acim is a rewarding and lucrative endeavor. The satisfaction of seeing your name in print, of seeing your hard work compiled into a professional, sale able product, of sharing your knowledge, expertise, and passion with the world is unsurpassed. However, self publishing a book is not for everyone.
Here are 5 questions to ask yourself to determine if self publishing is for you.
Question #1 Do you enjoy speaking to others about your passions and interests?
If you enjoy communicating with other people that share similar interests or have a desire to learn about something that you’re knowledgeable in, then self publishing is for you.
Why? When you self publish a book you become the expert on your topic. Telling the world about your expert knowledge will have you giving interviews, writing articles, speaking at seminars, and participating in many online forms of communication.
However, if you are a person that prefers to keep to yourself, then self publishing may not be for you – you may prefer the traditional route, though your chances of selling a book without promoting it are slim.
Question #2 Do you want to make lots of money from book sales?
If you are interested in cashing in on your book then self publishing is absolutely for you. Did you know that there are more than 50,000 independent publishers and that last year they made a total of $14 billion in book sales? If you want to participate in this lucrative and growing market, then self publishing is for you.
We’re not dismissing the value of the traditional publishing route. Many authors prefer to go the traditional route either because it has been a lifelong goal to publish a book via this route or they simply don’t know that there is a better way. Traditional publishing generally pays small upfront advances, ranging from 4 to 10 thousand dollars, and royalties that amount to about .20 per book.
Self publishing generates significantly more money than that and you get to keep it all – no sharing with your publishing house, no sharing with your agent!
Question #3 Do you want to have complete control over your book?
One of the biggest drawbacks to publishing via traditional publishing houses is that you don’t have creative control. Everything from the cover of your book to the way it is promoted, to the contents inside are owned by the publisher and they can do what they want with it. If they say add a chapter then you add a chapter, if they say delete a chapter then you delete it. You have little or no control over the final product.
Self publishing means that you have 100% control over every aspect of your book. It’s your book, you make the decisions about what it looks like, how you sell it, and every single word inside. I don’t know about you but if my name is on the book then I want control over what it looks and sounds like.
Question #4 Do you want to have your book published this year?
Self publishing means that you also have control over the time it takes to reach bookstore shelves. That means if you want to see your book published in 30 days then it can be published in 30 days. The traditional publishing route often takes years. Who wants to wait years to see the results of their hard work? I know I don’t.
