Self Publish and Take Control of Your Book

In the past few months, the topic of whether to self publish or to find a publisher has come up in discussions with aspiring authors.  One very talented author is putting together a proposal for her book as part of a contest where the top prize is a publishing contract. She is highly distressed about the questions on the submission form tied to the size of her following. The actual numbers of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media followers, as well as the number of people on her email list, are statistics she must provide. 

Unfortunately she has not invested a lot of time and effort to build these, although she has a radio show and some key connections who are very well known in her market.

What many of us do not understand is that publishers only invest in books where they know there will be a return for them. That means they leverage the following you have already built. They have no interest if there is no proof that we have a following and a market to buy our book when it comes out. They are running a business and thus assess their financial risk on every book proposal.

I recommend to my author clients that they save the time, headaches, and stress of pursuing a book publisher and self publish, especially if this is your first book. Here is my reasoning.

1. While there used to be a bit of a stigma about being a self published author, the distinction between “traditional” and “self” publishing is almost non existent. The real focus needs to be on producing a professionally-produced book, regardless of the process used. I have seen many traditionally published books that were very poor quality. Sometimes staff editors and proof readers at these companies are overworked and for a variety of reasons, do not catch all of the errors. The book makes it to production and once it is out, it is open to not only public view but reviews that can be scathing. Remember your name is on this book. Your reputation and credibility is on the line. When you self publish and have your own team working closely with you, you see the quality of the product from start to finish and have final say about when it is ready for prime time.

2. You will make more money. Make sure you read all the fine print for any publishing contract. No mater how you look at the numbers, by the time all the fees are assessed, the author is left with a much reduced income. Self publish and all royalties are yours….forever.

3. You have full control over the design, pricing, and timing of the book release. When you sign the contract, traditional publishers assume a lot of control. A few months ago I helped a first time author who had a contract with a publisher with her book. By the time she got to me for help, she was 2 weeks from her launch. I recommended a low price point for 24 hours for launch day and she requested that from the publisher. Not only did they not make the change (Why should they? They get a percentage of the sales, so to offer the book at a very low price was not in their best interest) but they responded the day before the launch with “That kind of change requires 60 day notice”. To be clear, the publisher houses your book on their Amazon account (not yours) and you have no way to make any changes to pricing, options, the book description, etc. You cannot see your book sales numbers. Weigh this carefully before proceeding with a contract.

4. Your book will be out faster. There is a lot to be said for speed to market. Even if a publisher takes your book, expect at least a year (minimum, most of the time much longer) before the book comes out. That is 12+ months that you lose in building your authority and credibility, leveraging your book for speaking engagements, and attracting higher-level clients, not to mention the fact that those you are called to help do not have vital information during this time. Is it worth that?

5. You have freedom to do what you want with you book content, with no restrictions. When you self publish, you can upload it to other book platforms, create an audio book, even pull it down from Amazon and do a total revamp if you want. The rights to the content are all yours.

My advice is to get the book written and professionally produced, build your platform (your following online and via your list) while you are writing the book, and launch it to gain visibility and authority.

As you prove you can sell books and clearly have an expanded following and readership, you just may attract a publisher….It is your choice if you take that path, based on what is most important to you. By then, you will be well on your way, with perhaps a lot less interest in that option.

Have another view on this? Or a question? Post your comments and questions below..Let’s get a discussion started!

If you need help figuring out the best path forward with your book, please schedule a 30-minute Leverage Your Authority call with me here. Let’s get your message out there!