Self publishing – What do you get?

Self publishing – what do you get?

There are lots of publishers ready to make you publish your work for a small (?) amount and with less time, say two to four weeks. Since the experience of the authors is generally a rejection to whomsoever you send the manuscript, wishing you all the best and sometimes even praising your work, and giving reasons for non-acceptance as this does not fit in their publishing program or the work not corresponding to any of the genres in which they publish, the author, who is certainly proud of his work, is often tempted to publish the work himself – through the so called ‘self-publishing’ platforms.

I am relating my own experience in this regard. I considered my writing about my career and twenty articles on current topics of HR equal to any of the normally published books in terms of content, quality and the message which one wants to convey to the readers.

I selected pothi.com for self publishing my work and there was excitement at each stage of the exercise, thanks to pothi.com team. First I was very happy to see the formatted manuscript, then the cover design (about which someone commented very positively)
and then receiving the published BOOK when my excitement ran high.

I at once mailed the Book link to all my known friends, wrote to various departments of the government, posted in Facebook, google, twitter and so on – all of which gave me immense joy, being a proud author. I got a good review from a recognized and well known journal which I thought will boost the sales of my book. I got nice comments from the HR site, YoungHR manager.com, from individuals, including a foreigner who had liked my earlier writings.

But, alas, including the six copies that I bought as author – with discounted price, and one copy sold at the exhibition organized by the Pothi group, only six copies have been sold after nearly a year. And, as of today, I don’t expect any more persons jumping to grab a copy of this book.

What I got and what I didn’t get: a well written manuscript in the form of a book,
but for which there is no demand. Well, in the case of self-publishing, there is no one to market your book, including the one who arranges for the publishing. The online channels are also not of much help, though one has to pay for using this channel also. I am not the only one in this category; several others have lamented on ‘no sales’. Well, at the time of publishing, no one has any idea as to how the books are going to be sold. Nothing sells, perhaps without advertising and a proper marketing mechanism. Agree?