Why You Should Consider Self-Publishing
After many years of "second-class citizen" status, self-publishing has more recently emerged as a respected, viable and even preferable option - especially for new authors. There are many reasons to consider publishing your own book versus going the traditional route.
The number one reason for self-publishing is that as the author you are actually in a better position than anyone else to make your book a success. No one has more of a vested interest in doing so than you do. No one is going to have more of a passion for your work than you. Especially when you're a new author, you represent nothing more than a big risk to a publishing house, and as such they are not likely to invest a great deal of resources in promoting your book unless you can mitigate that risk in some way.
Another huge benefit of self-publishing is the time it takes to publish. When you publish your book with a mainstream or traditional book publisher you will most likely spend a great deal of time waiting for your book to hit the marketplace to be read and enjoyed. This is a process that will usually take many months and often even years. When you self-publish, you simply have to wait on yourself and your personal judgment of the best time for publishing your book. If you hand over the control of publishing your book to a traditional publisher, you will usually be signing away your ability to control the situation.
When you choose to self-publish your book, you are empowered to make all of the essential decisions that can put your book in the hands of your readers more quickly. All the profits go in your own pocket rather than padding the wallets of others. You can publish anytime the urge hits you without having to wait for years in between each book.
Another benefit of publishing your own book is that you maintain all of your creative license. You will be in full control of how your book is presented, edited and revised, rather than subjecting your work to the whims of corporate bureaucrats. You also have control over the various means of marketing and promoting your book. It will be left up to you to decide everything about how you wish to present your book, from the book cover to the content, all the way through to the back cover blurb.
You will be able to follow your own guidelines and outlines while writing your book without the hassle of dealing with a mainstream publishing house or the task of finding a reputable literary agent to assist you in finding a publisher who may or may not find your work to be worthwhile or entertaining.
One final benefit of self-publishing may be a bit counter-intuitive. And that is that for many new authors, self-publishing may be the best means of eventually making it into one of the large publishing houses. If you are able to self-publish and successfully obtain a record of book sales, you have essentially eliminated much of the risk from the standpoint of a publisher. You've proven that a market exists for your book, and a publisher will be much more likely to look at you seriously once you have done so.
The number one reason for self-publishing is that as the author you are actually in a better position than anyone else to make your book a success. No one has more of a vested interest in doing so than you do. No one is going to have more of a passion for your work than you. Especially when you're a new author, you represent nothing more than a big risk to a publishing house, and as such they are not likely to invest a great deal of resources in promoting your book unless you can mitigate that risk in some way.
Another huge benefit of self-publishing is the time it takes to publish. When you publish your book with a mainstream or traditional book publisher you will most likely spend a great deal of time waiting for your book to hit the marketplace to be read and enjoyed. This is a process that will usually take many months and often even years. When you self-publish, you simply have to wait on yourself and your personal judgment of the best time for publishing your book. If you hand over the control of publishing your book to a traditional publisher, you will usually be signing away your ability to control the situation.
When you choose to self-publish your book, you are empowered to make all of the essential decisions that can put your book in the hands of your readers more quickly. All the profits go in your own pocket rather than padding the wallets of others. You can publish anytime the urge hits you without having to wait for years in between each book.
Another benefit of publishing your own book is that you maintain all of your creative license. You will be in full control of how your book is presented, edited and revised, rather than subjecting your work to the whims of corporate bureaucrats. You also have control over the various means of marketing and promoting your book. It will be left up to you to decide everything about how you wish to present your book, from the book cover to the content, all the way through to the back cover blurb.
You will be able to follow your own guidelines and outlines while writing your book without the hassle of dealing with a mainstream publishing house or the task of finding a reputable literary agent to assist you in finding a publisher who may or may not find your work to be worthwhile or entertaining.
One final benefit of self-publishing may be a bit counter-intuitive. And that is that for many new authors, self-publishing may be the best means of eventually making it into one of the large publishing houses. If you are able to self-publish and successfully obtain a record of book sales, you have essentially eliminated much of the risk from the standpoint of a publisher. You've proven that a market exists for your book, and a publisher will be much more likely to look at you seriously once you have done so.