The truth is, I probably would not be able to get a publisher even if I tried. Have I tried? No. Do I want to try? No. As a teenager first starting out in the underground music scene, it was immediately clear that if I wanted to get my music out there, I would have to do it myself. Right from the beginning, I just assumed that if I wanted to write a book, I would have to publish it myself.
As I read deeper into the endless amounts information available about the publishing world I'm realizing that self-publishing is a strength not a hindrance to our careers as Authors. Assuming that we are all virtually unknown, we could never expect our books to even stand a chance in the big leagues. Our strength lies in our passion and our ability to be completely hands on and in control of every aspect of our books. We make every decision from cover to cover and then some. Nobody will care about our books as much as we do.
Here are the reasons I think make self-publishing not just the best choice but the only choice for publishing our books.
Control – As I said, we are the ones in the driver seat when we self-publish. We have nobody trying to tell us, how it HAS to be. It can be however we WANT it to be. As writers we are creative creatures who have a vision in our minds of how we want to see our book when they're a finished product. We can always outsource the things we can't do ourselves such as cover design. When it comes to promotion, sure the big publishers can get your books into the stores but in a store it's just another book on a shelf with 1000 other books. If you do it yourself you can tap into unique markets where your books will get noticed.
Speed – Big publishers may take as long as 18 months to get your book into print. Are you that patient? I'm not! That's 18 months after you've finished writing your book and assuming you find a publisher immediately. It may be years from finished manuscript to book in print. Some of our books may contain timely information that needs to be in print fast, before it becomes obsolete.
Money – Why accept 6% in royalties from a publisher when you can make 100% of the profit doing it yourself. It may be more work and seem like an impossible task but the rewards of your effort are worth while. You can make more money selling a lot less books. You may be thinking that you would rather sell more books and make less, because I did too. Think about this though, you may sell less books but you'll selling them yourself, making more meaningful and longer lasting contacts with your readers which should lead to more sales in the long run.
Selling Out – In the independent music scene calling someone an artist or band a sell out is the equivalent of cursing them out. When it comes to self-publishing it is a great thing. If you have a lot of success with your self-published books and you build a large, even a medium but loyal following you may decide to sell out to a large publisher. This gives you the advantage when negotiating a contract because you have the sales and fans to back you up. You know that the publisher will give your books the attention they deserve because they know it will sell. This is just an option though, if you can manage the work load and enjoy it why not continue to self-publish.
Self-publishing is no small task but with the right mind set and drive it may be the most rewarding thing a person can pursue. Well, except for maybe having children or becoming president, I wouldn't know in either instance. Life is a short precious thing, lets make the most of it. Lets put our thoughts into action, our hearts into our words, our words into the hands and in front of the eyes of as many readers as we can. Lets do it ourselves.
Next weeks topic: What to write?
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