Years and years ago as a budding young writer, I wrote to Tom Clancy (yes, that Tom Clancy) to ask for his expert advice. I told him I had a story idea, had started a bit of the writing, knew the name of the characters, etc., etc. I explained that I was having trouble knowing what to do next and boldly asked him for advice on how to write a book.

He sent back this reply: “Write the damn thing! -TC”

So when people hear that I’m a freelance writer, the first thing they invariably say is this: “Wow. That’s neat. You know … I have a book I’d like to write/publish/have you write. How do I go about doing this?”

As much as I’d like to quote Mr. Clancy to them, I don’t.

So to answer the question once-and-for-all, I enlisted the help of Lyn Chamberlain, president and managing editor of Arcadian House. Lyn specializes in writing, editing and publishing services and knows the ins and outs of getting a small or large publishing project done.

Lyn has graciously agreed to write a series of five articles that I’ll post here starting with this one:

Why self-publish? Traditional publishers pay authors thousands of dollars in advance plus royalties, don’t they?

First of all, thanks to Jan for the opportunity to contribute to this blog. I hope you’ll find my comments interesting and useful.

Now, about advances and royalties. Usually big advances go to well-known authors with proven marketability. Traditional publishers pay large advances when they believe they will make large sums of money from book sales. Advances are usually reclaimed from royalties as the book sells.

A common misconception is that a traditional publisher will market your book for you. Obviously, how much marketing a publisher does depends on how much profit he expects to make. With rising costs and the rising number of books published — now over 175,000 per year — publishers have cut back on what they are able and willing to do for authors. Plan to market your book yourself.

Traditional publishers can take as much as three years to put a book on the shelf. Since your book may be as much marketing tool as income stream, you probably don’t have time to wait.

Millions of people today realize that traditional publishing is just not their best option. Consequently, an increasing number of the 44 million books sold each year are self-published.

Non-fiction books, especially those that can be used for marketing a business are prime candidates for self-publishing. Many of my clients are storytellers, speakers or coaches.

Self publishing, of course, means that the author pays for the entire process of book production. Any number of companies are available to guide you through the maze of ISBNs, Library of Congress control numbers, copyright, etc., but be sure to check the fine print. (I promise a blog post on what to look for in a non-traditional publisher.)

Next time, though, we’ll talk about the process of self-publishing. Until then, please visit my web site at http://www.arcadianhouse.com/ for more information.