At the beginning of my self-publishing journey, I was really excited about my new journey. I believed that I had a good story that just had some grammar issues. I thought that they would help edit the book, because doesn’t all publishers want their books to be perfect. They wanted to charge some ungodly fee which I couldn’t afford, but do you think that stopped them from publishing the book. They had gotten their money and that was all they was concerned about.

I wanted to do a poetry book and I went through the same company again. I thought that a poetry book wouldn’t need much editing, because they still charged to edit, and would be easier to put out. I was wrong about this book being easier. I wanted a table of contents put in the book, they even suggested one for the book, but they wanted to charge me for them to put one in. I spent hours on the phone dealing with this book, not because I had serious issues, but because they really didn’t care after they got their money.

I don’t want to sit here and say that self-publishing is a totally bad idea, because for those who have already established a name, might be able to do it. My biggest issue is marketing, I don’t know how to push books to the market, and they do nothing to push their books to the public.

I have also recently learned about P.O.D. (print on demand) books. All self-publishers do print on demand books, which book stores will not hold the books in their stores, because they cannot return the book if it’s not sold. They will not set up a book signing for a P.O.D. book. I really don’t have a problem with this, except for two things. The self-publisher don’t tell you this when your paying your money. The biggest problem I got with this is that Barnes and Noble owns half of a self-publishing company, and they won’t even stock the books that are published through their own company.

I thought that Barnes and Noble was a big name in the book selling industry. I just don’t understand how they could let their company publish books that are not perfect editing wise. I don’t understand why they are publishing books that they know that they will never stock.

Yes, there are some people out there who does not care if their book ever hits a book store. But what about the ones who are just trying to get their foot into the writing profession?

There might be some good things about self-publishing, but writers be careful on what company you choose. If you can’t get good customer service, don’t use them, because you always need to be able to voice your concerns about your book. Always remember that it is your book, with your name on it, and just take it to the best possible company.