Self vs Indie Publishing – What To Do With Your Book

Okay, so you’ve written a book. Now what? Do you send it to a big publishing house? Mail it to your favorite author? Nail it to a frisbee and fling it over a rainbow?

Before we talk pros and cons here’s a thing you should know: YMMV. Your Mileage May Vary. Whatever I’ve done–or whatever other people do–might not be the thing that works best for you. So take it all with a grain (and/or scoop) of salt.

Alright! Am I qualified to talk about this? Yes (allegedly). How? I’ve self-published three books, published one through an indie press and sold short stories to online magazines and websites. I have not however, published with traditional publishing (yet) and by that I mean I haven’t been agented and sold a book to one of the massive, major, international players.

Before we start to talk about pros and cons, let me elaborate. I’ve sold two short stories, The Hunt and Time Of Death, to an indie anthology and a website, respectively. I’ve published They Came From Nowhere in an indie anthology (though that wasn’t paid) and I’ve published another flash fiction through an online publisher that isn’t available anymore. I’ve also sold one story (a podcast episode) that hasn’t been published yet.

I’ve self-published my crime thriller series, The Columbus Archives, which includes the books The Consequence of Loyalty, A State of Despair and A Form Of Revenge, through Amazon.

And lastly, I’ve published At The Gate with Inked In Gray, an independent press based in the US.

So let’s get to it! Pros & cons?

Selling short stories & micro fiction to websites, webzines, magazines, anthologies and collection.

Pros:

It’s relatively fast and easy, if writing shorter fiction is your jam. Some even take on whole books, though they usually have to fit into a theme.You can easily find hundreds of places to submit and you can resubmit as soon as your story has been rejected (check out The Submission Grinder, for example). Set aside a few hours a week and you can have tons of stories constantly on the roam.You usually get paid, and rates are getting better and better.

Cons:

Little to no creative say in terms of graphics, style, cover, illustrations. Little to no influence on marketing & sales strategy, beyond what you can do through your own channels.It’s often difficult to build relationships with publishers and editors – they’ll like you for your story, and that’s that. If you come back with a new story it’s often back to the back of the line.

Publishing books through an independent press

Pros:

You get to have a creative influence (in my experience). You can voice an opinion on title, cover, illustrations, style & formatting.A sense of belonging. In my experience, independent publishers are interested in retaining valuable and functional relationships. That’s not to say that they’ll automatically publish future books, but that they’ll consider you in the future, and maybe you get to jump the queue, and not have to go through the ordeal of querying each and every book in a formal way.You (in my experience) don’t have to be agented. You talk directly to the people in charge, there’s no one in between.You get help. Marketing, sales, setting you up with contacts for other opportunities, editing. An independent publisher is interested in you, and will want you to do better. They’ll want to invest in you.

Cons:

Scheduling. You won’t always be in control of when things happen, and if things go wrong/needs to be taken care of, you might have to rely on someone else sorting it out.Sales and marketing. This is a double-edged sword. It’s nice to have someone in your corner, but you’re also relying on them doing the work better than yourself. Whether or not they give your book the right amount of attention and care is up to you to decide.

Self-publishing

Pros:

You’re in charge of EVERYTHING. Full creative decision-making power, marketing, sales, platforms, format, covers, illustrations, fonts – everything! You get to choose it all.You also get to earn it all. All royalties go directly to you. (That’s not to say a self-publishing platform like Amazon doesn’t take a cut, but you can choose where to take your book).You can set your own deadlines. Make your own schedule, re-publish under a different name, write a new series, start a collaboration, or just quit. Without any contracts and no one relying on you, you don’t have to worry about disappointing anyone.Nothing’s stopping you. Self-publishing if free and you can take it one step at a time.

Cons:

You’re in charge of EVERYTHING. You have the full creative decision-making power, and you have to do all the marketing, sales, social media posting, and decide on formatting, covers, illustrations, fonts – everything! You have to do it all.You have to set your own deadlines. You need to make your own schedule, motivate yourself to stick with it and to keep up the work. There’s no one to turn to for help.It can be a very steep learning curve.

See what I did there? Self-publishing is hard, no doubt, and I don’t mean to discourage anyone. But there’s something to be said by having someone on your team, someone to rely on, be that an independent press who publishes your books or just some friends who can beta read and help you with your marketing. Honestly, in my case, I think I’ll keep doing it all. It’s fun to chase calls for submissions and try and get my short stories into cool anthologies or onto revered websites. I’m also super thankful that Inked In Gray took At The Gate under their wing and help me set it out into the world. (I’m crossing my fingers that they’ll want another one of my books as well).

At the same time, I see myself self-publishing more books in the future. I like that I can take my time with, and I’ve learned a lot over the years. I know where I’ve gone wrong in the past and I know where I need to get better.

One of the most difficult things is still getting people interested in my books – so please! – if you’re into thrillers, crime or psychological, would you please go check out my books? I promise, you won’ t be able to put them down. And the support is immensely appreciated.

How have you gone about publishing your book? Or have you not taken that step yet? Let me know in the comments!

And if you’d like to stay in touch, I’d love it if you signed up for my newsletter. You’ll be the first to hear of new projects and special deals.

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