To Self-Publish Or Not To Self-Publish, That Is The Yada, Yada, Yada.

So, you want to publish a book. Excellent! I always get excited whenever I hear that someone is writing a book. It’s such a fun, challenging and exciting ride to take. If this is your first book, know that it can be a bit daunting at times, but it can also be the most rewarding and creative adventure you may ever embark upon.

Now, I’m no expert on the differences between self-publishing and traditional publishing and I will not pretend to be but I can share with you just some of the information that I have come across during my research on the subject. One of the most important questions you should ask yourself when writing a book is whether you wish to self-publish or go with a traditional publisher. First off, I want to start by saying, there’s no wrong answer. It’s whatever you feel the most comfortable with and ultimately, it’s your decision. Just make sure you do your homework before you decide which path you wish to go on. That being said, let’s take a look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of both. I don’t wish this post to be overly long so I will be splitting it into two. This post will cover the pros and cons of self-publishing and the next will be about the pros and cons of going through a traditional publisher.

Self-publishing advantages:

You’re the boss. Nobody is going to tell you what to do dagnabbit! No hard deadlines for you. You get to work at your own pace. Also, no one is going to tell you what content you have to edit or if there are any changes to be made to the overall story. It’s your timeline, your story, your rules.

More royalties. Now this sort of thing is negotiated when you go with a traditional publisher and they could be very generous with your royalties but if you sell online yourself, you get to choose how much you want to sell your book for. Online booksellers like Amazon will tell you how much you get in royalties from the sale of each book whether it be eBook or paperback etc. However much money you want to sell your book for is completely up to you, just be sure to be fair with your prices. You have to take into account your genre, book length, and notoriety which is something we can get into at a later time in my blogs. Until then, you can always research online just how much the appropriate amount is that you should sell your particular book for.

It’s your brand. You get to choose your own brand. Yippee! Again, this is something I’ll be explaining in greater depth at a later blog but basically, your brand is how the world perceives you. Are you sassy and quick-witted? Are you sweet and kind? Are you brooding and aloof? Is your website full of bright and cheery colours? Or is it dark and somber? However, you wish to be noticed as is up to you. One of the downsides to this, of course, is that people will sometimes perceive you differently than you portray yourself, no matter what you do. That’s up to them. But overall, how you decide to act, how you market yourself and what you post on your website, is ultimately your decision.

Anyone can self-publish. Yes, they can. Yes, it takes money. Yes, it takes time and yes you have a lot to learn as you go but the great news is, it can be done. On your time and on your budget it absolutely can be done. I know a lot of people take a hard stance that a traditional publisher is the only way to go and that’s completely fine. Just know that if you’re feeling like it’s not going to ever happen for you and you want to throw in the towel, there’s always the option of self-publishing. You should never feel you have to give up on your writing because you think no one will back you. You can back you.

You’re investing in yourself. Much like higher education, the money you put toward your self-published book is all in investment in yourself and investing in yourself is always a good idea. And if you’re worried about money crowdfunding is a thing!

You still want to get a publisher later. That’s wonderful. Self-publishing your first book might just be the little something extra you need to get noticed by a publisher for the second one. You’ll already have your name out there, made sales, and established a brand. Some of the heavy lifting is already done. And the best part is, when it comes time to negotiate a contract with a traditional publisher, you’ll have a better understanding of what you want from the experience. Again, just make sure you do your homework before signing any contracts or making demands.

Many self-publishers end up owning their own polishing company. It’s true. You’ll know the ins and outs of self-publishing and before long you could be knowledgeable enough to run your own company and help others achieve their dream of publishing a book. How sweet would that be?

At the end of the day, with self-publishing, the greatest reward is knowledge and having the power of the final say. You will always have carte blanche with everything you do which is a pretty darn good feeling to have.

Self-publishing disadvantages:

You’re the boss. Now I know I put this under the pros section above but hear me out. There are many people out there that could also see this as a disadvantage. You are responsible for you. Editing, marketing, proofreading, cover design, searching out beta readers, all of it. The whole shebang. You decide when to set aside the time to write and so on and it’s all too easy to get distracted and slack off when you’re the one in charge of you. I post a new blog every Monday on my website. It is now Sunday afternoon as I’m writing this. Talk about cutting it close. Normally I like to write a few ahead of schedule but… you know what, I got distracted by something shiny and here I am. It can be difficult to stay on task when nobody is behind you telling you to buckle down.

It’s Costly. Now, I self-published on a shoe-string budget. I was lucky to have a friend to help with the editing process and Grammarly was a big help, but I didn’t have the money for a proper editor. Sometimes traditional publishers will have your story looked at by three separate editors, one for spelling and punctuation (proofreading), one who looks for plot holes and inconsistencies (developmental editing), and one who checks for voice, tone, style, and just about everything else (line editing). Not to mention cover art and so much more. It’s a lot to pay for when it’s just you shelling out the money for it.

Learning as you go could be scary. It absolutely can. It’s fair to say I’ve had about five or so panic attacks while trying to self-publish. I made a few last minute changes to the book that I’m still not sure about and I’ve made my share of mistakes along the way. Were all of them fixable? Eh… to a point, but they ended up costing me more time and money in the long run. I won’t get into all of my mistakes now, but I know if I had gone through a publisher, they probably would never have been made.

Not sure where to put your money towards. Budgeting sucks. There I said it. Don’t get me wrong, I actually enjoy the act of placing numbers where they should go, but when your budget is small, it’s a little disheartening when somethings have to suffer so that others can thrive. I couldn’t afford a professional editor because I wanted to have a nice cover for my book. And I got one. I absolutely love my cover but if I had gone through a traditional publisher, I wouldn’t have had to worry about either of those. It’s a personal choice of which parts of your book you think deserve the most attention and it’s a decision that many people go back and forth on. Honestly, if it were up to me, marketing, editing, cover design all of it would get equal and unlimited attention but being an indie author with a beer budget doesn’t exactly allow me much room for champagne taste.

Marketing yourself. Advertising and getting your name out there is hard, especially if your shy or don’t know what to say or really do. Now, when you have a traditional publisher, you still do some or most of your own social media marketing (depending on your publisher) but advertising costs, website building, not to mention the research on how to properly market your brand can be exhausting. These are things that can be helped by going through a traditional publisher. Going on Twitter was very hard for me. I had no idea where to begin. It took a while to gain a following but the writing community is so amazing and supportive on Twitter, and although I have a website, I mostly use Twitter as my main marketing platform. Imagine how much easier it would be if I had gone through a publisher.

Harder to get onto bookshelves. Yes indeedy. I know, as of right now, my first book will probably not be seeing the inside of a book store unless I walk in and place it in the fantasy section myself. A traditional publisher can absolutely help you get your books into big box stores. That’s not to say that it is impossible to do with self-publishing, but a publisher can definitely get you there quicker and easier and cheaper.

So there you have it. The ups and downs to Self-publishing. I know there’s more and I haven’t even gotten into great detail about every single aspect of it but there will be more to delve into with my next blog post. And although I’m not an expert, well, not yet anyway, I do know that no matter your stance if you’re for self-publishing or traditional publishing just know that it is imperative to do as much research as you can before you make any kind of decision. When it comes to self-publishing, going in headfirst, with no plan at all may work for some but personally, I like to have some idea of how steep the cliff is before I dive off. As for traditional publishing, make sure you look into your publisher/publishing company before you sign any contracts and always weigh your options.

If all of this ever feels overwhelming and scary just remember, I wrote and self-published a book and half the time, I still don’t know what the heck I’m doing. ;)

Tldr; You can get a traditional publisher or self-publish your book, either way, do your homework and know what you’re getting into before you decide!

Mantra of the day – You got this!