Self Publishing

Self publishing (or, self-publishing) the for-profit publication (hopefully) of books, newsletters, booklets, or other publications by-passing traditional publishing avenues.

This document is under revision. A new, expanded version will be available by June 2012.

You can self-publish just about anything that you can publish through traditional publishing means and anything you normally create using desktop publishing software and techniques. The primary difference is that you are generally self publishing items which you sell, such as a book you wrote or a subscription-based newsletter. Some self publishing may be done to supplement another business. Self-published customer newsletters or a free tips booklet is aimed at increasing business or generating sales of other products or services.

Some self-publishers in turn require the services of graphic designers or prepress specialists to do much of the design and production work for the books and booklets they want to self-publish.

Self publishing requires a wide variety of skills whether you possess them yourself or hire the services of others to fill in for specialized areas. Writing, editing, design, desktop publishing, marketing, sales, self-promotion, and bookkeeping are just some of what's involved in self publishing.

If you want to put yourself into every part of the self publishing process, here are some of the things you'll need to learn and do in order to produce the actual item (book, newsletter, etc.) for self publishing.

• Find the Best Design Software for Your Self Publishing Project
• 12 Parts of a Newsletter
• 4 Parts of a Book Design
• 4 Steps to Perfect Publications
• How to Print Your Self Publishing Projects