Hi, I was wondering if the college admissions will be pleased that I published a book? Will they mind that I self published it? Or should I have published it through a traditional publisher?? Does it matter for the college admissions? Does it raise my chances of getting in to a good college? (I’m aiming for NYU or UCLA or boston university)
I think it definitely makes an impact! It would probably count a little bit more than a “traditional” EC. If you don’t mind, could you briefly explain the process to me? It would be so cool to publish a book!
A self-published book, like that of the OP, will not impress admissions. For a few hundred dollars anyone can “publish” anything. (There would not be any distribution, readers, or reviewers, simply a box of printed material.)
If a student has had a book published by a legitimate publisher, and received national level positive reviews, then that would be an outstanding accomplishment.
Don’t promote it as a published book. Promote the writing itself as an artistic activity that required hundreds of hours’ commitment.
@fauve I was wondering how you know this information? Sorry, I just want to make sure. thanks for replying!
@amelia1212 if you want to self publish, you can use lulu and the website will walk you through the process. If you want to traditionally publish, you’ll have to submit your query and manuscript to several agencies and publishers and wait for a reply back 
I think it will look impressive! Not many people can say they’ve written a book. It takes great writing skills, hard work, and dedication. It will show colleges you are determined and committed. Best of luck to you!
@southernbelle16 I agree with Fauve. A few hundred bucks and you have a “published” book in your hand – whatever you turn in. This is no indication about quality.
Why an actual commercially published book is impressive is that they are investing in the work as able to be commercially viable i.e. of exceeding quality. In tenth grade, my DD got one inexpensively published for a class project… this is not on her EC list.
WasatchWriter’s advice is great.
@T26E4 I might have a different view on it than you, but I still think it’s something interesting to put on an application. Of course they didn’t write Twilight or Harry Potter, but it is still unique. I get where you’re coming from though. I couldn’t write a book probably, a bunch of people can’t. I mean it’s worth putting on there or writing about possibly. It just depends what other E.Cs they have.
I think it would be important to note somewhere in your application, possibly in a supplement, but for the CA I wouldn’t put it as an EC in and of itself. Or going off what WasatchWriter said, talk about your artistic writing as an EC and expand on that by mentioning that you have applied your passion to self-publish a book.
It does make a difference in how it’s published. A girl in my school self-published when she was a Freshman, the book was only a little over 100 pages, and (I looked it up on the site) she most likely paid more than she earned to get it done. I’m not saying this is your situation, but at this point in time self-publishing isn’t as universally respected as a traditional publisher because it’s seen as something that everyone can do.
Yes, writing something as long as a book does take dedication. However, in the 21st century, anyone at all can publish an e-book for free with Amazon. So unless you manage to promote your book and find a lot of readers who are excited about buying it, and who will recommend it to others so that your sales really go up, and you eventually attract the attention of a publishing house or literary magazine or the like, writing and publishing a book is not that big a deal. Interesting, yes, but not a big deal.
I agree with the posters above that it does show dedication to writing to complete a book and self-publish it. Certainly not as impressive as having it published for you, but it isn’t “nothing”… I see no harm, at least, in including it. If you sold any copies, you could list it something like:
WRITING- xxx hours/week, self-published novel, sold >100 copies
For college admissions I’d think that authoring a book which has been published by a publishing company would carry much more weight than a self-published book. If a book is self-published it does not guarantee to admissions that the book was of a high quality – it just says that someone in your family paid to have it published (and I expect that nobody in admissions will have the time to read the book to determine its quality). If you do self-publish you can certainly still put it on your application as it shows that you did spend the time and energy to write a book.
@T26E4 Do you think it’ll be ok if I don’t mention the book is self published? can I just say “published book sold in (these places).” And not specify how I published it?
You can certainly do that. However in doing so, the admissions officer reading your application will correctly assume that the book has been self-published.
The truth about self-publishing would also come out in an interview, as your interviewer would be curious as to the literary value of your book.
I would definitely say self-published from the start. If you write that your book was was published the admissions officer may look for the book online and if they don’t see it that could reflect poorly on your entire application. Much better to be 100% upfront.
I think the really important thing to focus on here is how much time, effort, dedication and creativity it takes to write a book! The fact that you took the extra step of self-publishing shows maturity and determination, so I think it’s actually a good thing! Of course it’s not on the level of writing the Harry Potter books and being a world-renowned successful author, but that is ok. It’s essentially a very strong EC and I would emphasize it as such. Actually, my son also wrote a book (but did not self-publish it). He wrote his common app essay all about the dedication it took to produce a 215 novel. While not quite a “hook,” I think it’s a great thing to have on your app. Good luck!
Thanks! Good luck!