But suppose they don’t appeal to you. You have another choice. Self Publishing

Yes, you may decide to do it yourself. Print and publish your work. Go round, promote and distribute your book. Become your own manager, accountant and clerk. And more! Then ask yourself: How far can I go? Do I have time? Do I have experience? Can I bear health and physical risks?

Well, it is up to you to decide. And remember what Hippocrates said: ”Ars Longa: Vita brevis -– Arts is long, but life is short”.

If none of above appeals to you, you are not to tuck away your precious manuscript in attic. And go bungee jumping! Life after all, “is not a roller coaster” someone says. So, why not try exciting world of Internet Publishing.

Internet Publishing Did I say exciting? Yes, of course. The world had been dragging until some whiz kids got their magic boxes together and said: “Let computers be connected!” And there came Internet. And dot com bomb. So, at touch of button, you have world at your feet. Isn’t that exciting? You, writer has so much to gain from Internet. You can do your research there, read all kinds of books, and do ultimate –- publish on Internet.

I am not going to do a dissertation here because I do not know so much about subject (pardon my ignorance.) I even understand that there is going to be a “new” kind of Internet, soon (pity me.) The first thing I will tell you though, is that dragons live there. The second is that many dot com companies are closing shop. And third is that there is no hidden secret to success in net than hard work, as in real life. (Is Internet not real?) The fourth is that Internet is your shortcut to success. Do you want to find out? Why not visit experts as you read on. Two publishing opportunities are open to you on Internet. What are they? you may ask. E- BOOK PUBLISHERS

Just as you have traditional publishers, so you have electronic or e- book publishers. But be careful! Many of them out there don’t know what they are doing. And remember, you are going to do business with someone you don’t see. So you will have to ascertain credibility of your publisher.

These are categories of E- book publishers I have observed from my own personal experience. Which is your preference?

1. Targeted Publishers

These ones publish selected books targeted for special audience. They publish How-To’s, books on Business planning, web site, search engines, Net Etiquette, humor and others. If your book is on these subject matters you are free to submit. 2. Submit, ready to sell.

These publishers would want you to submit your formatted E- book ready to sell. But manuscript would previously have been submitted for approval. And you would not be asked to make any financial commitment in this case. If this appeals to you, submit. 3. General Publishers

Submit your finished manuscript of any genre to these E- book publishers. Pay for publication and go to bed. They will handle everything from formatting to publishing and promotion. Your book will even be available as an E- book or Rocket E – book, paperback book and audio book and in several, other forms (as you may desire.) Interested? Then submit!

PRINT-ON-DEMAND PUBLISHING

Your book can now be published in paper back or hard cover and be made available to be ordered online anywhere. This technology is known as print-on-demand (POD). The copies are as good as ones from traditional printing houses. And there are no unsold copies.

For a list of publishers, simply search following on Web:

Trade publishers

Subsidy publishers

E-book publishers

Print-on-demand publishers

But if these do not appeal to you, and you have training and computer experience, you may play Stephen King—publish yourself!

Arthur Zulu is an editor, book reviewer, and author of Chasing Shadows!, How to Write a Best-seller, A Letter to Noah, and many other works. For his works and FREE help for writers, goto: http://controversialwriter.tripod.com mailto: controversialwriter@yahoo.com

Printing Services involve costs you assume when printing additional copies of your book. These costs are completely based upon page count and book format (paperback, hardcover, trim size, and whether or not you have color pages -- most every book comes with a color cover) -- and they can vary considerably from publisher to publisher. Printing Services for a typical 150 page paperback book can cost from approximately $3.98 per unit at one company to as high as $13.10 at another. Other companies will charge $12,000 to $30,000 to produce your book traditionally (meaning you need to purchase thousands of books from them upfront).

Thousands of successful self-published authors can attest to fact that a strong case can be built for deciding to self publish a book. This argument can be made in your attempt to build your company credibility in market (and thereby increase overall revenues or revenue-per-sale) or if you'd just like to add a high-return product to your overall marekting campaign. A good example is a market research firm who learns everything possible about purchasing habit at ultra high end of market -- purchasers inhabit most wealthy zip codes, send their children to ulitimate in private schools, and spend $50,000-plus on their cars. You would be quite right in thinking that ultimate purchasers of a book on how to successfully conduct focus group for these people and identify their purchasing habits is a group that is incredibly small. But, what if your company provided these types of services to companies who needed it? Tiffany's, other high end retailers, and ad agencies that cater to these retail establishments. The customers who need information in this book are willing to spend quite a bit to get to it... The owner of this research firm self-published a 150 page book that sells primarily through Web site -- at $275 per book! Average sales are less than 250 copies a year -- yet that's around $70,000 in book sales -- what piece of marketing material do you have that actually more than pays for itself?

There are of course no guarantees that your book will work (as with any marketing piece -- but you'll have a great book on your bookshelf that separates your and your company from competition.