Self Publishing?

Have you written a book? Are you unsure what the next step is? Well, for me it was a choice to self publish. I really struggled with this decision at first. Then I started to research all the points of self publishing versus traditional publishing. What I found was interesting and scary at the same time.

I’m going to list the good points of self publishing and then some bad points:

Good Points:

1. You the writer are in control. You make the decisions.

2. Royalties. This is a big selling point. You claim a good chunk of the royalties. I researched several sites for both types or publishing and it was a no brainer on the self publishing royalty sides. 

3. You decide what’s kept in your book after editing. You get to keep your story as it is. A lot of times in traditional publishing I’ve heard authors talk of having to totally change the vibe of their hard work to suit the agent or publisher. You’ve worked really hard to get your story written, you need to keep that story alive. Of course the editing needs to be done, but the vibe should stay as you see it in your mind.

4. You get to design the cover or put in your two cents on what that cover looks like. As for me I always have a vision of what the cover needs to be like.

5. You get to keep the rights to your work. It’s yours.

Some bad points:

1. You are in charge of getting people to edit your book and review it. Editing is a very important part and sometimes the hardest thing to do. But it is essential to the success of your book. If your book is full of spelling and grammar errors then more than likely the reader will not read your next book.

2. Advertising. This is sometimes the authors nemesis, but guess what, even with traditional publishers you have to do this too. 

3. Cover design. You will see this on both sides of the spectrum of good and bad points. Sometimes you’d just like to turn this over to someone else and not deal with it.

4. You can’t get your foot in some book stores as a self publisher. 

5. Self publishers can be frowned upon by some. It’s sad but true. Why should we be looked down on? We’ve followed our dreams of being writers and that should be enough for some people, but we have to look at reality. There are some self published books out there that make self publishing look shabby. 

These are only a couple of points both ways. Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against traditional publishing. This is just how I weighed the options for myself. You may have a different view and that’s your right. 

I’ve been asked before if I was approached by a publisher. Yes, I’ve had the excitement of being approached by two publishers. One was a large, well known publisher and the other was a fairly well known small publisher. The small publisher wanted my to pay them for the honor of publishing. Well of course I laughed and respectfully declined. If they wanted me to write for them it wouldn’t be pay us first and then we’ll publish you. I don’t think so. The large well known publisher didn’t want any money. They wanted me to write for them. The only thing was, when I asked them what they’d do for my book as far as advertising and distribution, well let’s just say it made me frown. I was already doing everything they were going to do and in some areas I took the bar a little higher. Also the royalties were going to be cut over 1/2 from what I already get and I’d still be doing the same thing. So why not stay where I’m at for now.

Yep, I said for now. I’d love to get a traditional publisher to take one of my books or maybe more. But it will have to feel like the right thing to do at the time. As a writer I treat each book like a special child and I don’t want just anybody taking my child to the park. I will have to check out that publisher and weigh the options.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…