Independent Book Publishing

When I decided to self-publish my new book, The Successful Home Business Guide, I did not  realize how large a fraternity I was joining, or what the statistics were in the book publishing trade. It’s probably a good thing or I may not have tackled the project.

According to bookstatistics.com while there are only six major publishers we all recognize, such as Random House, there are more than 80 thousand book publishers in the United States. Foreword Magazine offers the grim statistics that  of the 3000 new titles published EVERY DAY, over 79 percent will sell fewer than 99 copies! It’s no wonder that Borders and other large book chains employ stringent selection practices and will only purchase through a small number of distributors and wholesalers.

Despite the numbers, I’m convinced that writing a book for home business owners was the right and timely thing to do, and that self-publishing will get the book to market much quicker than had I tried to elbow my way into one of the major publishers. But I certainly have my work cut out for me. Can anyone spell “book tour?”

The bright light is the ease in which a book can be listed on Amazon.com. Set up an account, upload the necessary data and graphics, and pay an annual fee of just $29 and a self-published book gets equal “shelf space” as books from Simon and Schuster.

Will Limkemann
www.doublewarepub.com