There are many advantages to self-publishing. Here are the top seven.

1. You can publish anything – a memoir, a cookbook, a political rant, a philosophical essay. Many topics have no commercial appeal for a publishing house, which has to make a profit. But once a marginal subject is in print and doing well, a publishing house may pick it up.

2. Speed: A self-published manuscript can be on the market in a matter of weeks, while a traditional publisher may take up to two years to get the book out, if they do at all. For topical subjects, this is just too long, as usually the moment has passed and the book is no longer relevant.

3. More Control. With self-publishing, the author has considerably more control over the planning, editing, and marketing process. Even if using a full-service publisher, the author can work with the professional staff and guide the design process towards their personal preferences.

4. Retention of Rights: In most cases as far as corporate-oriented trade publishing, rights - movie, foreign, games, digital – belong to the publisher rather than the author. With a self-published book services, the author is the publisher and therefore retains all rights to the book.

5. Short Run Books. Self-publishers are advised to print only a small number of books at a time. With short run book printing the overall outlay is minimal, and sale of the first run provides the income to pay for the next. With short run printing, the author can fill orders, and have no inventory.

6. Money. The author keeps the full sales price of a self-published book, instead of a small royalty per copy sold from a traditional publisher. With print-on-demand sales, the author is paid a higher royalty, and the author gets the money much faster than with traditional publishing.

7. The book stays in print for as long as the author wants. With conventional publishing, four months is about the average time a book stays of the shelves before often being pulled to make room for something new. You will never see a self-published book remaindered.

For help with self publishing or short run book printing, contact The Country Press.

The Canadian