Once it’s complete you’ll want a way to distribute your story. You have more options now than in the days when what we now call standard publishing was the only way to circulate a book. We can discuss these options at any time. Here are some brief descriptions:
Electronic publishing
Print-on-demand
Standard publishing
Multimedia
Website
Copy shop
PDF
“Vanity” press
Electronic publishing
Your story is read on devices like computers, tablets and smart phones, downloaded via the Internet from an electronic book (e-book) provider. Kindle, Barnes & Noble and Apple are the most recognizable names but there are quite a few others. You can publish with as many as you like. Advantage: Production and distribution cost you nothing. Disadvantage: You don’t wind up with a product you can hold in your hands.
Print-on-demand
Individual paperback copies of your book are produced and dispatched immediately after they’re ordered by your readers. The author only needs to submit formatted copy and a cover design. Because there’s no inventory involved, it makes no difference to the provider how many or few copies you sell . Advantage: You can make unlimited revisions and offer unlimited new editions at no cost. Disadvantage: All promotion efforts are up to you. Some maintain that this form of publishing is making the prejudice against “vanity” presses obsolete (see below).
Standard publishing
Main advantages: Your book is produced, promoted and distributed by an established publishing house. Other advantages: Possible advance against royalties. Editorial guidance. Disadvantage: You’re committed to the publisher even if the publisher stops promoting your book. A good literary agent can improve your chances of getting a publishing deal. Finding one can be as competitive and time-consuming as finding a publisher.
Multimedia
The final product consists of more storytelling formats than your written account. Audio, video and pictorial slideshows, for example. Distributed on DVD, flash drive, via download and methods that haven’t been invented yet. Advantage: Your readers hear your actual voice, see you telling your story and get other visual information. Disadvantage: Expense.
Website
The product and its advantages and disadvantages are similar to those of Multimedia. Distribution is over the Internet. Biggest difference: Websites require maintenance. Of course the upside of doing maintenance is that you can add, change or remove anything at any time.
Copy shop
The simplest approach. You bring your completed manuscript to a copy shop and have as many made as you require. Some question the sense of going this route with print-on-demand available. The book isn’t as attractive or comfortable to read, and the copy shop’s price per page, the price of a binder and shipping fees are costs the author, not an e-book provider, has to bear.
PDF
An electronic file you distribute yourself via email, cloud service, flash drive, etc. Advantage: Probably the cheapest alternative. Disadvantage: Labor intensive if anything more than an intimate distribution is intended.
“Vanity” press
You give your manuscript to a printer, who sets up a press and produces a run of the book for you. Advantages: You can be very specific about the quality of paper, etc. There will be many more options about the quality of the cover (you provide the artwork) . Disadvantages: The printer will require an order of a minimum number of books. You’ll have to find storage for your inventory. Distribution will be something you’ll have to find a way of taking care of. If you want a subsequent edition you’ll have to go through the whole process again. With the advent of so many alternative publishing channels, this option is not as frowned-upon an option as it once was. The most expensive option.