You are an aspiring writer and wish to make it big in the writing industry. You have your manuscript all writtenand finalized. But you are tired of approaching traditional book publishing companies because you have done it before and know how painstakingly challenging it could be. Welcome to the world of being a writer and a poet!

Till about a decade back when the digital medium was still in the nascent stage, publishing a book meant sending your manuscript to the best book publishing companies in your country or internationally with a cover letter requesting them to read and if possible publish your book. The chance of having the book adorn the racks or counters of a bookstore, would be quite slim while the chances of your manuscript being kept aside very high.

For new writers, it would be even more of an uphill task to convince publishers the worth of their written novels and fiction manuscripts. But, with the rise of the self-publishing industry, things have changed quite dramatically. Today, you can approach some of the new-age publishing companies that work in the field of self-publishing. For new writers, this is good news!

Publishing companies for first-time authors helps them to convert their precious writing into a hardbound or digital book or both in much less time and at a reasonable cost. Not only that, such publishers are not part of the typical traditional publishing system. Equipped with the latest technology and advanced gadgets, these publishers can offer all the services that a traditional publishing house offers.  But they are at opposite ends in certain respects too:

• Working with publishing companies for first-time authors, you are the final boss – meaning that it is your manuscript and you are the one who is vested with the power of decision-making. You choose when to publish, how much to earn and which services you need to outsource.
• Ownership and copyright – are all yours when self-publishing. Unlike traditional publishing, book publishing for first-time writers in the self-publish category helps the writer retain ownership of the novel. He is not paid a fee for the manuscript by the publishing company that traditional publishers would do to buy the story. And, then they would decide the cover, layout, edit the book, market it, and pay a meagre fee to the writer on the earnings that they would make on the book. In the self-publishing industry, you pay the publisher only for the job outsourced to them – and when the book starts to sell, all the money it makes comes to your kitty.

Edward Bertrand