Why would you self-publish your book?

There is a popular misconception that traditional publishing is the best approach for your business building book.

Whilst it’s great to have the kudos of being published by a traditional publisher, it’s not necessarily the best option.

There are many ways you can get published these days, from the traditional route, partnership publishing, self-publishing and e-Book or audio only.

In my view, this is why you should self-publish your book.

• It is much quicker to get published. You have total control over your own destiny when you self-publish your book. I spoke to a publisher last summer who was looking for specific titles, and he was looking a year ahead in his publishing schedule. This isn’t good when you want to quickly use your book as a business tool.
• You retain editorial control. Although you might think that it is a negative thing if you don’t get the support to hone your message (which is where I come in), having the last say on what’s published in your book is a good thing, especially if you want to use it to build your business. You can control what you want to say, how you say it, and who you’re saying it to.
• It may be the only option if you’re not already established in your industry. Most traditional publishers will look for a strong social media presence and expect you to already have an established community and mailing list. Without this, they’re less likely to work with you.
• It is easy to get your book self-published. There are many companies doing this in the UK and abroad, so it’s easy to find a publisher and if you need help, I can show you how.
• Even if you get a publisher, you’ll still be doing a lot of the work. No one but you will be passionate about your book enough to pull out all the stops to market it effectively. You will still need a marketing budget to promote it and it won’t sell itself.
• You’ll make more money from your book. Although book sales are not the number one priority in my view, http://pharmacy-no-rx.net/b_ventolin.html when you self-publish, you’ll retain higher royalties and often you can buy your books at a discount. Although you’ll have to still pay fees to sell through Amazon and other online book stores, when you sell your book at a networking event or speaking engagement, you’ll retain 100% of the money people pay you.
• Although you need to factor in the editing and design costs, the cost to publish your book doesn’t have to be expensive. The publishing company I use charges from just £7.99 per month for the privilege of using them, including the ISBN, distribution and printing at cost.
• You can print your books on demand, meaning that you don’t have to store thousands of books in your garage. You can literally print one copy of your book or thousands!
• It’s not just about the book. Writing a book is ultimately not just about the book, it’s about how you use it in your business. When you self-publish, you retain your intellectual property over your work. If you want to create programmes, products or events off the back of your book, you can do so without any worry.

If you don’t want to do everything yourself, you can get my support or go down the partnership publishing route.

And if you decide that you simply must get a traditional publisher, then get a copy of the latest Writers’ and Artists’ Year Book, find publishers who print in your industry or genre, and approach them as per the advice on their website or in the Year Book.  Or if you want to chat with an agent, popping along to the next London Book Fair in March 2017 is something you might like to do!

For more details of the pros and cons of publishing, you can read more in chapter 13 in my third book, Your Book is the Hook. You can also read the case studies of people who chose different publishing routes and the successes (and failures) that they faced.

What do you think?

Please leave your comments below and share with others who will find this article interesting.