Writer's Wednesday: Forming Your Own Publishing House

As many of you know, I'm in the throes of self-publishing my novel.  I had MANY author friends (including my Oasis Sisters) to lean on for help and guidance, so I thought I'd share some of what I've learned with any of you considering the same route.

One of the first things you may be wondering if you're thinking about self-publishing is why some authors take the time to set up a "publishing house," which is really nothing more than themselves.

Why bother with this, you may ask?  A number of reasons.

*  Added credibility.  Your publisher on Goodreads and Amazon won't be listed as CreateSpace or whoever else you use to print your novels.  You get to fill a publisher's name in the blank.  (With so many big houses having lesser-known imprints these days, most readers probably won't take time to distinguish you from them.)

*  You can purchase your own ISBN number.  Many companies that want to sell you an ISBN charge a huge mark-up.  The process is pretty painless and it's worth it to DIY.  Plus, you are not truly the publisher unless you purchase the ISBN yourself.

*  When you're setting up accounts with Amazon or Lightning Source, etc., they want a business name.  My Amazon user ID (like a stock symbol) is based on my publishing name, not Jessie Harrell.  It's my belief that having a publishing name makes the application process for these companies easier.

*  When you're ready to put your second, third, fourth, novels out there, you can publish them under a unified banner.  Once your "company" has multiple titles, it will be easier to get into the catalogs for Expended Distribution or be considered for purchase by libraries, etc.

*  Vanity.  If I'm being honest, I like that there's a publisher's name on the spine of my book and on the title page.  I endeavored to make my novel as closely resemble a traditionally-published novel as I could, and this just made it one step closer for me.

In case you're curious, my publishing name is Mae Day Publishing (can you tell I thought I'd need rescue?)  To do this, I registered my fictitious name with the State and ran an inexpensive ad in the local paper.  Blamo.  Now I'm a publisher.  I even got really cutesy and drew myself a logo -- this is my boss' dog, Mae, the paper-eating pooch who was really the inspiration for the name.

Got any questions?  I'm happy to drop by and answer them throughout the day.  Writers helping writers -- I'm just paying it forward.

Anyone have any other really compelling reasons to create your own publishing company before you self publish? Please share!