The truth is, self-publishing hasn’t always had the best reputation. For a long time it’s been synonymous with vanity publishing, which is an entirely different thing. Traditional publishing has always dominated the route to market – it roughly goes: write a book – find a literary agent to represent you – hopefully get a good publisher – hopefully literary success. There are a couple of ‘hopefully’s’ in there because even with the best publisher in the world, success is not guaranteed.
As for finding a literary agent, that can feel like a battle too far for some writers. You have to have a very thick skin and enormous confidence in yourself and your writing to be able to swallow: ‘Thank you for allowing us to consider your submission. After careful consideration we have decided not to take this project forward/it’s not right for our list, but we encourage you to submit elsewhere and wish you the best.’ On repeat. There are a few publishers who will accept submissions from un-agented writers but you do have to be careful when selecting them.
Reasons for self-publishing.
There’s a school of thought that writers only self-publish when they can’t follow a traditional route to market. i.e. securing a traditional contract. But this simply isn’t true. Self-publishing is a different way to get your book out there, but it’s certainly not a route for rejects. As for why would you become an indie author? Well, let’s take a look.
- You retain full creative control over all aspects of your book. Which is no small thing when you’ve poured in hours’ worth of blood, sweat and tears to get it as perfect as you can. Handing creative control to someone else, albeit in the right industry, can feel like a step too far for some writers.
- You retain full publishing rights across all mediums and channels. Again, this is a perfect example of why having control of your work is a good thing. The decisions rest with you.
- You prefer to receive 35-70% royalties on e-books and 40-60% on prints. Those are pretty good deals and generally outweigh what a traditional publisher will offer you.
- You get to choose your publication and launch date. You can suit yourself! Want a winter launch for your Christmas-themed book? You got it. Rather than being told when it’s suitable for the overall publishing schedule.
- You get to manage key tasks such as cover design, formatting and marketing, among others. And you can do this on your own or hire experienced freelancers to do it for you. It’s all about having creative control over your work.
How much will you spend vs earn? Self-publishing can be costly — at first.
Regardless of which path you take, a lot of work goes into publishing a book. For indie authors, that means investing a lot of their own time, money, or both. Formatting, editing, cover design, and marketing are all essential parts of the publishing process. When you self-publish, you’ll either need to handle these yourself, or hire a professional to help you out.
These costs can seem intimidating, but it’s like starting up a new business: you need to spend money to make money. Self-published authors take home a fairly high percentage of the royalties generated by their books — typically between 35% and 70% for ebooks, and 40% to 60% for print books.
Meanwhile, traditionally published authors will only see royalty rates of around 25% to 40% for ebooks, and 5% to 15% for print books. Also keep in mind that these rates are calculated on net profit, not gross sales. This means that any fees charged by hosting platforms or retailers are deducted before your royalty percentage is applied.
So while it might be pricey upfront to self-publish, the higher royalty rates mean you’ll earn significantly more per book sold in the long run. Plus, the better the final product, the more likely you are to sell more copies and earn more money!
What to avoid.
In two words – vanity publishers. These are outfits that a) charge you money upfront and b) are completely non-selective. If you submit your manuscript you’re guaranteed to get a publishing offer. Of paying anywhere between a few hundred to a couple of thousand to publish your book. The rule of thumb is that if a publisher is asking for money upfront (for whatever reason) then they are a vanity publisher and therefore to avoid. Unless of course you don’t mind paying to get your book out there.
So there we have it, a brief overview of the reasons why you would self-publish. Whichever route you choose to go down, just remember to keep the faith in your work.