The opportunities to self-publish a novel, novella, short story, article, or any other preferred format of writing have never been more prevalent. Self-publishing platforms such as Amazon, Lulu, and Smashwords offer abundant options in a variety of mediums, from physical trade paperbacks to the ever-growing eBook sector. Writers can select from a wide variety of packages, including editing and proofreading services, cover design options, and formatting services. Multi-talented writers can even take on all of these lofty tasks themselves and just pay a nominal fee for offering their works through the plethora of online distributors. With big online retailers such as Amazon investing significant resources into offering self-publishing tools for budding authors, writers with a finished manuscript can find plenty of opportunities to create and stage their final products.
Naysayers claim that those who self-publish should beware releasing a book that hasn’t received the blessing of big publishing houses because once something is published, it can never be un-published. The collective response from those familiar with intellectual property rights has been a resounding, “So what?” Writers who self-publish have a distinct advantage over those who sign contracts: self-publishers retain the intellectual property rights for their work, which means they can keep their work, or sell it whenever they want. Traditionally published authors simply can’t; the publishing house gets all of the rights, while the author only remains entitled to future royalties, however stingy. Having control over a copyright can be a powerful bargaining chip, giving self-published authors who prove themselves their choice of publishers if they later decide to go the traditional