Self-publishing or Traditional Publishing--It's Your Business.

BREAKING NEWS! Publishing your book is a business!

Whether you are submitting to traditional publishers (who take on all the cost of producing your book) or self-publishing (where you are responsible for ALL the costs), getting your book into the hands of readers is a business. You are the entrepreneur trying to sell your wares to the public.

A business person can set up a booth at a market, rent a downtown storefront, or even set up a lemonade stand in order to sell their wares. You, like the ancient marketers of old, are providing a product to a consumer when you write a story and have it published. 

I know it is difficult to wrap your brain around the fact that you are a business person no matter how your book is published. Even if your book is released by a traditional publisher, the advancement of book sales is squarely on how good you are at selling and distributing your story. You will have to market your stories to readers and that will create expenses which are considered the cost of doing business. You will have to keep records on revenue. Like it or not, you will be a business person in the publishing industry. 

My husband and I owned a floral shop and greenhouse business. We spent money to create the corporation and invested our lives, our fortune, our talents into making it a profitable venture for our family. 

That scenario is no different if a writer wants to open a business, hang out her shingle so-to-speak, and take on all the risks, the worries, and the JOY of publishing her own work.

Just as we learned the ins and outs as retailers in the floral industry, you will learn many lessons in the publishing world by joining in and experiencing it for yourself. IF you have the money to invest in the venture, then what is holding you back? You'll never know until you try. But first, do your home work just as if you were putting your nest egg into an actual storefront. Don't go in with stars in your eyes and pockets open to every scammer in the business. Be sure to publish your BEST effort for your readers.

So are you ready? Perhaps you will one day add author and entrepreneur to your resume. Best wishes!