The Truth About Self-Publishing: 3 Things Nobody Tells You

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The truth about self-publishing is that writing a high-quality book is not enough. Readers don’t find a good book on their own, most authors earn little, and the ones who win keep improving, learn from people who sell books, and optimize their books. In the 2025 Indie Author Survey from Written Word Media, 44% of the 1,346 authors who answered earned about $100 a month or less (Written Word Media, 2-Dec-25). It’s self-reported, but it fits what I see. Here are three things nobody tells you. For another view, see what self-publishing is really like.

Why will I make so many mistakes?

Because everyone does. I made all of them. I didn’t set a specific time each day for getting books on the market. I didn’t invest in the right tools, because I thought doing things for free would save money. I skipped training, coaching and community and figured I’d work it out myself. I worked out a few things, and I made very few sales.

The first truth: decide how much time you can set apart each day, and do it early in the day, so you actually finish the steps. That covers the planning (choosing the niche, the title, whether there is a market), then the writing and getting the book out. Related: setting self-publishing goals.

Why join a community?

I was isolated from communities of authors who were making a killing. Not all communities are alike. Some are authors promoting books to other authors who have no interest in buying them, and that is a waste of time. Others focus on sales and marketing: their goal is to sell books, and they share how. I began to join those, learn from other authors, listen to podcasts and watch YouTube videos, and I got feedback from readers and the community. Sales jumped, and I felt part of something bigger.

The second truth: if you get started and keep improving, you can win. Most people fail because they quit too early or stop making regular improvements. Keep asking what you are doing and what time and resources you are wasting, a continuous improvement habit the Japanese call kaizen.

What does it mean to optimize my books?

This is the one that separates winners from losers. Optimize:

1. The title, so it is in a market where people want to buy.
2. The cover, matching your genre and niche.
3. The length, to match the books in your niche, and pick niches where you can compete. See which niche earns the most.
4. The description, with high-quality sales copy.
5. The keywords, so readers find the book organically.

Notice that I did not list the quality of the book or the editing. That is a shock to many people. I’m not saying to put low-quality books on the market, and good editing matters. But a book with good sales and marketing will often outsell a better book that nobody sees, nobody finds, and that has a terrible cover. Many good books on Amazon end up that way. Related: is it expensive to run ads.

What can’t I put in my book title?

Optimizing has limits. KDP’s metadata guidelines say the title and subtitle together must be fewer than 200 characters, and the title should hold only the real title. They rule out repeated generic keywords in the title, sales-rank claims such as “bestselling” and promotional words such as “free”. So you optimize by being clear about what the book is and who it is for, not by stuffing the fields.

What do the higher earners spend money on?

The Written Word Media survey also asked about spending. Among authors earning $100 a month or less, over half spent $0 to $100 on a cover, and 214 spent nothing on editing, the largest group. Of the authors earning over $10,000 a month, only 11 spent nothing on editing, and most who earned $5,000 a month or more spent at least $250 on a cover. The survey finds no clear link between spending $2,000 or more and higher income, and says this is correlation (Written Word Media, 2-Dec-25).

That fits what I said above. Editing matters, and so do the cover and the sales page. Spend enough to look like the best sellers in your niche, then put your effort into getting the book found.

Have you tried to save money by not investing in yourself? Book a free 25-minute discovery call with me and we will look at what to improve first.

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