Why Self-Publish?
Lots of people ask the question, “Why should I self-publish my book?”
“Why should I bear the responsibility for the content, marketing, and cost of production of my book, after I have spent the last year (or two, or three, or ten!) writing it?”
There is one main reason I tell them all.
Control.
Why should you sell to a mainstream publishing house and give up control over your book?
If you do sell to a mainstream publisher you lose control over three major factors:
1. Time. Your book will be put on a production schedule and released at your publishing house’s discretion. That means you may not see
your masterpiece until 2012!
2. Marketing and Publicity. It may be harsh to say, but marketing people don’t always understand the product they are marketing. Just
don’t forget that no one understands your book and your book’s audience the way you do.
3. Profits. The vast majority of writers with mainstream publishing deals earn a royalty of about $1 a book. By contrast, it’s not unusual
for writers who self-publish to earn five, ten, or even twenty times that.
Of course you think that publishing houses will print thousands and thousands of copies of your book, then invest thousands and thousands of dollars in marketing and publicity.
So what you lose on a per-book basis you’ll make up in volume, right?
Sadly, probably not. The house will release your book and give it a few months to succeed. If it doesn’t sell well? The books get returned and that’s the end of it.
In the last few years, incredible advances in technology have allowed writers to become their own publishers.
So now is the time to dig out those manuscripts. You don’t need anyone’s permission to publish your book, so what are you waiting for?
Do it today!
