Are you trying to decide what publishing route to take? Here are few reasons you may choose to self-publish!
1/ Complete creative control.
You will have control over your deadlines, the speed of releasing your novels, promotions and price of your titles, the book cover, and the edits in your story.
2/You don’t need to share your moolah.
After the retailers take their share, that money is yours! You could have up to a 70% royalty rate, compared to one-seventh of that if you traditionally publish.
3/ If you have a great story that a traditional publisher considers a ‘marketing risk’.
This happens to many who pursue traditional publishing. Your story is great, but there are several factors which make it a marketing risk; maybe it is a blend of several genres, maybe you have no readership, maybe the publisher is looking for something following the major genre trends of the current day. Self-publishing may be for you!
4/ If you are not convinced a publisher could do a better job than you.
5/ If you enjoy constant learning and research
This is a huge part of being an indie author. If you don’t want to commit to constant learning and research (yes, it will take away from your writing time), then self-publishing is probably not for you.
6/ If you are highly self-motivated.
Are you able to discipline yourself to sit down at the computer each day?
7/ If you are, or want to be, comfortable selling your own books without the support of an agent/publisher.
8/ If you are committed to quality.
Your credibility will be based on the quality of your work, so this is important.
9/ If you seek the empowerment which comes from building something from scratch.
There is great reward in building up your author platform and readership over time.
10/ If you write in a very ‘digital’ genre. I.e. Romance and Erotica.
11/ If you see yourself publishing traditionally in time, but wish to build your readership to make your manuscript more attractive to publishers.
Though. . .if you build up a readership to a target audience over time, would you want to pursue traditional publishing later on?
12/ High capability to have a global e-book reach, and have multiple country bestseller tags because all your titles are published through one name, not through multiple traditional publishers.
As an indie author, if you are #1 in a genre category in the U.S, you are likely to be number one in a few other countries as well.
13/ If you are a Canadian, New Zealand, or Australian author, going traditional with print in your local country may be limiting, considering your main market is the U.S.
You may wish to self-publish and reach an international audience. Check out this graph by Author Earnings Report showing English market e-book sales as of February 2017.
There are thirteen reasons why you may choose to self-publish. However, there are some pitfalls, too. Read, Self Publishing: Be Aware, here.
Happy Reading,
Kelly St. Clare