Saturday, June 16, 2012

Writing: Traditional or Indie Publishing?

This is my post for Day 16 of the Author Blog Challenge.


Bookshelves and reader
 

 
Did you publish your book as a traditionally printed book, an eBook, or both? How did you come to your decision? Which company(ies) did you use for printing and distribution? How did you select them?

I haven't published my books yet. I have some calendars for sale on Lulu.com and my children have books for sale as both ebooks and print books in the book shop there.

I am planning on using Amazon for my books which will be available as traditionally printed books and Kindle books. Amazon has the widest distribution of all of the different self-publishing firms I have checke dout so far, and the cost is minimal. However, I will only use them if I decide to go the self-publishing route. I haven't decided yet whether I want to go the traditional publishing route or not yet.

I may have to when it comes to my children's picture books, but that is because I have no skill at all when it comes to drawing and am not capable of illustrating my own books. I tried to teach myself to draw, but the best I was able to do just wasn't good enough for the way I want my picture books represented. You can see my attempts at drawing on Designing Doodles. I still have fun trying to draw though.

3 comments:

Melissa said...

I had to smile at your attempts at learning to draw - I haven't even tried that... I know it is possible to hire an illustrator, however they are expensive!

I'm in the same boat & trying to work out which way to go also.

Ashley Howland said...

I wish I could draw too! I must look into Lulu for my kid's books.
Luckily for me I have a friend who can draw, so I may get some illustrations yet.
Best of Luck with the publishing!

Toby Tate said...

I published a blog post on why I decided to go the traditional publisher route - http://tobytate.blogspot.com/. I just felt that it's better to have someone pay you than to spend thousands of dollars on something I really didn't have the resources to market properly.

Plus, I get the added advantage of having publishing companies resources behind me, which can amount to much better sales in the long run.

I also work with professional editors, get professional artists for my book covers - and I don't have to pay for any of it.

The key is persistence and of course, a good story.