When choosing a publishing route, people will tend to be confused about which option is the right one for them. Learn why self publishing is better based on my own experience.
Today's question has three answers and the third answer is a secret. I'm going to tell you why I personally really love self-publishing. So let's get into it.
The question that was sent in is, why self publishing is better? This is a very common question because when you're looking to publish a book, the question you're going to be having is well if you're not self-publishing, then you're going to be traditional publishing.
A lot of people are not completely clear over which option is right for them. So if you're going to self-publish, you would want to know what exactly makes it better? And that is what we're going to answer today.
You can also check out my free Self-Publishing Checklist that will help you get started on your self-publishing journey. So, why self publishing is better? When I started, I understood that traditional publishing would be very difficult to get going with.
You need to have some sort of an agent who would help you find this out. And it's very complicated getting in contact with the companies. Is my book really something they would want to publish?
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Do they even know me? Is it too high of a risk? There are all sorts of questions that they would have.
So I started self-publishing right from the start. It wasn't even a question because I saw this was a route that I could do. Nobody would say no to whatever books I wanted to throw on the market.
I wasn't completely sure over that either. I thought maybe Amazon would filter out certain books or let other books go through. Or what if the quality is not the level that they were looking for?
Many things simply were not completely clear when I started. But I didn't have this primary question since I wasn't looking to traditionally publish. That wasn't my goal.
My goal was just to see if this was something that was possible, to get my ideas out into the world. And so I personally didn't answer the question. However, after I got into it, I met lots of other people who did have this question.
And in fact, it was a big decision that sometimes stopped them from self-publishing. They were sitting around waiting and trying to figure out what the right answer was.
Control The Quality Of Your Book
So, hopefully, we'll be able to answer this question today for you. So why self publishing is better? Let's get into the answers.
The first answer is you have control over the quality of your book distribution and marketing. So when you self-publish, you decide the quality. Is it well-edited or is it not edited?
Do you like the cover? Do you like the title? These are things for which traditional publishers like to take control.
Now, you might think they've been doing it for so long. So clearly, their choices and decisions would be much better than yours. But in fact, that's not always the case.
They're not necessarily basing it upon the data behind it. And so we can't just give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they're going to give you a better quality with regards to the process.
But when you self-publish, you control everything that's there. You control the cover, the title, the keywords, the description, and the quality of the book itself.
Then moving on to distribution, you can control where is it going out on. I like mine going through Kindle, Smashwords, Lulu, and Ingram Spark as well. And so this is the distribution channels that I like to ensure I get maximum distribution.
Maximizing the total number of sales that I'm going to be able to make on my books. As opposed to they get to control the distribution and that also includes the pricing that they're going to put on it.
Some of these traditional publishers simply don't like Amazon's $3 to $10 pricing to make the highest margins. And so they will set prices at $15 to $20 which means that the average reader may not even purchase the book.
Check out this related article: How Much Does Self Publishing Cost?
Because the traditional publisher just doesn't want to play the game by the rules that would maximize sales, they have other things in mind that are not necessarily in alignment with what you as a writer or publisher or author would like to see come through.
The final thing is marketing. You're going to want to run ads and many other types of marketing things. You don't want to get permission from a major traditional publisher to do it and you're going to cover the cost.
So, you should be compensated for it. And that will get into our secret of today but I won't hit that yet. The second answer is that you can change and update your book as you see it, if you don't like the cover well then get a new cover on it.
The Gatekeepers In Traditional Publishing
If you don't like the title then shift the title. You have all sorts of flexibility if you've self-published. With traditional publishing, you have everything locked down.
And the traditional publisher, after they see sales maybe start to drop on your book, they're not going to be interested to go back to your book to start optimizing it to increase sales. They just want to move on to the next book, the next manuscript that they're going to be doing.
The other thing is they're a gatekeeper. So they're going to prevent you from even getting your book published. Many people are surprised to discover how hard it is to get a traditional publisher to even pick up and be willing to even work with your book.
That's very disappointing for many people. When they're first getting started is that they spend so much time. I remember with Stephen King with Carrie or if you wouldn't even look at Harry Potter, how many rejections do you need to get?
I mean was the book really that low of quality that it had to be rejected 20 times? Or whatever it is, I can't remember the number but that's another issue that you're going to need to keep in mind.
The secret answer of today why I personally like it, it's because you make 70% royalties with self-publishing versus 10% to 15% with traditional publishing. So if you combine the control and the higher royalties, now that's with Kindle Publishing which is 70%.
Check out this relate article: Do Self Published Books Sell?
If you're dealing with paper books, you're making 40%-50% royalties. Depending upon the channel that you sell it through. It actually could even be as high as 60%.
But 40% at any rate that you're making with your paperback versions of your book, I just simply can't see a reason why you would not want to go with the self-publishing route. It's just simply the winner across the board.
There are some reasons in terms of being able to say that you were traditionally published. Or if you're wishing to win the New York Times bestseller, then there are advantages going with the traditional publishing. Because they can help ensure that.
But remember you can always go the traditional route afterward if you don't like it. So, why self publishing is better? What have you found?
Have you found any reasons that I haven't found yet? Do you any questions regarding this? Go and let me know below in the comments and check out my other blogs and videos for more answers to your self-publishing questions.