The New York Times recently wrote a story about self-publishing,
noting that it's come a long way from the old, expensive, disreputable
'vanity publishing' scams of a few years ago. Some major publishing
houses now have a stake in the leading so-called 'print on demand'
(POD) publishers, and although it's still a one-in-a-million
proposition, a few self-published books have made the leap to best
sellers (though average sales is only 150). Mostly, these successes
have come from the author's own initiatives, using viral marketing, and
primarily from online sales.
The 'Big 3' in POD publishing are:
Borders Group/Random House
(Xlibris -- $500 for graphics, proofreading, an ISBN number, LOC
registration, copyright, online sales page, and a listing in major book
vendors' catalogues and online sites; softcover)
1stBooks
($698 for graphics, extensive marketing support, an ISBN number, LOC
registration, copyright, online sales; softcover or hardcover)
Barnes & Noble
(iUniverse -- $459 for cover graphics, marketing toolkit, 5 free
copies, an ISBN number, LOC registration, copyright, and a listing in
major book vendors' catalogues and online sites; softcover)
All three vendors also offer more extended services (hard copy,
promotion etc.) at an extra charge, all three offer a pdf e-book
version of your work, and with all three you retain ownership of the
work, so you can shop it to a mainstream publisher later at no
additional cost. Here is a table the Times provided with more information:
I've been giving some though to who to get to publish my book, when it's finished in June. I'm partial to New Society Publishers,
since they promote themselves as 'The Activist Publisher' and publish
exclusively "Books to Build a New Society". They were the printers of Radical Simplicity,
and they're Canadian to boot. But one way or another, my book is going
to see the light of day, and if that means self-publishing, so be it.
I know many bloggers have aspirations to land a book contract, and a
few that I know have succeeded, though some of these contracts are a
lot more generous than others, and none are for what I'd call big
money. What do you think? Do you have dreams of publishing your work in
more than the emphemeral world of the blogosphere? If so, would you
self-publish? How would you get around the challenge that faces all new
writers (exactly the same paradox that faces new university graduates
looking for work): If you haven't already been published, no one will
publish you.
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MADE IN CANADA
trust your
instincts 
There's a clever new video out from NARAL. 
