BUT, and it's a big but, in this digital age it is becoming more and more acceptable. Let's look at some of the pros and cons.

If you use a tradtional publisher, your book will benefit from the services of a professional editor and proof-reader. If you self publsh, you will have to pay for these services yourself.

A traditional publisher will have your cover designed for you. Self-publishing entails your finding a cover designer yourself. (See our Cover Design page for the best way to do this).

Using a traditional publishing house will result in your earning meagre royalties on every book sold. The profit margin for self-publishers is much higher.

Nowadays, whichever method you go for, you will be expected to conduct your own promotion. Publishers seem to be obliged to devote the bulk of their marketing budget to the handful of writers they expect will sell very well, and this includes, of course, all the so-called celebrities who are producing their memoirs.

When it comes to distribution, the publishers have it. They can get books onto bookstore shelves. You will be lucky to get your local bookstore to stock your book on a sale-or-return basis. However, both methods will result in your book being listed on Amazon, Barnes and Noble etc.

Finally, self-publishing means that you have much more control over your book. If you are 100% satisfied with what you have written then self-publishing might be the right way forward.

We would reccommend:

Amazon's CreateSpace  This allows you to create your book on line, design the cover, obtain ISBN numbers and then purchase as many copies of the finished product as you want. And the best part about it is that can be absolutely free except, of course, the printing costs. It is really worth taking a look. We would even say that it is a must. They also offer marketing tools, and will register your book on Amazon.com. And lots more!

We have used CreateSpace as a tool to create our first paparback. You can easily design your interior - simply upload your PDF version of your manuscript to your CreateSpace file, and you will see exactly what the interior will look like. You can see whether you have got your margins and gutter measurements right, whether the header and page numbers look as they should, and if there are blank pages in your PDF file (and there often are when converting from Word) you can see whwre they are and amend your Word file and try again. If there are other problems, CreateSpace will tell you what they are so that you can put them right. It is an invaluable tool for beginners - all for free!

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