Face it, writing and printing your self-published book are relatively easy tasks, compared to all the other requirements for successfully marketing it. The sales process is not for the faint of heart, but it is so vital to the entire process that you first need to make sure that you are prepared to be a self-publisher.

Most importantly, ask yourself: honestly, what is your real reason for publishing a book? Is it to make a lot of money, or is it for public recognition, ego gratification, the need to communicate an important message?

Identifying your motivation up front can either discourage you from taking the plunge or make you even more determined to succeed. The emotional and creative satisfaction of producing your own book can be exceptionally satisfying, as long as you realize what the process entails beforehand.

Expect it to involve five serious factors:

1. commitment

2. time

3.money

4. sell

5. persistence

Any self-publisher who simply goes to a neighborhood printer with a manuscript in hand to have a book produced is in for a long and arduous experience. Thus, the unfortunate author must be prepared to do virtually everything himself; all the design, editing and revision before, as well as the sales promotion after.

A slightly easier route is through the more well-known print-on-demand service companies like Palibrio and FirstBooks, or POD’s 100 other online publishing service companies. Even they aren’t technically publishers yet; being in reality only printers, producers and distributors of works of writers. It is their own author-clients who still have to carry out each of the necessary steps that a conventional publisher provides to its authors.

Marketing a self-published book is such a long and complicated process that it can practically take over an author’s entire life for a while, so it requires a very strong commitment. You alone will be responsible for each step: print quality control, copy purchasing, inventory, storage, advertising, selling, order processing, accounting, packaging, shipping, mailing, returns handling, billing, and invoice collection. Phew! Not surprisingly, many author-publishers commonly set 80-hour work weeks.

As for hopes of making big money, the brutal fact is that very few, if any, first-time author-publishers even break even. And all the publicized dreams of easily getting huge Internet book sales with minimal effort are just that: dreams. Putting up a website and sending a bunch of emails is not enough.

Unless you’re a “name” author, significant royalty gains from self-published print books are no more likely to occur on websites than in physical stores. It is even reported that a major POD player like Palibrio never surpassed sales of 2000 copies for any title. Sending emails rarely helps much. You have to go out and meet potential book buyers in person, then SELL, eye to eye.

So since it’s all up to you, modesty has no place in a self-publisher’s style. Blatant publicity and aggressive promotion are vital to the success of his book. Out of necessity, you will soon learn to honk your own horn, mainly because no one else will do it for you. Study the type of people your most likely potential readers are and the slogan advertising that appeals to them.

Work your way up by writing short, half-page press releases about your masterpiece and distribute them to the appropriate media. Offer to speak on radio shows and try to organize readings at local bookstores and libraries. You’ll likely be pleasantly surprised at your own ingenuity and the receptiveness of the people you approach for free publicity.

For other helpful low-cost marketing tips, read John Kremer’s excellent “1001 Ways to Market Your Books” or Jay Conrad Levinson’s “Guerilla Marketing” series.

However, selling direct in person is the only reliable method you have of getting your books onto store shelves. Which means making personal sales calls at bookstores. First of all, you need to understand that bookstores don’t buy books, they just borrow them for a few months, without paying on consignment, and then return copies that haven’t moved from their shelves. And keep in mind in advance that many bookstores have an inherent reluctance to accept any self-published title, without seeing it, regardless of the content or quality of the writing.

But take heart in remembering how many now-famous authors were repeatedly rejected before getting final recognition. For example, now best-selling author John Grisham began by selling copies of his first self-published novel out of the trunk of his car. Be equally determined and imaginative.

Keep your selling efforts personal, no matter what. Persistence is the quality that every author needs more than anything else. It’s what completes the manuscript in the first place, and perseverance remains the only thing that builds the eventual success of his self-published book.