There is all kinds of inspiration for getting published. However, there are a few things you should know about the business of self-publishing:

1. Your book will reflect your investment. You do need to spend some money on publishing, editing, and marketing your book; even if you are self-publishing. To publish a book to the same standards and quality of the big four publishing companies, you have to make an investment in the book. You don’t want it to scream ‘home-made’.

A customized book cover that is vetted with targeted readers is also part of publishing a successful book. Paying attention to the cover is extremely important to book sales and that self-published authors often "mess up" when it comes to a selecting a good book cover.

2. People who don't know you will need to buy your book. Your family and friends will definitely help promote your book. However, to approach the number of sales in order to get a return on your investment will require extending your book promotion beyond your personal Christmas card lists, Facebook friends, Twitter and Instagram followers. This means you need printed book copies for marketing and promotion: Short run book printing.

3. Book promotion is not for the fainthearted. With over 400,000 self-published titles a year, getting a self-published book noticed is a challenge. Book promotion requires traditional marketing, social media marketing, guerrilla marketing and more. An even greater challenge is that promotion must be done within a limited time frame. Providing advanced copy books to booksellers can be problematic for self-published titles. Booksellers, book reviewers, notable book bloggers, radio and newspapers require advance reader copies to promote a book. A successful book campaign begins six months prior to the book release and continues for at least another three to six months after the release. After six to nine months, the book is no longer new and it becomes very difficult to get it noticed among the over 35,000 new self-published titles released each month.

4. Getting your self-published book on a library or bookstore shelf. Remember bringing your written work to the public is a business. The majority of bookstores will not stock self-published books. It is a matter of dollars. Print on Demand book publishers do not offer the same deep discount on volume sales as traditional publishers; nor do they allow books to be returned. As a result, bookstore owners are reluctant to sell self-published titles. It is not because they are snobs. It is just good business. Stores do not have the space to keep large inventories, especially for books that are not selling. Returns are costly and inefficient.

5. Writing is a personal journey but publishing is not. A myth that most people unconsciously live by is the assumption that others are just as interested in your life as you are. Most writers unconsciously (and often consciously) believe that people will be interested in what they have written. As the saying goes, everyone has a story in them, which is why self-published memoirs are among the top self-published genres.

Book promotion requires a clearly defined target audience and a great marketing strategy. Everything about the book needs to be vetted with the target audience. Short run book printing is perfect for this step.

For more information on ARC's and short run printing, contact The Country Press.

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