Self-Publishing Might Be for You If...

Did you know that some traditional publishing houses deduct money from their authors if their books don't sell? Self-publishing might be for you if want to avoid the risk of losing money on unsold books.

Publishing houses often offer retail bookstores a 100% refund on unsold books. Say you have published with a publishing house, and it has placed 150 of your books in a bookstore; if after some months there are a few books left on their shelves, they can return the books to the publisher for a full refund. Not only do they refund the bookstore the total monies paid for those books, they also deduct that total from your account. Also factor in that due to the full refund policy, the bookstore will have little or no incentive to push the sale your book!

Unique to many self-publishing companies, there is no loss of money for you the author because you have some options. As a self-published author you may sell your book through an online retailer which does not have to worry about unsold books sitting a shelf because it does not actually hold or distribute any books. In addition, you may choose to sell and distribute the books personally using website or blog and a tool like PayPal (used on eBay). Both of these options bypass the risk of having unsold books returned to you and/or losing the money you paid to have those books printed and sold.

At Mill City Press, we offer book distribution through Mill City Press or individual distribution, as well as availability through online retailers as part of a personal marketing plan. If you choose to have us fulfill your book orders, you simply pay to have a certain number of books printed, and we keep the books here until they are sold--no return of books to you and no money deducted from your account. Visit our website by clicking on the link above.