How to Self Publish Craft Books

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Self Publishing a Book

   
I have been doing some basic research on how to self publish a craft book. Self publishing a book has been on my to-do list for quite some time. Based on my research, I'm convinced that if you like to write, then given the right topic, time, dedication and some smart promotion, writing and self publishing a craft book could be a very fun and profitable direction for a craft business.

Self publishing books allows you to develop a product that you create only once, but that sells over and over again (a nice feature, if, like me, you love the creative design and development process but aren't a big fan of repetitive production work). The growing popularity of ebooks coupled with the rise of print on demand companies that will print your book in small, reasonably priced quantities and sell directly to your customers, has made it easier to make self publishing a book a profitable endeavour. In fact, writing your own books, if you do it well, can create a stream of fairly passive income for your business.

I'm a pretty independant-minded person, so the idea of shopping around for a traditional publisher to approve my book doesn't appeal to me all that much. The more I read about the topic, the more I'm convinced that self publishing books is the way to go. Self published books are gaining acceptance in many areas of the book buying marketplace, and while it's true that you'll need to promote your self published book to ensure sales, contrary to popular belief, traditional publishers don't handle all of the promotion for their authors. If your book is picked up by a traditional publisher, you'll still bear a lot of responsiblity for promoting it, and with a traditional publisher, you'll likely make less per book than you would if you self published your book.

So, while I'm convinced that self publishing a book is a good direction for my craft business, there's the big matter of how to self publish a craft book. While there's a lot of potential in self publishing, you need to do it right in order to make a profit. A poorly chosen topic, an amateurish cover or a weak promotion campaign will all diminish your potential for profit. That's why, when Bob Beacham of sellingcraftsonline.com let me know about his self publishing ebook, Complete Craft Book Publishing, I was very excited to read what he had to say on the topic.

Bob's book is full of excellent self publishing help for professional craft artists. He covers crucial topics like how to research and choose a topic that people will want to read about, how to plan and write your book, how to set up a professional design and layout for your book, and how to promote your book - all on a limited budget.

What I really like about Complete Craft Book Publishing is that it puts all of the basics about how to self publish your first craft book in one clear, easy to read, organized format. Before reading Bob's book, my research on the topic had left me feeling a bit scattered; I had bits and pieces of information from several sources, but I didn't feel like I had a clear understanding of the steps I would need to take to self publish a craft book. It was something I knew I could do, but I wasn't clear exactly where to start.

I wouldn't feel right about getting into the details of how to self publish a craft book here on this site (I haven't done it myself yet, so I'm not prepared to give in-depth tips on the topic at this point!). I do feel confident, based on my research, in saying that a self published craft book that's done well could be a welcome and profitable addition to your craft business, and if you are looking at self publishing as a new direction for your business, Bob's self publishing ebook is a good place to get started.

 
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