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(Or, a new route to financial nirvana)

I. Self-publishing: The new mantra

For those writers and book authors, with the urge to go beyond the humdrum of harnessing the creative juices — here is the good news. You can set up your own business of publishing your creations.

Gone are the days when you had to knock at the doors of those stodgy publishing houses, showing off your manuscripts and requesting them to invest some time in reading their content. These days, if you have the right savvy and the right ingredients in your personality; you can yourself publish your own works.

What exactly is the difference? As a writer, your role ends with completing the manuscript. As a self-publisher, you have to wear several hats, and undertake tasks that a publishing agency handles under one roof. This means that after the manuscript is completed, you need to interact with the editor, the professional(s) designing the book, followed by the printer who would generate bound, printed copies of your book.

Obtaining ISBN numbers, so that any bookshop can place the order for the book for you, is another issue that you need to contend with. After getting the ISBN number, getting it added as a bar code on the book's cover from the printer might be an additional cost that should be borne in mind.

Review of your book from reputed journals requires that a proper, bound manuscript be sent to them much in advance of your publication date, so that reviews appear in the press and whet the appetite of the prospective readers. You want your masterpiece to be read by the hoi-polloi and the intelligentsia, right!

Finally, you have to handle the marketing and distribution of the book, too. This can be done by either entering into an agreement with established distributors, or by approaching your target readers directly.

So, as you can see, publishing is a full-fledged, hard-nosed business; with all the associated "thinking ahead/ planning ahead/ book promotion" mumbo-jumbo that goes with it — and totally different from the arty, dreamy world of book writing or novel writing.

II. Benefits of Self-publishing

When is self-publishing beneficial? Technology has simplified the entire task of book publishing enormously. Through your Internet, you can get in touch with all the elements of the book publishing industry that do their jobs quite professionally.

Self-publishing is especially useful if you intend to target some niche segment of readership, which in your opinion, is not a focus for established book publishing agencies. Also, when you are a novice and a wannabe in the market, self-publishing is one way of putting yourself ahead of the me-too crowd.

There is another advantage with publishing on your own. As a writer, you stand to gain about six to ten percent of the sales as royalties. As a publisher yourself, you can receive up to thirty percent if you are marketing the book through distributors, and one hundred percent if you are doing the sale directly. So, if you think you have it in you, go for the jugular!

III. How Chrysanth NETime Author helps

The self-publishing software Chrysanth NETime Author allows you to work on the full manuscript itself, right down to the stage when it has to be given for printing. With a well-laid out control panel that has all the features that a writer can think of, the self-publishing software enables you to work out the nitty-gritty of the content that would finally go in your work.

When you actually start interacting with book designers, the communication that is exchanged between the two of you can be carefully stored in one of the folders here, for ready reference. The same holds true for all interaction that you have with other players — the editor, the distributor, the promoting agencies, and others.

All your tasks that go into reaching the final stage of putting the book on the shelf can be logically laid down here, along with estimated dates, and actual dates; this give you a bird's-eye view of where your project stands at any given moment.

After all, if you aim to really profit from your writing effort, you need a good assistant who keeps tabs on everything. Chrysanth NETime Author serves as the perfect assistant for you — if ever there was one!

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Learning how to publish an eBook could mean a great step in your writing career since you can reach thousands of readers worldwide.