So you have an idea for a book or your book is already finished. Congratulations! You are about to enter the ranks of published authors.
But which way do you want to publish your book? Should you get an agent and send them to New York to peddle your manuscript? Or should you go the route of self-publishing your book?
If this is your first book, there is no doubt. Self-publish it. As a new author you are an unproven quantity. A large publisher doesn’t know whether or not your book will sell. Therefore publishing your book is a big risk to them. Even if they agree, chances are your royalty rate will be low and a cash advance non-existent.
But when you self-publish, you actually avoid all of these concerns:
1. You are able to set your own price and therefore determine the royalty payment you receive for your book.
2. You won’t get an advance, but you also will not be out of pocket for any expenses up front – particularly an agent’s fee. And keep in mind – an advance is exactly that. It may or may not be covered by sales. So it’s not all you dreamed it might be.
3. You will be able to build a track record of sales so that the next time you want to approach a publisher you will be able to show them exactly how well your book sold – without them.
In addition, as a self-published author you have much more control over the cover design and layout of your book. Whereas a traditional publisher will control those aspects, you now control them as the publisher.
Most importantly, you maintain the copyright to the book. Too often, author’s contracts have involved giving away their rights to the book. So when you wanted to teach a course with that content or record a speech with that content or create a membership site to enhance the content, you were restricted because you no longer had the rights to use the content in multiple ways.
If this is your second or third book, then you are already familiar with the loss of control, low royalties and other hassles involved with working with a traditional publisher. So you will truly appreciate the speed to market and ease of the process of self-publishing.
Self-publishing is no longer the complex process it once was. In fact, if you can use a word processor you can get your book printed. If you can create graphics – or hire someone to do it for you, you can add an attractive book cover that sells more copies.
There is no doubt. If you are currently writing a book, self-publishing is the way to go.
Dr. Jeanette Cates is a self-published author of multiple books. You can follow her process for quickly getting your book published and selling.
