Self-publishing is a time honored tradition in American history. In Colonial times, people who owned printing presses often were authors, publishers, printers, and distributors. Hundreds of very successful authors started out by self-publishing. Here's some insight into self-publishing authors and their books which turned out to be a success:
In Search of Excellence
Tom Peters sold more than 25,000 copies direct before selling it to Warner which has sold over 10 million more copies.
A Time to Kill
John Grisham sold A Time to Kill out of the trunk of his car before getting picked up to do several books.
The Macintosh Bible
The Macintosh Bible is one of the best selling books detailing everything about Apple Macintosh computers. Written by Arthur Naiman, The Macintosh Bible has sold over 900,000 copies.
Why We Want to Be Rich: Two Men - One Message
Published by Rich Press in 2006, this self published book by Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki has been a great success.
The Elements of Style
William Strunk, Jr. and one of his students, E. B. White, published The Elements of Style for his classes at Cornell in 1918. The book sells about 400,000 copies a year, selling millions of copies since its original publication.
The One Minute Manager
Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson self published The One Minute Manager and sold 20,000 copies before selling the rights to William Morrow. The book has been translated into dozens of languages and has sold millions of copies.
Life's Little Instruction Book
H. Jackson Brown self-published Life's Little Instruction Book before selling it to Rutledge Hill Press. The book has made it on the New York Times Best Sellers lists in its hardcover and softcover versions - at the same time.
These are just some of the examples of successful self-publishing authors. Traditional publishing is still a successful way to reach your audience, but when your book doesn't catch on with editors at big publishing firms, you may want to consider self publishing.
Self-publishing is quite different than being published through a vanity press. A vanity press charges a lot of money to publish a book with little chance fo success. Self publishing, on the other hand, is a method by which you publish and promote the book yourself.
