Self-Publishing - How to Publish a Book

Self publishing can be one of the most rewarding endeavours one can achieve, or it can be an expensive lesson. Self Publish Australia can minimise your risk and maximise your profits and assist in achieving your publishing goals by providing expert in-house print trade knowledge and traditional book publishing experience that comes with just the price of your books.

Self Publishing - Where do I Start?

You've done the hard work - your manuscript's almost ready to publish...What next!

Within this site, there is content-a-plenty for the independent author looking to self-publish. And make sure you sign-up to our e-newsletter to receive occasional updates, publishing tips & tricks and special offers.

Self Publish Australia can match your desired publishing outcomes with an appropriate level of book production within your budget. We offer everything from simple book printing, delivered to your doorstep, through to full design, layout and publishing services including an option to enable your book to be available from any bookstore within Australia and available for purchase worldwide online.

Self Publish Australia is the popular choice for the discerning independent author. The result is our ever-increasing list of authors who have achieved success in the publishing arena for their niche titles. We have assisted authors who have had bestsellers on Amazon, national distribution in bookstores including Kmart & Target, and even been signed up by traditional publishing firms with healthy contracts. Authors have furthered their careers, standing in the community, and there is those who have made a viable & profitable business. All from publishing their books with Self Publish Australia.

Small & large businesses also leverage Self Publish Australia's professional design & print production skills to produce quality inhouse publications that are 'bookstore quality'.

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What do you want to achieve?

Self-publishers have diffent reasons for 'getting published'. An understanding of what you want to achieve and your goals, along with your budget, will greatly affect both yours and our approach:

1. I want to print up my manuscript into a bound book format to give out to family & friends, and maybe sell a few.
OK, you may be on a fairly limited budget, and will probably require just a small amount of books. Up until recently, it just wasn't possible to publish your own book with out breaking the bank account. With the advent of digital technology, we can print from a minimum of just 25 hardcover books, or 50 paperback books!
If you are proficient on a PC, thats great, you may be able to create a print-ready PDF from your manuscript and send to us to print. We do accept Word™ documents to print directly from, however there is an added cost and we tend to discourage, as type tends to reflow and can produce unexpected results compared to when printed from your own PC. So hunt around for a computer 'geek' friend or relative to assist you in producing a correct Print-Ready PDF for us to print from - or contact us for further information.

2. I have a great novel I've been working on for years, now it's time to publish. No publisher wants to know me, literary agents hang up on me, what am I to do!
Self publishing is the obvious answer. Producing & selling your own book will be extremely satisfying, and may even be the stepping stone to bigger & better things (see "Pathway to a Publishing Contract"). At Self Publish Australia, we can match design & print production level of your book to fit your budget whilst remaining commercially viable. We can take care of the book layout and cover design, together with book trade legal requirements and industry data /directory submission to make your book widely available through bookstores. As well, your book will end up on the desk of the appraisal committee at our parent publishing house Fontaine Press, who take a look at all books coming out of the Self Publish Australia / VIVID Publishing cycle, for any potential gems that can be marketed and distributed successfully nationally.

3. My novel is bestseller material - perhaps even movie potential. However I want to maintain full control over my book. I will be treating this like a business, and will invest wisely to give it the best chance of success.
OK, you will be putting your manuscript through the same professional cycle that any mainstream published authors' next bestsellers receive. You will need to:
a. Get your manuscript professionally edited
b. Hire an illustrator if required (eg Childrens book)
c. Enlist a specialist book graphic designer to design your book cover and interior text
d. Print & bind your book in apropriate format and quantity
e. Market & seek distribution channels

You can subcontract various professionals to take part in this development of your book, or you can enlist Self Publish Australia to handle some or all these details. Subject to manuscript sighting, to ensure quality and suitability, VIVID Publishing, our sister publishing company, can publish under their own imprint. They can take care of the legal matters such as ISBN, generate a barcode and ensure the book is listed with all relevant book trade directories and publications. VIVID Publishing is building a marketing strategy to assist authors in gaining valuable exposure for their book. Two authors this year have even been 'picked up' by VIVID's parent publishing company, Fontaine Press Pty Ltd, who have signed them up with healthy publishing contracts. Other authors we have published have been succesful in gaining distribution into bookstores and various other retail outlets. Read the expanding Case Studies section for further information on how they achieved this.

So, where DO you start? Begin by submitting your book's details here, and we will contact you with some initial costings and various options that will be available to you within your budget. We can facilitate all services to give you the best possible chance of success attaining your goals.

Make sure you check out our BOOK PRODUCTION OPTIONS for further information.

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