FastPencil Brings Self-publishing To The Web

FastPencil is self-publishing with a twist. The traditional publishing process is a daunting one that can take many months of effort and more money than most writers anticipate. It’s no wonder authors get discouraged.

You shouldn’t have to ask anyone’s permission to write and publish your own book! We have removed the hurdles inherent in traditional publishing by combining amazing advances in print on demand technology with a sophisticated online workflow system.

FastPencil

This site provides a one stop resource for writing and publishing a ‘book’. On the authoring side it provides a light weight web interface for creating an outline and entering text so you can write in the browser. It provides tools for importing blog posts, adding collaborators, assigning editors and more.

Once you’ve committed your work to ‘paper’ the publishing features allow you to categorize the work, set copyright, including Creative Commons licensing, add cover art, and select formats. You may publish your work as an EPUB e-book or as a printed book. If you opt for a physical artifact, you can select typeface, paper size, set a price, and more.

FastPencil is free to use up to the point where you want to order physical books. Packages are available that provide services such as professional review and editing, cover art design, retail distribution and more.

So, it looks like FastPencil may be a good choice for authors interested in retaining complete control over their work or those interested in publishing their work but not inclined to clear all of the hurdles imposed by traditional publishers.