Why publish your book yourself?

Let's be honest: getting a book published the traditional way is not the only way to become an author.

And it certainly isn't the only way to make a good book.

Maybe you've spent three years writing a novel. Maybe you've spent thirty years building a career and have finally decided to put what you've learned on paper. Maybe you've got a family history that deserves to be recorded before the stories disappear into the ether. Or perhaps you've simply had a book in your head for years and have finally decided to stop saying one day.

Good.

One day has a habit of becoming never.

Publishers say no for reasons that have nothing to do with you

Traditional publishing has its place, and for some books it's exactly the right route. But publishers have lists to fill, markets to consider and rather a lot of reasons to say no. A book can be worthwhile, beautifully written and genuinely useful — and still not be the book a commercial publisher is looking for right now.

That doesn't mean it shouldn't exist.

Publishing your own book gives you something rather valuable: choice.

You decide what the book is. You have a say in how it looks. You decide when it comes out, how many copies you make and who you want it to reach. You don't have to persuade a committee that your story is commercially viable before you're allowed to tell it.

Of course, there's a catch

Making a book properly is work. There is editing to be done, covers to design, pages to typeset, proofs to check, printers to wrestle with and approximately 47 tiny decisions you never knew existed until you started making a book.

That's where a publishing partner helps.

At Aster House Books, we take care of the parts that require publishing expertise while you remain at the centre of the project. We can help shape the manuscript, edit it, design it, produce it and get it into print.

Because wanting to publish a book isn't something you need to apologise for.

You wrote it. You researched it. You lived it. You thought about it for years.

Maybe you want ten copies for your family. Maybe you want a thousand copies in bookshops. Maybe you don't know yet.

That's fine too.

Sometimes, the fact that you wanted this book to exist is reason enough.