If you've just written your first book, you're probably wondering what your publication options are. Well, the good news is that you have several.

Publishing Companies:

Of course, the classic option is submitting manuscripts to major publishing houses. After all, who doesn't dream of having a major company publish their books? However, there are only so many companies and they each only take so many manuscripts each year. So, you're likely to get a lot of rejections or, at least, requests for major revisions.

Home Publishing Options:

Then, of course, there are the home publishing options. It is actually possible for you to write, print, bind and market a book all on your own in the comfort of your own home. However, you'll need special materials and equipment that costs quite a bit of money. You'll also have to spend a lot of time.

In addition to that, there are aspects of true self publishing that you may just not be up for. For example, you may not know the best way to lay out your book. You also may not be an artist, so you might have to hire an illustrator. You could even use an outsider to edit the book. So, again, those things can take both time and money.

POD Publishing Options:

POD is a fairly new service that combines the best features of the two options above. You may not be able to get into a major publishing house, but you can send your manuscript to an Internet publishing company.

These days, there are Internet publishing companies that use digital printing to cut out all of the costs and problems of old printing styles. So, authors no longer have to pay ahead to have their books printed. Instead, the books are printed after each copy is ordered and the author gets a cut of the profit from each sale.

The nice thing about POD is that the company doesn't care about certain things that major publishing houses might. So, for example, a POD company won't ask you for major plot revisions. They don't care about what the plot of your book is. So, your book can remain completely under your control.

The only trouble with POD is finding a legitimate company. To do that, just do some online research. Read some unbiased company reviews. Then, when you think you've found a company, don't be afraid to ask them questions or ask to see samples of their work.

Design Elements:

Any of those publishing methods could potentially work, but your profits will only be as good as your book, no matter what. So, remember that any sort of self publishing needs to begin with the right design elements and layout. Once you have your book looking good, you can then begin the process of marketing it to other people.