In June 2006, after five long years of work, I finally announced the publication of my first book, Genesis of Man. I certainly did not expect that a mere 11 months later I would be launching a new updated version.
When I first began to write, back in 2001, I had no idea that this would eventually become a book, much less be published, so it was a truly wonderful feeling to finally open that package and cradle my own precious book for the very first time.
Sadly, with the advent of discounting and online retailers, it is becoming more and more difficult for new authors to secure a publishing deal. This is the main reason then why I eventually decided to self publish. Book shops typically purchase books at 40 percent discount, which they then take as their profit margin. They are perfectly entitled to do this, and obviously do need to make money themselves, but sadly for much of the time, this comes at both the publishers and authors expense, as it also means they earn less. Less money in the publishers coffers means less money for publishing new and unknown authors, until we get to the point where all that is published is memoirs from so called celebrities, and block buster novels by the few lucky best sellers. The sad fact is that is in today's climate less than one third of all books published makes any kind of profit at all, while one third break even, and one third actually lose money. Is it any wonder then that is so difficult for new and upcoming talent to secure a deal?
Even if you are one of the lucky ones, who manages to be offered and sign a publishing contract then there is still no guarantee that the book will ever see print. You will still though, in many cases be locked into a seven year contract, unable to take the book elsewhere. If do manage to see your name in print, then you will be lucky to receive a royalty of more than eight percent.
