March 2, 2023
Self-publishing has grown in popularity as writers discover they don’t need to rely on a publishing company to get their words in print. If you’re on the fence about whether to self publish your book, read our 10 reasons why the decision to self publish could be the right choice for you.
One excellent reason why you may want to self publish is to keep all your profits. When you publish with a traditional publisher, you will be paid in royalties, which are a percentage of the book sales. You may also get a small advance, although that isn’t common for first-time writers.
When you choose a self-publishing platform, you can keep 70% of your royalties. This is a major reason why authors self publish. If you choose to take full control of your book, you keep 100% of the royalties because you don’t have to pay for the publisher’s printing or marketing. You pay for those things yourself. In return, you get the full profit on every book you sell.
If you achieve success as a self-published author, you can set up a writing business that brings in consistent money. Many people want to achieve financial independence, and writing books is one way to do that. It’s not a get-rich-quick scheme, but you can count on developing a solid side income from your writing. Over time, it can become a profitable business that you run from the comfort of your own home.
As a home-based business owner, you can eventually form your own company. You’ll be entitled to many tax benefits, including the cost of using an office, your computer equipment, printing costs, and marketing costs. Consult a tax professional who can help you figure out the best way to take advantage of these benefits.
The biggest reason an author chooses to self publish is to retain control of their work. As a self-published author, you don’t have to submit to the whims of a publishing company. You can keep your characters, wording, and plot the way you wrote them. You can choose your own cover design, graphic artists, illustrators, and editors. If you publish with a commercial house, your publisher will make many of those decisions for you.
When you self publish, you direct your own marketing. While that presents its own challenges, it is also a wonderful opportunity to sell your book on your own terms.
You know what pace of work is most productive for you. You might have a writing schedule that works well for you, and you may have figured out how to fit it around the rest of your life. Working with a publisher can disrupt all that. You must have patience as you try to find an agent, submit queries, and wait to hear from publishing houses.
Once you finally do get the go-ahead that you’re going to be published, that’s great news, but you’ve got more work and more patience ahead of you. You’ll now be on the publisher’s schedule, and you’ll be expected to meet their deadlines for drafts and revisions.
When you self publish, you’re on your own timeline and schedule. Your only deadlines are those you set yourself. If you want to get your book out on your own timeline, that’s a good reason why you may want to self publish.
When you publish traditionally, you typically work with an editor whose focus is to create a marketable book. If you’re lucky, you’ll work with someone who shares your vision for your book.
If you’re not that lucky, you’ll work with someone whose main focus is creating a book and marketing package that may work for the publisher but not for you. If you don’t want to lose control of the hopes, dreams, and vision you poured into your work, the decision to self publish is your best option.
When you publish with a commercial company, your contact will specify that you are giving up a large part of your rights to the book. That’s standard with most book contracts.
You may not mind when you’re wrapped up in the excitement of signing a book contract, but that may come to haunt you further down the road. If your book sells well, you will still be locked into the same contract with the same royalty payments and without full artistic control of your book.
If you’re lucky enough to write a book that someone wants to adapt into a movie, the publisher is the one who makes that decision—not you. Further, the publisher can make demands about how your book is depicted, and you may not like the finished product at all.
Of course, the money you’d make would take the sting out of that, but imagine if you were in the same position with a self-published book. You’d keep all the rights to your work, have a say in how it’s used, and make all the profits.
Trying to get your book to capture a publisher’s attention can be a brutal experience. You are likely to face a few curt rejections. It has nothing to do with the quality of your book, but publishers receive thousands of queries and manuscripts every week. They don’t have time to respond personally to each one.
When you self publish, you don’t have to face that rejection. You can get on with the business of publishing your book without worrying about getting another rejection letter.
If you’re anxious to get your book out to the public as quickly as possible, the decision to self publish is the best choice. In traditional publishing, it could take six months to a year for your book to be printed and ready to market. When you self publish, you can begin printing and marketing your book the moment you finish writing it.
Although it’s exciting to see your book in a store, you don’t need bookstore sales to be successful. Most books are sold online. As a self-published author, you have many options for selling your book. You can sell it on a self-publishing platform, you can sell from your author website, or you can market it through social media, public speaking tours, or a combination of all those methods. You have the freedom to set your own path and choose what works for you.
While there are many good reasons why you many want to self publish, there may be some reasons it’s not the right choice for you. Here are some things that might make you think twice about it.
At Publishing Xpress, we specialize in working with self-published authors. We’ve helped many of them bring their ideas to life, and we can do the same for you. Contact us today to learn about our affordable printing services.
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