Self-Publishing a Book, 25 Things You Need to Know

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David Carnoy opens his Fully Equipped column on CNET Reviews (12/17/2008) with the following statement: "I know, I know. This is a column about cutting-edge electronics. So, apologies to gadget-heads as I take a brief sojourn into the land of self-publishing, which has become a lot more high-tech than a lot of people realize."

Carnoy is the author of a new mystery / thriller titled Knife Music, a book he self-published earlier this year. "Against the advice of my agent," he says, "I began perusing the big self-publishing companies' Web sites and evaluating what they had to offer. Then I started poking around blogs and message boards to get customer testimonials. What I found was a veritable minefield with roads that forked in every direction and very few clear answers."

His CNET Review article discusses in detail his experience in getting his book published and lists 25 things you need to know about self-publishing a book. But more than just providing a list, he gives examples and cites references to support his list.

We won't list all 25 here, but just the top 10 (and we don't think they're listed in any particular order in the article):

1. Self-publishing is easy.
2. Quality has improved.
3. Some of the more successful self-published books are about self-publishing.
4. Good self-published books are few and far between.
5. The odds are against you.
6. Creating a "professional" book is really hard.
7. Have a clear goal for your book.
8. Even if it's great, there's a good chance your book won't sell.
9. Niche books do best.
10. Buy your own ISBN -- and create your own publishing house.

And 15 more. For anyone considering self-publishing, this is a must read article. (And in the for what it's worth category, number 20 is Self-published books don't get reviewed. That isn't necessarily strictly true; Mysterious Reviews has a policy of considering all mysteries for review, regardless of who published them.)

Please visit the Self Publish Mysteries where you'll find a comprehensive list of articles, books, news, resources, and websites for mystery authors who are interested in writing and self-publishing their mystery books.

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