When I began The Lost Soul Companion Project, I knew I would want to self-publish rather than wait around for some traditional publisher to “discover” me. So now every few weeks I get emails from lost or not-so-lost souls seeking advice about publishing their first novel or non-fiction book. It can be rather overwhelming — especially now that there are scads of print-on-demand and self-publishing houses in business. Nevertheless, I still offer the same advice. Namely, get yourself to your local library or book store, plop down with The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing by Tom and Marilyn Ross, and read the whole dang thing. Here’s why: there are many companies preying on a would-be self-publisher’s lack of experience. Their websites offer some good information, but many are simply well-disguised sales pitches for their goods and services. That’s not to say that all companies offering self-publishing support services are bad. Rather, if you know what’s involved in publishing your own book, you’ll be able to differentiate between necessary expenses and what I like to call Flim-Flam.
–S.
