Are you thinking of self-publishing your book but aren’t sure if it’s the right choice for you? Authors self-publish for a variety of reasons, including not wanting to hassle with agents and traditional publishers, not wanting to wait and not wanting their books spoiled by aggressive editing to make it fit into a specific category. Many also prefer the flexibility that self-publishing offers and maintaining 100 percent control over their work.
1. There Are No Gatekeepers.
The traditional publishing process starts when an author finished their books and starts submitting it to agents and publishers. Once the next party receives the materials, they go into a queue and are read whenever they are read. If the individual reading the manuscript likes it, the author receives communication. If the individual did not like the book or concept, the author may or may not hear back. These individuals might as well be known as gatekeepers because the publication process will not continue until someone agrees to take the book on and either sell it to a publisher or publish it. The process to get past these gatekeepers can take months, years and even decades.
Self-publishing doesn't have any gatekeepers. Although, all platforms will check to make sure the words on the cover don’t run off the edge, it has the proper dpi for image quality and that all the text on the inside is within the margins. Some platforms even provide a little bit of a spellcheck and will alert the author to any potential problems.
2. Self-Publishing Is Immediate.
There isn’t much of a wait with self-publishing. As soon as the author finishes the manuscript and cover and completes the interior layout, they can upload the book to the platform. The average timeframe from upload to live links is about 72 hours. Though, places like Amazon typically have the books live within 24 hours.
Comparatively, traditional publishing takes a long time. Once the author finishes the book, they start the submission process. This can take months, years and even decades. If the book is accepted by an agent, that agent must sell the book to a publisher. This can take months and even years. It can also be never. If the book is accepted by a publisher, it can take another 1 to 2 years before it hits the market, depending on the publisher’s schedule and the amount of editing they want performed on the manuscript.
3. The Book Will Not Be Edited to Destruction.
Traditionally published books have a format, depending on the genre. If X happens at X point in the book, your book better have X at X point, and the book will be edited to fit that template. This can result in the author receiving edits to change up to 75 percent of the book. This type of editing could make the book better, or it could edit the original concept into oblivion. Some authors call this selling out because the book’s original concept and design were destroyed in favor of that huge advance or profitability/sales.
A self-published book won’t be edited to destruction. It will be edited for story, clarity and errors. The original concept and theme will remain in-tact. The editor the author hired will not try to change the bulk of the book to fit the mold.
4. Self-Publishing Means Retaining 100 Percent Control.
Self-Publishing allows the author to maintain 100 percent control over the work. This means that they can publish and unpublish books at will. They can change platforms or add platforms in order to maximize book sales, and they can take out ads or not, depending on their budgets and goals.
However, the most important aspect of self-publishing just might be the ability to edit and upload new versions at will. Have you ever read a book with a typo or a glaring formatting problem? When an author is traditionally published, those problems cannot be fixed unless the author spends months arguing, and even then, the edit may not happen. A self-published author can read their own work or become aware of a typo or problem and fix it. Then, they can immediately upload the new error-free version.
5. Self-Publishers Earn Between 30 and 70 Percent on Every Book
Self-published authors make more per book sold. Typically, that’s somewhere between 30 and 70 percent. On Amazon, an author who charges less than 2.99 earns 30 percent, and authors who price their books $2.99 and above make 70 percent. This means that an ebook priced at $2.98 earns roughly 80 cents, and a $2.99 book earns $2.09 roughly. There can be a .04 to .08 subtraction for fees.
A traditionally published author might earn .05 to .10 cents per book. This means that if that traditionally published author earns .10 per book and gets a $10,000 advance, they’d need to sell 100,000 books to earn back their advance. On the other hand, a self-published author with a book priced at $2.99 would need to sell 4,902 books to earn $10,000.
