I've finished the best seller for 2012 and am eager to get it out there... Can any one let me know if there are ANY honest (!)/reputable self publshers out there, as when I think I've found a good one - and then do an online search for independent reviews - I've had to take off my ball gown & restart my "Best Seller Book of the Year" acceptance speech ...! Seriously though, I'd be grateful for any/all advice. Do bookstores really deal with self-published authors? How do I source a reputable agent? Advance thanks for advice/ comments/ suggestions. Shalisa
Hi Shalisa,
I did a lot of research before putting my novel out as an ebook. I worked on the basis that the time spent trawling around publishers and agents was being wasted. On the other hand if my (or your) book takes off in a big way, a 'physical book' publisher could always take it on.
My book (Google 'This Son of York' or see www.tsoy.co.uk) is about the plague's returning to present-day York. My (non-fiction book's) publisher accused it of being a fantasy...in fact, it's entirely plausible; two years' work and lots of input into the research from professionals made it so.
The book is on Amazon, which accounts for the 52 sales so far. It's also on Smashwords, with no sales but some downloads of the free sample. It should appear on Lulu shortly. The latter two outfits (all are American) push the book into Apple's iBookstore, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, the Sony Reader Store and Diesel. Fingers crossed here.
Alan Yentob believes that e-books will replace paperbacks, while hardback books will become collector's items. Time will tell.
If you do go the e-book route, you have to remember one important point. Your manuscript is converted into a recognisable file - only you are responsible for the MS's being 100%. Any errors, misspellings or bad formatting are your pigeons. Some e-publishers reject bad formatting anyway but the other errors just look amateurish.
Finally, if you still want to go physical, you can get Amazon's Createspace to print your book...I've a proof copy on its way. But be careful of falling into the 'vanity publishing' trap. getting your work on paper is a big money thing but you must think about advertising and marketing, distribution and delivery. It'd be all too easy to harm your reputation before it's even established.
So, good luck. Whether to follow my lead is a matter for you but the above might help you to decide.
Why don't you try to make presentations of your book in bookstores like Christopher Paolini did? It might work!
Sorry I spelt your name wrong Shalisa!