Self-Published Authors Enjoy More
Self-published authors are happier authors. Of course, there are pros and cons to every method, but there are so many choices open to you when you don’t have a traditional publishing house hanging over you. It’s more about the process of writing and publishing, then just the final product.
When you think about it, writing itself often has a bad reputation when it comes to job satisfaction because it can be lonely, obsessing and let’s face it, a lot of hard work without a guaranteed return on investment. But you have to focus on the positives and remember that there are certain things that self-publishing brings to the table that no one else can compete with:
1) You Keep the Rights
Rights are important. You don’t want to fall into the trap of your book being out-of-print, but you can’t take it elsewhere. Create different print, audio and digital versions, and no one is going to place limitations on you, based on projections for profitability or discrimination against new authors or your genre. You can change your mind any time about what you distribute and where. Be exclusive with one distributor because there are advantages to that, or try different ones to see what works best.
2) You Have More Control
You always decide who you work with and you have complete approval. You even set the price, and it’s open to experimentation. Don’t worry about rejection. The only person who can get in your way is you.
3) You Get Higher Royalties
In traditional publishing, the agent and publisher get most of the profit, and they make decisions accordingly, especially for anything that might fall into a niche market. With self-publishing, you decide what kind of cut other people take and if the money is worth it. Book sellers deserve to make a profit too, and of course there are fees for printing, file distribution and things like that, but the rest of the profit is all yours. Research the best options for you or if you want to invest a certain amount in the beginning, as well as what kind of percentage you want to commit to with each purchase. Be aware that there are scammers and dishonest people out there, so if you aren’t sure about something, ask your professional network for advice.
4) You Are a Better Marketer
Don’t trust a publisher to market your book, if you’re unknown, they usually don’t do much, but they’ll fight tooth and nail when they think you’re sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong! It’s also a much faster process because all the focus is on you. If you learn how to network effectively, you can easily compete with established houses.
5) You Have Great Support
More people are getting on the self-publishing band wagon all the time, and there are many communities where authors support each other, which helps them stay on top of everything they need to do to achieve more.
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