vanity publishing - refers to a publisher contracting with authors regardless of the quality and marketability of their work. They appeal to the writer’s vanity and desire to become a published author, and make the majority of their money from fees rather than from sales. In a vanity press arrangement, the author pays all of the cost of publication and undertakes all of the risk.

Self-published works that find large audiences are extremely rare, and are usually the result of self-promotion. However, many works now considered classic were originally self-published, including the original writings of many African American writers like E. Lynn Harris and Sister Soldjah.