Saving time: why self-publishing wins over traditional publishing
Time. We never have enough of it. We all sometimes wish that there were more hours in the day, and we all sometimes look for ways we can save time. Publishing is no different. It’s something that takes time, but when it comes to this most precious of resources, self-publishing has the definite edge of traditional publishing. Here’s why.
It lets you get on with the job
Let’s say that you’ve decided to go down the traditional publishing route. First, you’ll most likely need to get an agent. That takes time. You’ll have to spend time researching the best agents, writing letters, and waiting for replies. Even with the best book in the world, some if not most of those replies are going to be rejections. Then, once you’ve got an agent, you need to find a publisher. More time, more waiting, more rejections, and no guarantee of a publishing deal at the end of it.
Contrast this with self-publishing. Sure, it might take you time to research self-publishing, decide how you want to go about it and get your book ready to publish – but you know that it will be published. And, instead of waiting for other people to get back to you and getting disheartened by rejections and/or a lack of response, you can just get on with the business of publishing your book, your way.
You can keep your own schedule
If you go for a traditional publisher, you’re going to have to fit in with their schedule. Even after getting a deal, it can be years before your book actually hits the shelves. This can be disheartening for authors, and it can also mean the originality has gone out of your book if someone else gets there with a similar theme first.
With self-publishing, however, the only schedule you have to keep is your own. If your book is ready to publish, you can publish it without having to fit in with a traditional publisher’s preferred release date. It means that if you’ve had a top-notch original idea, you can get it out there quickly – with any luck, before anyone else thinks of the same thing.
It also means that if you want to publish two or three books in a year, you can. Your time is your own. This means that you have a responsibility to use your time wisely – it can be easy to waste time when you’re your own boss – but it also gives you flexibility and the space you need to develop your writing career the way you want to.
When it comes to our valuable time, self-publishing wins. What do you think?
