> Here's my manuscript, please put it in book stores nationwide.
I suppose you heard about a company named Amazon. This is basically one of the services they offer for years, if you're OK with selling an e-book.
If your audience prefers dead trees, print-on-demand offers are also numerous.
The problem, as usual, is to make the existence of your book known to potential readers, and this is done by... advertising. And you want it to be targeted unless you enjoy burning money on spamming innocent disinterested people.
Yes, that is called "self-publishing" because it is distinct from what a real publisher does. Vanity presses have existed for decades at least before Amazon, but they too are irrelevant to the point here.
What a real publisher does is to market and promote your book in addition to just running the presses. Aka advertising. You're just making the GP's point for them.
A real publisher handles editing, fact-checking, copyediting, layout, cover design, and distribution. As well as marketing, which is distinct from advertising.
Yes, they do also sometimes advertise books, but I don't see how that proves that "anyone with a credit card" can "put out information" of their choosing through a real publisher.
I suppose you heard about a company named Amazon. This is basically one of the services they offer for years, if you're OK with selling an e-book.
If your audience prefers dead trees, print-on-demand offers are also numerous.
The problem, as usual, is to make the existence of your book known to potential readers, and this is done by... advertising. And you want it to be targeted unless you enjoy burning money on spamming innocent disinterested people.