Three forms of Publication

There are three specific forms of publication that can be analyzed to meet an author’s best interest: 

• publication by an agency
• self publication through an online website and starting an individual agency
• Obtaining the resources to publish one’s own book through the establishment of his or her own book agency.

The difference in these three publications is that each yields a specific advantage in terms of financial returns and marketability, creativity, and the ability to get published.  

Self Publication and Personal Agency

Self publication by the use of a Personal Publishing Agency has the least information to sum it up: 

• It is the point when a serious writer decides that he or she wants to start a personal publishing agency that will publish his or her own writing, as well as the works of others. 

Advantage: A writer has his/her own agency and is able to decide how a book will be published. 

• The writer hires literary agents, obtains ISBN’s, copyrights and is able to help other writers on the path to publication.

Disadvantage:  

• The writer has to have a high investment in his writing (which will most likely involve financial loans to cover start up costs), and the ambition to run an agency. 
• The aspects of a business environment, including employees, will be necessary for: editing, stocking, shipping, marketing, etc, which can also work as an advantage if a writer is committed to his or her work and the work of others.

Self Publication

Advantage:  

• Publication through an online website, otherwise known as self publication, is recommended as the most effective source of publication due to: financial return, artistic balance, the ability to be published and, also the ability to get published within a short time frame. 

• It is most efficient because the writer is the one to invest in his or her work by buying a specific package that meets his or her need. 
• Packages on many websites range from $400 to $3,000. Each offers the ability to have multiple copies for the author’s personal uses, and the more expensive packages provide marketability to popular websites: Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. 
• The author is also able to maintain creative control, and is also able to utilize editing, grammar, and writing resources that the website offers to perfect a book to his or her own terms. 

Disadvantage:  

• A book may meet a writer’s personal terms, but in readership, the book may not have enough content or substance to hold a stable audience. However, if the writer is committed to his or vision of writing, then it is worth the investment to find his or her own audience. 

Two popular self publication sites are: authorhouse.com

and http://www2.xlibris.com/

Agency Publication

Advantage: 

• Financially, being published by an agency can be highly rewarding because there will be a larger investment in marketability because agencies want to profit off a story. 
• A writer typically is given an advance for their writing, or loyalties for books sold, which can range from 6%-12% depending on the writer’s popularity. 
• A benefit is that a writer has zero investment in publication, which is also why royalties are considerably low.

Disadvantage:

• In terms of creativity, publication by an agency can have certain limitations. If a book is accepted by a popular agency, the agency is going to want to be sure that the book they are investing in will have a positive return in investment. 
• Agencies are mainly concerned about marketability and want writers who are willing to change the directions of their characters and portions of their work when it seems like it would have a higher return in profit.

-The most important factor to remember, if committed to being published by a literary agent, is that publication can take years and countless rejections and revisions. It’s necessary to remember that each agency looks for different aspects in writing, and that sometimes a leap of faith is necessary to gain publication.