Is it Worth it to Self-Publish a Book?

First of all, we need to understand what self-publishing is.

What is self-publishing?

 In a nutshell, self-publishing is where you do all the work.

 So, that starts off with you come up with a concept for an idea of a book, you arrange all the editing, the proofreading, the book cover design and the marketing.

In a sense, you arrange your whole schedule, you’re in charge of your deadlines. As I said, you pretty much do everything. The easy difference between self-publishing and traditional publishing is the other way around.

A publishing house, so if you think of places like Random House, Simon & Schuster, those kinds of places, they will take care of everything from the book design, the concept, the release dates, the marketing, they have all the readers.  

 You don’t have to worry about selling your book (although, more and more nowadays, Publishers expect their authors to do more book marketing)

With self-publishing, you have to come up with an idea for a book, and you have to source your editors, your proof-readers, your beta readers etc. (Beta readers are basically the people who read your book, critique it before it actually gets released. But you source all those kind of people) And you also sell the book.

 So, is it worth it?

 The pros and cons are:

It’s worth it if you are quite a go-getter, are very self-disciplined because a lot of this is quite a lonely business and you have to kick your own butt to get things done.

And, if you like marketing, networking; whether that’s online or arranging in-person book launches for example.

Where it isn’t worth it is, the marketing can take up a lot of your time.

Marketing is a huge part of being a successful author

If you’re already absolutely massively busy, then maybe going down the traditional publishing route is for you.

However, it doesn’t mean to say that traditional publishing is easy because you have to get over the barrier of submitting your work to a literary agent who has then got to okay that that book is good enough, or they see the potential in it to actually submit it to a publisher – so it isn’t a simple alternative.

 And then you’ve got to rely on that publisher making sure that your work is actually going to see the light of day.

It’s a lot easier when you’re doing it yourself as you can set up your schedule.

Setting up a schedule will help you with your writing journey

 Also with traditional publishers, you get less money per pound, if that makes sense.

For instance, in self-publishing, for every pound that you earn back, you might make 70 pence, for example (approximately)so we have found this to be a massive benefit.

 But with traditional publishing, you will see a lot less money per pound (around 15p)

The publishers have to make their money back for the marketing, paying for book designers, editors and proofreaders etc.

That money has to come from somewhere.

 So, if you want to do it all yourself, you love marketing, and you’re up for understanding the mindset of marketing, then go for it!

Self-publishing will be worth it in the end because you will make more money eventually.

 However, if you don’t have a lot of time and you just want to write, and that’s all you want to concentrate on doing, then go down the traditional publishing route.

Alternatively, if you have some money, to begin with, you can still go down the self-publishing route so you have more control, BUT you outsource everything.

What do I mean by outsourcing?

You would pay somebody to do your marketing for you.

There are people, software etc. that can take care of the parts you may struggle with.

 How to start self-publishing?

 Well, you need to come up with an idea for a book!

And if you’re not sure about how to come up with an idea for a book, then we have got loads of resources for you to start and we will help you on your journey.

 

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Happy writing!

Vicky & Claire x

You may also like:

Self-Publishing? How to come up with book ideas.
Self-Publishing – the challenges and the solutions.