5 Reasons To Consider Self-Publishing

If you're thinking about self-publishing your own book, then you're probably also wondering if you should stick with a traditional model or go with a self-publishing model. The truth is, each model works for certain people. Not all people should go along with a traditional model and not all people should try to do it on their own. However, here are five good reasons why you might want to at least consider self-publishing your own book.

I work with authors on a daily basis. After having spent the last 17 years in publishing, I get asked lots of questions, and do a lot of consulting. One of the most frequently asked questions from authors is if I would recommend going with a traditional publishing model, or with a self publishing model.

The correct answer is, well, both. Each model is good for certain people. Not all people should go with a traditional model and certainly not all people should try to do it on their own.

Here are five reasons why, you might want to consider self-publishing your own book.

1) You are a speaker or leader, who presents your message in front of large groups of people. You have what is known in the industry as a ‘platform’, or as what Seth Godin calls, a ‘tribe.’ This audience wants to have a ‘souvenir’ of your talk, or of your ideas that they can take home with them after listening to you speak. If they don’t pick up the book at your event, they may want to order it from your website or your Facebook Bookstore when they are back in the office. If you were really compelling, they will tell all their friends who weren’t at your presentation, and they will want to order the book too.

2) You are a traditionally published author, but you have books that have never been published. You can either wait that process out… or you can self publish them and start making additional revenue right away. You may have built your tribe already and can use that to sell books. Jane Friedman, of Writer’s Digest, recently wrote an excellent article that convinced me that self publishing no longer ruins your chances of getting a traditional publishing deal later, if that is what you want.

3) You lead a non-profit or a ministry and have a built-in tribe of supporters. Many non-profits have traditionally licensed away their best content to traditional publishers to take a small royalty. Why give away this entire margin on content that made your non-profit important in the first place? With today’s technology, non-profits that understand how to connect with their tribes and market their message, can also publish and distribute their own books.

4) You want to speed up the timeline. Traditional publishing will take between twelve and twenty-four months from your deal and the books hitting the market. There are good reasons for this as it takes the marketing and sales process (dictated by retailers) six to eight months to present, go through purchasing, market, promote and launch. Self publishing allows you to cut this timeline considerably… especially if you are not going through the traditional retail trade.

5) You want more control over the process. It can be difficult to abdicate all the control of your message to a traditional publisher who will ‘own’ you’re content by contract, and pay you a small royalty for the pleasure. The strengths in this scenario are that traditional publishers are professionals who understand the market, and can shepherd a project through editorial, design, marketing, sales, etc. The strengths of doing it yourself are that you can hire who you want to do the editorial work, design, and marketing. This can lead to some fantastic ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking that sometimes gets lost in the corporate publishing world.

The negative stigma that used to accompany self published books has basically gone away. Retailers will buy them. Reviewers will look at them. And there are awards for self published books too.