BUSINESS

CAN A 13 YEAR OLD SELF-PUBLISH A BOOK?

Everyone in this world has a story and age is just a number to create the best one. The question is can a 13-year old self publish a book? The answer is an absolute yes. But there should always be a key to that.

There is no age limit in making and writing your story but as legality, a person needs to be 18 to go into a publishing contract. The person should have a legal representative or better a guardian to sign for him if he wants to enter into a publishing company. But if the 13-year old author wants to self-publish a book, then he can definitely do it without any third person involved. Self-publishing refers to an author completing the entire publishing process—including printing, editing, proofreading, formatting, cover design, and book marketing—on their own or with their own resources. This is done without the help of a traditional publisher or publishing company.

There is an edge on self-publishing a book. You could have the opportunity to make a name for yourself. Getting your first book as a self-publisher can help you attract an audience. Plenty of successful and well-known authors have their beginning in self-publishing which will attract the attention of traditional book publishers in the future. Also aiming for a higher royalty rate. It could reach to 70% for independent authors while in traditional publishing deals, royalty rates usually go between 7 to 25 percent. And the best thing is you have full control over your own book. On traditional publishing, the people in it will have opinions on the content, book cover, and even on the title of your book. So for people who want to have total control in their Ghostwriting Services career, the self-publishing route can be an attractive option.

If there is an edge, there is also a pitfall on self-publishing a book. The first thing is the cost. If you choose to self-publish, expect higher costs. Self-publishing refers to an author completing the entire publishing process including printing, editing, proofreading, formatting, cover design, and book marketing on their own or with their own resources. This is done without the help of a traditional publisher or publishing company. Next for the print distribution.  Traditional publishers have connections to the bookstores which have often exclusive deals. And if you are a self-published author, it could be hard for you to make money and distribute your book to bookstores. Seeing your book to major bookstores would be challenging to achieve through self-publishing. Lastly is the support system. One big difference between a traditional publisher and a self-publisher is the resources that may help your book. This means access to proofreaders, publicists, professional editing services. They can help turn your manuscripts into audiobooks or provide a detailed marketing strategy.

But it is still up to the author if he/she will self-publish or go into traditional publishing. But to a 13-year-old author, it is still okay to self-publish and do all the works for the book. Aside from the biggest publishers in the world, there are still a lot of small and growing publishers which serve as great tools to every author reaching for their success. There are plenty of reputable and transparent publishers, like the Rushmore Press, a literary agency from Las Vegas.