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The author does not have a definite participating publisher. The whole entity book is independently published. The author in the whole process includes editing the cover and internal format of a book. And determine the price, distribution, marketing design and public relations.
Authors can participate in or outsource some or all of their work, and relevant companies provide these services.
At present, Self Publishing is not limited to physical books. E-books, brochures, sales brochures, websites, and other media are usually self published.

It means that authors or resource organizers use various resources to edit, print, distribute and invest in publishing books by themselves under the principle of legal publishing and market operation efficiency. Although not everything is done by yourself, it basically bypasses the barriers caused by resource monopolies such as book brokers and publishing houses. The author directly deals with editors, cover artists, book designers, printers and publishers, and finally deals with marketing and development.

The biggest advantage of Self Publishing is that writers get better pay. The pricing of "Self Publishing" e-books is only 10% of the traditional paper books, but the income that writers can get from book sales has increased from the previous 10% to 70%.
The most obvious drawback is that "Self Publishing" will make writers more busy, which inevitably involves writers' creative energy, and it is difficult for ordinary writers to be fully responsible for a book.

The first successful "Self Publishing" writer in the world is American John Locke. He published his works on an e-book platform and sold more than 1 million copies in a few months.

2010, American writer black crouch tried to "self publish" on the Kindle with the encouragement of his friends. Unexpectedly, 188 copies of his new book were sold in the same month. Since April 2011, the book has sold 20000 copies a month.

February 2011, Amanda Hawking, a 26 year old American writer, received a huge reward of millions of dollars for her "self published" works on the famous e-book Kindle.

2013, as the world's first cultural and social self publishing platform, the typesetting function of "one click book" of "time flow shadow" became its biggest highlight. After users upload pictures and text, after a certain amount of accumulation, they can automatically typeset by the "one click into a book" system, so as to realize self publishing and printing into a book.

I interviewed a self published writer through Lofter, but in respect of the requirements of the interviewee, I will not disclose any personal information about the interviewee, including ID and works. In the interview, I will use X to address the interviewee.

Q：Hi，X. I am a fan of you who have read all your books. I especially like your recent novella serials. Due to the requirements of the school, can I interview you about self publishing?

X: Um. OK. What do you want to ask?

Q: What is the usual process of making self published books?

X：First of all, you have to get the version number first, which is the most troublesome point. When you have a version number, everything will be much easier. If it is only an electronic version, just sign a contract with a specific platform and sell it by the platform. The cost of doing so is relatively low. But if it's a physical book, it's different. After completing the content, cover and back cover, I usually make sample drawings first. I will post pre-sale on the online shopping platform and show some content. The number of prints is determined by the results of pre-sale. Usually this quantity will be more than the result of pre-sale. Because some readers may miss the pre-sale, but still want to buy a book. Sometimes I also take my books to CJ or CP for selling. In such activities, in addition to making money, it is also a good opportunity to communicate with those ones who have the same interest.

Q: I remember you sold a lot of physical books two years ago, but why did you stop later?

X：The reason is complicated. One is the issue of national policy. China has strict regulations on the management of printed books.It is more and more difficult to obtain the series number and edition number. According to this year's policy, if you print publications privately and make profits, you may even go to jail. At the same time, due to the popularity of e-books, paper books are being abandoned. Even if it is sold on an online platform, four or five out of ten readers will say they want e-book rather than paper book. With high risk and low return, the authors naturally gradually chose to give up printing physical books. In fact, aside from being an author and simply as a self publishing physical book lover, this situation makes me feel very sad. In this way, it seems that the authors are not only limited by the policy, but also abandon the paper self published books by themselves. The writing environment a few years ago was much better than it is now. I still remember when the policy was not so strict in the past. I wrote novels with the theme of the Identity V. Thanks to the huge flow of people brought by the animation exhibition, I sold nearly thousands of physical books in three days. At that time, I also exchanged books with several other writers I admire very much. Unfortunately, I now hear that they have also stopped printing and selling physical books. Print a few copies at most for family and friends as a souvenir. I really miss that time. Paper self publications are not only a way to make profits, but also a kind of feeling. It is said that in Japan, even for less popular topics, nearly ten new self publications will be published every month. Many domestic readers will also buy those books by purchasing on behalf of others. I don't want paper self published books to disappear in China one day. I haven't given up writing in the past two years. On many Internet platforms, readers can still see my words. As long as I am still writing, if the policy is relaxed one day, I think you will be able to buy my books again someday in the future.

PIANIST ALSO PUBLISH BOOKS

Pianoboy is a pianist I like very much. His name is Zhihao Gao. He has the representative work of the truth that you leave, slience afternoon etc... He would went on an annual performing tour all over China. Before I came to study in the UK, I wouldn't miss his performance every year. At the concert site, his team will sell some brochures to the audience during the break. The selling price is about 50 yuan. The contents of the booklet include the repertoire list of the concert that day, Zhihao's composition inspiration and ideas, and his team members.

I used Photoshop and InDesign to imitate the pamphlet officially sold by Pinaoboy to make a page about Zhihao Gao.
The text content is selected from Zhihao's personal blog.
The pictures are synthesized after processing the covers of his two albums.