One of the questions that gets asked often by those thinking about entering the self-publishing foray is whether or not they need to create their own self-publishing company. After all, books that you see published on the shelf are all under some in print or division of a particular publishing company. People talk about the big six publishing companies and you can check out what publisher your favorite author uses and submit books to them if you write something similar.

But if you are self-publishing, then do you really need to create a publishing company? The answer is no. There is no requirement that you create a publishing company in order to self-publish your own books. However, just because one is not required does not mean that there are not benefits to starting one. By creating a logo, website and registering your publishing company and giving it an actual address and phone number, you will have taken self-publishing a step further than the majority of authors out there. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of starting your own publishing company.

For one thing, if you put out quality books, then people are going to recognize your logo even if you change your author name. Some people like to use different pseudonyms for different genres that they write in. Putting all of those books under a single imprint that is recognizable can definitely help with marketing.

Your book also looks more professional. When people do the preview thing on Amazon, they’re going to see the publisher’s name and logo on the title page as well as on the copyright page. You can make your book look as professional as any other published book out there. You can even come up with the correct numbers for printing additions and by ISBN numbers so that your books are registered with the Library of Congress. This will be required if you want bookstores, libraries and schools to buy your books.

You also have an easier time dealing with industry professionals such as the Ingram and Baker and Taylor catalogs. These are industry catalogs that list new books being published. Having an established publishing house with all the paperwork done correctly and a website can allow you to develop a relationship with them so that you can get your books listed just like any other publishing company.

You can also expand your publishing company and begin publishing other people’s books. If you have a knack for marketing books, then you can start accepting books and publishing them the same way that you publish yours, but this time you get a commission whenever you sell a book for that author. For more information on how to publish a book, check out Reedsy’s article on the subject

There are lots of good reasons to start a publishing company, but you should be aware that it does take quite a bit of work and there are costs associated with getting ISBN numbers and setting up a website. You may need to register your business name and change the way banking is done as well. If you’re just starting out, you should definitely work on a novel outline.

When you have an idea for a short story, sometimes it seems like it is only going to last for a few pages. Since it is difficult to market very short fiction, many writers want to expand the idea and try to make it into a longer story that they can actually sell. But how do you do this? Here are some writing exercises that will help you take an idea that is only half a germ of an idea or perhaps just a single image and allow it to develop into an actual plot line for a decent sized short story or novel.

Allow the Idea to Simmer

Some writers are able to come up with an idea and then put it on some imaginary back burner in the oven of their mind and let it simmer there in a slow cooker full of boiling water with a few spices. Weeks or months down the road, that idea could flashback fully formed into a story. This work was all done subconsciously. Of course, it helps to move the idea along by trying to think about it every night for a few minutes before you go to sleep. This stimulates the idea juices and gets your mind on track.

Try to Create a Plot

While some writers can come up with a fully formed story in their mind, others need to create a plot on paper. Either way of writing is correct. If you have a germ of an idea, then try to sit down and create a plot for try to imagine the who, what, where, why and how. It is often said that character drives plot, so if you just have a germ of an idea, then you might want to create a character first. Then try to imagine this plot device that you have created coming into that character’s life somehow. This might give you the jumpstart that you need to begin plotting.

Try to Write Some Fanfiction

If you have a file where you have scribbled down short story ideas, one of the most effective ways to come up with a plot sometimes is to simply go through them and try to imagine combining two or more of them; if you have the kind of scattered mind that sort of spits details out every once in a while, then those details might be meant to go together in the first place. At the very least, you will get some stimulation to add to the plot device you are creating. Writing some Star Wars Fanfiction or Supernatural Fanfiction always gets the noggin’ joggin too.

Plug Your Idea into Short Story Writing Exercises

You might be surprised what kinds of inspiration will ensue when you go online and look for writing exercises and try to use them as part of whatever germ of an idea you’ve already come up with. There have been several bestsellers that have been written based upon some sort of writing prompt from a workshop or online writing website.

Print-on-demand is a pretty common method for publishing books. But many people are confused about how it works. The way that print-on-demand works is a little complicated for anyone who is brand-new to formatting and self-publishing, but once you start learning the terms that you need to know and seeing it in action, it is actually fairly simple and self-explanatory.

What print-on-demand means is that a book is only printed when someone requests it. For example, if you set up a print-on-demand book, and then you decide you want to order a couple copies for yourself and family members, however many of those copies you pay for will be printed and shipped out to you. If a customer orders your book from an online venue like Amazon, then that book will be printed and shipped out to them. You don’t have to print a minimum number of books in order to do a printing. This allows authors to self-publish a book in paperback without having to spend money on printing beforehand.

So, how does the entire process work? It starts when you finish your book in Microsoft Word or whatever other tool you are using to write your book and then formatted so that it looks just exactly like it would within the printed book. That means adding a title page, copyright page and a table of contents as well as adding page numbers in the alternating author name and title to the headers and footers. Many books also have their chapter number in the same place each time a new chapter starts. If you have issues with working this out, hit up an IT Consulting NYC company.

What you have formatted properly, then you are going to upload it to whatever the tool happens to be for the print-on-demand platform that you are using. For example, CreateSpace is a popular choice. Once your manuscript – which is usually in PDF format – has been uploaded, then you can look at their online previewer and see exactly how your book will appear on the printed page. You will also be uploading your book cover. This can be a little bit tricky because of trams and bleeds. Most people are unfamiliar with graphic design, but if you are working with someone to create your book cover and you show them the instructions they will know what to do.

CreateSpace and other print-on-demand companies will also often do marketing for you. For example, once you have uploaded everything then you can add things like the author’s name and other contributors, the title of the book, a short summary or blurb, the categories or genres that the book is in, the number of printed pages and how much you want to charge for the book. Then your book can be distributed to websites like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Print-on-demand is definitely one of the greatest things to come along for self-publishing a long time and it is helped lots of authors publish their book and start a writing career.

There are lots of potential reasons that a ghostwriter might write for other people. Publishing a book and writing a book are two completely different propositions. This is especially true when it comes to self-publishing. However, even for publishing traditionally, you still have to send your book out to agents and editors, wait for them to tell you that they want to pass on it and then send it to a whole new batch of agents and editors – possibly just one at a time depending upon their policies. From there you have to negotiate royalties, advances and rights as well as all the other things that are in a standard book contract.

When it comes to self-publishing, it can be even more complicated. With self-publishing, the advance is usually nonexistent and the royalties are Hardy laid out in the agreement that you make with the self-publishing platform such as Kindle Direct Publishing. You also do not have to worry too much about rights because they are also laid out in the agreement. However, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t non-writing stuff to worry about. In fact, the workload triples or even quadruple with self-publishing because you have to take care of things like formatting the book properly for both e-book and print book form, creating a cover yourself or hiring a professional designer, deciding how much you’re going to sell the book for in doing all of the work uploading and taking care of all the other businesses seasons that come with self-publishing a book. If you’re just starting out, check out Squibler’s post on How to Write a Novel.

Some writers do not want any of those responsibilities. Some writers just want to write. They are good at writing books and they would rather contract with someone to get paid a certain amount in order to create a book for them. They never see that book again, but they have very long since moved on to a new book from a totally different client.

However, lack of interest in book publishing is not the only reason that people choose to go the ghostwriting route. Building up a catalog and making a success out of self-publishing can take years. You can work at it for years and never actually make any money. This is a lack of security that many ghostwriter simply cannot handle. The same goes for traditional publishing. If you toil in obscurity your entire life and no one ever accepts a manuscript to publish then you will have wasted years of your time.

But the main reason that writers choose not to go with the traditional publishing route or with self-publishing actually has to do with marketing. Marketing is something that must be done by the author if the book is to see the light of day and get out there in front of people who might buy it. This is more than just posting about the book on social media. It could involve buying advertising, giving interviews and sending out reader copies to blogs that review those types of books. It is something that many ghostwriter simply do not want to deal with.