More books are being published these days than ever before, which is ironic for people who advocate that print is dying. Figures released on the 28th of May show that 411,422 books were published in 2007 in the USA alone, with 133,773 of those being print-on-demand and other short run publishing. The statistics which represents a jump of 39% over the 2006 figures come from R. R. Bowker, the company that compiles the Books in Print database (bowker.com). This must be encouraging for aspiring authors, so here is some helpful advice on getting self-published.

There is a stigma within the publishing world towards self-publishers, and maybe for good reason. Anybody can self-publish and sometimes terrible books, particularly literature and poetry, are published this way. On the other hand, self-publishing usually works best with niche or local books that have a well-defined, captive audience. For example, a famous chef launching a cookbook or a financial consultant writing a how to get rich book, would have plenty of opportunities to tell clients about their book.

This is especially important because few bookshops will deal with a small press directly. To keep their accounting simple, most bookshops prefer to work with book distributors on a returnable basis. A good distributor will warehouse, introduce your book to appropriate retailers, fulfill orders, all for a small percentage of the sales. This will save you having to create invoices, keep accounting records and arrange deliveries everyday. However, most bookstores have limited shelf space and will return copies if they have not sold any after a few weeks. So make sure you have a good marketing plan, including sending review copies to all the media, promoting on the internet and through local libraries and book signings.

If you decide to go the self-publishing route, examine competing titles to make sure you're not covering the same ground and find out the sales of those books to see if it's worth your while to tackle a similar topic. Determine what size and format you'd like your book to take, if there are standard sizes you should stay with to reduce costs, or whether a different format will help your book stand out. Also don't forget to apply for an ISBN number from the Books Registration Office (bro@lcsd.gov.hk).

Make sure you tally up your costs (printing, artwork, editing, distributor's & bookshop discount, etc) and set a retail price that is affordable and gives you a nice profit early on. The more copies you print, the lower the unit cost. On the other hand, you don't want the spare room packed to the ceiling with your books. You may want to consider a print-on-demand publisher (Trafford.com, Xlibris.com and Iuniverse.com), who will print just a few copies (25 to 200 copies) for a few thousand HK dollars.

Promotion and marketing of self-published books are critical. Developing a list of editors and book reviewers within various media. Send them a press release and review copy. The internet is a useful resource for self-published authors, particularly on forums where people are talking about writing and publishing. Think about donating a copy to your local library.

Self publishing a book can be a very rewarding and lucrative endeavor, especially the satisfaction of seeing your name in print and your hard work compiled into a professional, saleable product.