Self-Publishing

SEANoftheDEAD wrote: »

AuthorHouse UK

Anyone on here ever use them?
They seems like they are real deal for getting a book out there.

They're a vanity/subsidy publisher from the looks of it. And a subsidiary of Author Solutions which I believe was subject to legal action from authors/clients due to their practices. You pay them anywhere from £799 to £10,899 for their services and even the most expensive package doesn't seem to include editing (30% off their editorial services). That in itself is a red flag. They don't make their money from selling books, they make it from prospective authors.

When it comes to these kind of services, it's best to check Writer Beware and Absolute Write's Bewares and Recommendations forum. The Alliance of Independent Authors also has a page on reviewed and rated services. Even a quick search on google will usually provide enough information to know who to steer clear of.

Vanity publishers like AuthorHouse UK are not what self-publishing is. I self-publish. And I do so at less than half the cost of their cheapest package per book. You can get your books out there and you don't need a service like theirs to do so.

igoldrate wrote: »

Just one of the many reasons I'll be querying agents in January.

There are lots of reasons to choose the traditional publishing route. The existence of vanity publishers is not one of them. They were around long before the self-publishing market that exists today.

Good reasons not to self-publish are, for example, if you write literature or if you write in a genre that is heavily dominated by traditional publishers (crime/thrillers, for example, though that may be changing). Of course, there are always exceptions.

Choosing trad vs indie publishing also depends on what you want to achieve with your writing. If you want to see your books in local bookstores, traditional might be a better bet. If you want a better chance to make a living from your writing, self-publishing probably wins out. There was a great AMA with a professional, traditionally published author here recently and the one thing that stood out to me is that, despite her success, she doesn't make a living from her writing alone, supplementing it with workshops, events, technical writing etc.

Also, there seems to be a common misconception that you need a considerable social media presence to be successful in self-publishing. There may be certain cases where that's true or where it helps, but often blog readers/twitter followers don't translate into book readers. On the other side, authors who are traditionally published will sometimes find they're responsible for the vast majority of their own marketing, so there is that to consider as well.

Best of luck with your querying, igoldrate. Though you may want to rethink January; traditionally, I believe that time of year is when the highest volume of queries are sent out by prospective authors.

Book reality Ian Andrews any reviews on this ‘hybrid’ style press?