Should I Self Publish Or Pitch My Book To A Publisher

Should I Self-publish Or Pitch My Book To A Publisher?

You've spent many nights working on your book. You've rewritten it, edited it, and you used a professional proofreader to proof it. Your book is done – finally -- and you're ready to send your precious manuscript off to a publisher, thinking that writing it was the hardest part.

In reality, getting your blood, sweat and tears published may be the hardest part of the whole process. You'll need to decide if your book requires a publisher, or if you'd rather self-publish your book. Both venues have pros and cons, some of which I discuss below.

To work with a book publisher, you'll need to send out query letters and/or a book proposal. This is a letter or a few pages briefly describing your text, why your book is unique, characteristics of your target market, and how you can help market your book. Most publishers don't accept unsolicited manuscripts, so you'll need to convince them to read yours, or find a literary agent to represent you. If a book publisher requests that you forward your entire manuscript, you have one foot in the door. Be prepared to send more than one query and don't expect a response next week. An excellent software program to help format your manuscript and create a book proposal is called Wizards For Word at http://www.wizardsforword.com

Publishers look for three things: platform, hook, and execution. This means a writer should have a built-in audience (ideally, a national platform such as a radio or TV show or a column in a major publication), an interesting hook, and strong writing skills.

The problem if you're an unagented author is that most publishers won't take your call or read your proposal. Then even if they do, you'll have a tough time creating a bidding war or running an auction to get the best offer, and you also won't have leverage negotiating the important deal points, such as ancillary rights and royalties.

There are writer's guides that serve as excellent resources to find publishers and literary agents who specialize in your particular genre. These guides list the percentage of new authors published as well as the percentage of sales they pay. You may find pay rates ranging from 5-10% of sales. Some pay on wholesale sales and others on the retail amount. Do the math. Perhaps your book will retail for $14.95 and the publisher will pay 6% on retail. This means you will earn 90 cents per book sold. Of course don't forget that the publisher is doing all the printing, distributing, and marketing of your text.

Another route you may want to consider is self-publishing. Self-publishing requires you to print, distribute and market your book using your money, but you will also retain all profits. There are book printing companies as well as companies that specialize in assisting self-publishers through every step along the way.

Many authors debate which method is better, using a publishing company or self publishing your own book. You know your situation and you know what will work best for you. You'll want to consider how much time or money you have to invest in the project. That should give you an idea which route to take. Using a publisher takes less time on your part, but you'll forfeit some of the royalties by using this method. If you self publish, you'll have to pay "up front costs" and do the initial legwork to begin generating sales for your book. Either way, publishing is your call. With persistence and hard work you can get your book in the marketplace.

BONUS : Should You Write A Resume Cover Letter Yourself?

In this day and age competition is fierce for a limited number of desirable positions in the professional world. The only hope that many job seekers have, no matter how qualified they may be for the position, is to create a cover letter that turns up the “wow” factor and impresses hiring managers as something a little above and beyond the others.

If you are wondering whether or not you should write your own resume cover letter the answer is a resounding “yes.” There are many reasons you should write your own cover letter not the least of which is the fact that no one knows your qualifications any better than you. Feel free to take suggestions and research the proper methods of doing so but do not fall into the trap of using a form cover letter for your resume that was written as a one-size-fits-all sort of cover letter or having a cover letter written just for you by someone else. The voice will not transfer well to the interview and you want perspective employers to resonate with you rather than someone else who filled in the blanks on your behalf.

Your cover letter is your first chance for a first impression with potential employers. It is the opportunity to highlight the skills and talents you can bring to the table or, more to the point, how you can help them rather than how they can help you. It is also the perfect opportunity for you to give them a small taste of your personality in action. Personalities are the ones that show up to the office day in and day out. Your personality is going to have a greater impact on your ability to fit in well with a particular corporate climate than your skills (unless you are grossly incompetent or some sort of prodigy). Use your cover letter to let a little bit of your personality shine through. This will make it a little more interesting than the boring “just the facts ma’am” approach that so many job applicants use when creating a resume. While it may have worked in Dragnet it isn’t quite as likely to work in the corporate climate of today.

Cover letters are becoming popular because they are more personality influenced (or they can be) than traditional resumes and they allow a good feel for the person on the other end of the paper without reading quite as many stale facts and figures as you will typically find in a resume. Many hiring mangers simply find a cover letter much more appealing than they find reading resumes and they can often skim cover letters initially and review those that they found compelling a little more closely.

Ultimately a cover letter is one of, if not the most powerful tools in your job application arsenal. An artfully written cover letter that remains positive, professional, and personable is much more likely to achieve the desired results than a resume that has been professionally prepared in hopes of gaining a foot in the door and that is no small accomplishment. The problem for most is that professional cover letter services cannot provide that personal touch that can only come with you. As I mentioned above no one knows the contribution you can offer by way of skills and personality better than you. This makes you your best advocate in the process of creating a killer cover letter for your resume.

Make sure that your passion for the position shines through when writing your resume. If you have a sincere passion for the work you do or the work you are hoping to do your words are the best in the world to get that message across. A passion for the job, product, or service is one of the greatest things you can bring to a company and hiring managers are well aware of this fact. If you write your own cover letter you can explain your passion, it might make the difference between being invited back for an interview or not and every positive edge you can find is an edge worth exploiting in today’s competitive business climate. Most importantly, try to have fun writing your cover letter yourself. You may discover a hidden talent.