How do you publish a book

The world of publishing is changing. Whilst traditionally all authors went through major publishing houses, the growing popularity of the internet meant the rise of self publication. This guide looks at the benefits and limitations of both methods and give tips to help the debut author publish their work and share it with the world.

The traditional method

Overview
To publish a book, authors would traditionally try and find an agent, or submit unsolicited manuscripts to book publishing agents.
Whilst getting a book published used to be difficult for many authors, particularly first time novice writers, who did not know how to enter the world, internet made this easier.
It is free to sign up to the Writer's and Artist's handbook and it allows you to search for publishers and agents in your area. Advantages
The large publishing houses (such as Penguin) will be considerably more focused on marketing, which means that nearly all the books stocked by main book stores are published through the traditional method. Limitations
Publishing a book is still difficult, especially if you approach the major publishers. J K Rowling, for example, went through almost every publishing house before being contracted to Bloomsbury.
Furthermore, if your self published work has been successful, it could make you more attractive to potential publishers when presenting them with your work.

Self-publishing

What is self publishing?
Self publishing companies are becoming more and more popular with the rise of the internet.
Firms such as Lulu self publishing offers book printing services, but also markets the books on their website and allows authors to retain 80% of the profit.
Lulu press is the market leader in self publishing, but other firms exist both online and offline. Advantages
Self publishing is good for booklets or printing other small pieces of literature which mainstream publishers may not be interested in.
You can keep the majority of the profits and printing can be cheaper. Limitations
There is almost no way that a self published book can have the same marketing campaign or meet the same heights as a book published by a major company. Furthermore, even if it is growing more popular, there is still a negative stigma attached to self published books.