A royalty publisher pays the production costs for your book, and if you receive a promotion budget, your publisher pays those costs. With self-publishing, you pay for the production and promotion of your book.

If your book sells, a royalty publisher pays you a small royalty, usually 15% of the net. Example: The publisher sells a $10 book to bookstores and distributors for about $4.50. Then they pay you 15%, or 67 cents.

With self-publishing, you retain all the profit. A trusted custom publisher should offer the same top-quality services a royalty publisher provides, but allows the author to control the project and receive substantially more of the profit.

Each book is printed as an order is placed. Digital technology is utilized to print your book, one book at a time, eliminating a large up-front cash requirement for the author and removing the need to warehouse large quantities of books.

Traditional self-publishing, which utilizes offset or web press technology, works best when printing 2,500 copies or more. Because they are printed in large quantities at one time, self-published books require warehousing. While this process requires more time, it creates a price advantage. You set the price for your book based on the return on investment you desire. And the more books you have printed, the lower the price you pay per copy.

With print-on-demand, the publisher establishes the retail price for each book, based on the book's page count. Normally, the retail price of a print-on-demand book is anywhere from $2 to $3 more than a book printed in the traditional manner.

With traditional self-publishing, the income potential generated on sales through distributors and bookstores is much higher than with print-on-demand. However, your up-front, out-of-pocket costs are also much higher, and you can't always predict how well your book will sell.

If you have a substantial speaking ministry or a national distribution network for your book, self-publishing the traditional way makes the most sense. Print-on-demand is a wonderful option for authors who have limited resources and/or who want to test the market.

No. The success of your book is directly related to your marketing effectiveness, whether through a speaking ministry, radio interviews, television coverage, advertising, or other means of promotion. Custom publishers do not take on the responsibility of selling your book for you. They assist you in meeting the demand you create. Your book could sell through some of the services offered (Amazon.com, Web page, catalog, regional or national publicity blitz, etc.), but these should be considered as services to augment your own marketing and promotion efforts.

Poetry: Since poetry creates a marketing challenge for unknown authors, print-on-demand provides the best option. Print-on-demand reduces the risk and enables you to get your work into print.

Non-fiction: A narrow and clearly-defined market makes non-fiction the most successful self-published genre. Non-fiction manuscripts written for specific people groups (i.e. military wives, bereavement counselors, single parents, etc.) are the best books to self-publish in large quantities.

Fiction: The broad market audience for fiction creates a marketing challenge. While some self-published fiction titles have done extremely well, the risk is greater than with non-fiction. Most fiction titles are best published through a print-on-demand option, so you can prove the market before publishing a quantity of 2,500 or more.

Full-Color Picture Books for Children: Because of the tremendous expense involved in full-color printing, it only makes financial sense to print 5,000 or more copies. Unless you require case binding (hard cover, which is not yet available), full-color print-on-demand is the most financially-sound choice.

No. For a self-publishing company to insinuate such a claim constitutes outright deception. Royalty publishers do not even make this guarantee. However, you should make sure your publisher makes your book available to all bookstores by listing it with major distributors (general market and Christian) and with Christian Books & More. As long as a store knows where to get your book (either from the publisher or distributor), customers can special-order a copy. Accessibility can be guaranteed, but seeing your book on bookstore shelves anyplace other than your home town is an unrealistic expectation.

You must obtain copyright permission directly from the original source if quoted text contains over:

*500 words quoted from a book *100 words quoted from an article *Lyrics quoted from a song or poem

In all cases where you have cited other sources, include an accurate reference of who, what, when, and where you found it. Legal mandate requires a person to give credit where credit is due.

If your book is print-on-demand, you won't need a fulfillment service because the books are printed and drop-shipped as orders come in.

For traditional self-published books, however, a fulfillment service ships your books wherever they are requested. This service allows you complete freedom to promote your book while you're traveling. You don't have to carry hundreds of books in heavy boxes, loading and unloading every time you stop. You can warehouse your books with the publisher and request case shipment to speaking engagements. Promotional tours are far more enjoyable when you are not worrying about the post office closing, where you put your address list, and whether the buyer's credit card information is correct.

Your books are warehoused for you and orders are filled as they come in via:

*An 800 number *The Internet *United States Postal Service *Fax *Distributor or bookstore orders

A fulfillment service can receive retail or wholesale orders, process credit cards, mail the deliveries quickly, and provide a quarterly statement to you with your check. Your statement should list the names and addresses of each individual, bookstore, or distributor who ordered your book. The information should be provided to you on disk, so you can add it to your database. A fulfillment service takes care of everything.

An important aspect of marketing is getting free media coverage. A publicist works for you by calling the major media outlets in your area or across the nation to inform them about your book release. Depending on the type of campaign you choose, the publicist will schedule as many interviews, book reviews, etc., as possible to improve your local and/or national exposure. Another advantage to utilizing the services of a publicist is their expertise in working with the media and developing different ways to market your message.