How to Make Money Online
Writing & Self-Publishing

1. Vanity Press

A vanity publisher is a publishing house that prints and binds the book at the author’s expense. Typically, vanity presses make most of their money from author fees and not book sales. Because they are not selective, vanity presses do not have a great reputation among distributors and retailer and they lack the recognition and prestige of commercial publishing.

2. Subsidy Publishing

A subsidy publisher selects books to distribute under their company umbrella. While subsidy publishers also charge authors for printing and binding, they will typically contribute a portion of the cost for editing, distribution, and in some cases marketing. Most subsidy publishers take a portion of the publishing rights and the author has little or no input into the book’s presentation.

3. True Self-Publishing

True self-publishing means the author undertakes all of the costs and responsibilities for publishing their book. The author retains all rights to their work and can produce a higher quality product in line with their own vision because they control every step of the process.

4. Print on Demand (POD)

Print on Demand is growing in popularity due to its short run printing option and online accessibility. As with vanity press, they do not screen submissions prior to printing. For an additional cost, POD publishers typically offer enhanced services such as editing, cover design, proofreading, marketing and publicity. Many also offer ISBN (International Standard Book Numbers) numbers which allows a title to be searchable and listed for sale on websites and in hard copy.

A major attraction is that some POD publishers have a connection with retail outlets including Amazon and Books in Print and many also have a direct order function on their websites which writers can publicize. Most POD companies now offer ebook publication in addition to hardcover and paperback.

5. Blogging, Twitter and Texting

The popularity of blogging, Twitter and texting has produced a whole new way of communicating, sometimes called 'bursting.' Bursting breaks a book or story into small segments and offers them up over a period of time, providing readers with short bursts of information to read.

Burst publishing is gaining momentum as a compliment to busy lives and short attention spans. Frequent contact with readers also helps to develop rapport and increases the chance they may visit your website (where they can often buy a physical copy of the book or donate money to support you).

Related Articles:

Chapters within this website:

Introduction: How to Sell Information Online

Infopreneur 101

Making Money with the Top 5 Information Products

Niche Marketing 101

Internet Marketing Tools for Infopreneurs

Resources for Infopreneurs

Infopreneur FAQ

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