More and more authors, both new and established, are turning to self-publishing as a viable means of getting their work noticed. However, self-publishing successfully isn’t particularly easy if you try to go it alone. Ottawa self-publishing service AgoraPublishing.com offers ten distinct advantages to writers.

#1 You can get anything published

Commercial publishing houses are on the lookout for items which they believe will have widespread commercial appeal. If you’re writing for a special niche or have controversial opinions, they won’t touch your work. However, if you self-publish and do well, you may attract the attention of publishers who were previously not interested in your niche market topic.

#2 Publication in a few weeks or months

Mainstream publishers take their time. Even if they accept your manuscript, it can take them up to two years to get around to publishing it. If you’re writing about current events or trends, your book will be out of date before it’s ever published. A self-published book can be available in as little as a few weeks after the manuscript is handed over.

#3 You stay in control of your work

Once a commercial publisher accepts your manuscript, control over what happens next is completely out of your hands. Planning, editing and marketing are done by the publisher, usually without consulting the author. With AgoraPublishing, the author can go the whole hog with planning, editing and marketing, but remains in control of the process.

#4 You get to retain all rights

A lot of new authors don’t realise that they will be relinquishing all rights over their work to the publisher. If movie rights or foreign rights are negotiated, the author isn’t even involved in the process. When you work through a commercial publisher, you effectively hand over the rights to your work. When you self-publish, you retain those rights. This is one of the issues that has prompted many successful authors to turn to self-publishing.

#5 You can test the waters with limited inventory

This is a decided advantage for authors who choose AgoraPublishing. When you self-publish, you have to pay the printing costs. Although printing only a few copies is more expensive per unit than ordering a large print run, the overall outlay is smaller. If the book sells well and the inventory is used up, a bigger print run can be financed using the funds generated by the initial inventory.

#6 You get more than just royalties

 Book royalties are notoriously puny. The rest of the profits are pocketed by the publishing company, but when you self-publish with AgoraPublishing, your royalties are much higher. That’s because the full selling price of the book is actually yours. You have to cover certain costs, but at the end of the day you end up making more money faster.

#7 You decide how long to keep the book in print

Commercial publishers will usually keep a book in print for four months. After that, it’s a thing of the past. If you self-publish, it’s up to you how long you want to keep it in print.

#8 Guaranteed quality standards for bookstores.

It’s not only the contents of a book that’s important. It’s also how it looks. Many self-published books lack the quality standards that will allow them to be accepted by a bookstore, but AgoraPublishing ensures that the book’s presentation is professional.

#9 A good-looking cover

Although we all know the old saw ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’, that’s exactly what people do. If the cover looks shoddy or unprofessional, no-one is going to buy your book. You may be a good writer, but how are your graphic design skills? AgoraPublishing help out with cover designs that round off your book’s appearance and make it attractive to consumers.

#10 Marketing services

No matter how good your book is, no matter how professional the end-product looks, people have to know about it. These days, marketing is the key to everything – even your success as an author. A comprehensive publishing service must include marketing through every available avenue. Once again, AgoraPublishing offers the right marketing combination to give your book the exposure it needs to stand a chance of success.