Self publishing your writings

No discussion of the publishing industry would be complete without mentioning self-publishing. Over the last decade, technical breakthroughs have made self-publishing a viable alternative to traditional publishing. Instead of having to shop books to agents and publishing companies, writers can now create professional-quality books themselves.
Self—publishing is attractive to authors because it guarantees that their books will be published. By self-publishing, anyone can become a published author. Innovations such as print on demand (POD)
books have drastically decreased the initial self—publishing costs because authors no longer have to print and store substantial printing runs. In addition, they don’t have to write query letters and proposals or deal with and pay agents. They, not publishing companies, get to keep the lion’s share of the moneys their books make.
Authors who have self-published have subsequently sold their books to traditional publishers, and some have gone on to great success. Self-published books have also brought their authors’ attention in their occupations and boosted their careers.
On the downside, self-publishing requires lots of work and has a high learning curve. Besides writing their books, self-published authors must learn about and take on many roles including those of a financier, editor, designer, book packager, schlepper, printer, distributor, fulfillment house, storage facilitator, promoter, marketer, and watchdog. Fortunately, they can contract out all or any of these functions and a number of experts have created businesses that now provide these services to self-publishers.
Unlike traditional publishing, in which authors receive advances against royalties upon signing with publishers, self-publishers must lay out a number of basic costs. Costs for editing, designing, printing, and promoting can be steep. Distribution can also be difficult because many booksellers don’t stock, or limit their stocks of, self-published books.