Make sure the amount of postage is sufficient to return whatever you have mailed to the publishers. Do not send original material. Publishers receive many, many manuscripts and have limited staff so do not expect a full critique of your work. Allow at least eight to ten weeks for a publisher to respond to your submission. If not visit our Guide for Writers section.
Writers decide to self-publish their work for a number of reasons.
They might be having difficulty finding a publisher, or they may be unwilling to change their manuscript to fit into a publisher's program or schedule. Whatever the reasons, if you decide to self-publish, the most important thing to remember is to do the research . Even before you decide to self-publish you should develop a business plan which acknowledges productions costs, pricing, distribution and marketing strategies. Self-publishers often note that writing the book is the easiest part of the process. I am an illustrator.