Piper Nuelle

I have been wondering about self publishing some of my works, I have so many ideas for novels and stories, that trying to get a ‘Traditional’ publisher to take me on and want to take all my ideas is probably not feasible. The days of authors past where you could write to your hearts content and have your publisher want them all and sell them for you is mostly long gone. A lot of authors now are lucky to strike a two book deal, and then if your later works are not what they desire its back to the drawing board looking for new agents, publishing houses or just anyone that will want you and your work. But I have been thinking and I really want to take the leap, a huge leap of faith and I have decided to come up with Pro’s and Con’s to really help me try and make up my mind on whether self publishing will be the right step for me. I also though that if I log all the Pro’s and Con’s here, that it may help someone else in my shoes and wondering if it is the right or wrong thing to do.

Pro’s for Self Publishing…

• Full creative control – If you go the self published route you can have full creative control over your work. No one else can tell you what to add or take away. You are fully in charge.
• Speed – Traditional publishing can take a long time, first you need to find an agent, a publishing house to take you on, then the editing stage, the planning stage, printing and so on which could take years. With self publishing you can write, edit, upload and print as fast as you can physically do it.
• Tried and failed with Traditional – Maybe you have sent off your work, maybe although you got good feedback your niche or genre is not the ‘Hot Topic’ of the moment and therefore you have been rejected. Maybe you can’t handle anymore rejection and you want to move onto your next WIP but you can’t until this books door closes. You can choose when to publish and what genre.
• Higher Royalties – You can set the price and have no middle men to take their cut.
• Flexible working hours – With self publishing you set your own deadlines, you don’t work to anyone else’s. So if you write a horror and you want it released on Halloween, then you can! You want to write every three out of seven days a week, you can!
• Global distribution and selling – Many if not most self published authors will sell through the likes of Amazon, a huge powerhouse for self published books and authors alike. Amazon sells and ships all over the world! Which means you can potentially sell your book overseas.
• You retain ownership – The book is yours, all yours! So if you wish to continue the story on as a series you can, you don’t need permission from a publisher or an agent. You wish to change or adapt things, you can, it’s your book. You have all the rights to licensing, and any adaptions that may occur such as film or TV you can negotiate on your own terms.
• Loyal fans – If you self publish and manage to capture a fan base, they will probably be more dedicated and loyal because they would have gone out their way to find you and come across your book.
• Hold your own events – If your book does well or you live local to a town that may love to meet the author, you could arrange an do local author / book events.

Con’s of Self Publishing…

• Hard Work – Self publishing can be very, very, very hard work! And you will need to be dedicated and become almost an expert at everything to make it work. You will need to figure out editing or hire an editor to check for spelling and grammar mistakes, you will need to be artistic to design a cover or pay an artist or someone else to create a cover for you, you will need to understand marketing and to advertise yourself, your book and essentially what will become your brand.
• Potential for low sales – On average self published books sell less then ones produced through traditional publishing, but of course that all depends on the book, the genre, the amount of marketing and advertising you have done and just plain LUCK!
• Have to arrange your own author / book events – Whilst this can also be seen as a pro, it can also be a con. Traditional publishing houses have contacts and can make good events and tours, but when on your own it’s all up to you to do. And if you are fairly unknown or new to the scene, there’s no guarantee bookshops will want to host an event or even if people turn up.
• It can be expensive – Traditional publishing houses cover costs of the books, the printing, the advertising and pay you an advance. But when you self publish you will need to cover all fee’s for yourself such as: editing, marketing, advertising, printing, and so on. But if you can do a lot of these yourself you can lower the cost.
• Not knowing the right contacts – Traditional publishers have usually been in the game for a long time, which means they have all the right fingers in all the right pies and know all the right people. So therefore it may be harder for you to access the things you need.
• People don’t always take self published authors seriously – In this modern time there are hundreds and thousands of jobs that can be done remotely or entrepreneur-ly but self published authors still get some stick. People may say oh your not a real author then, or think your work isn’t professional… But you just have to ignore the haters… If it’s right for you then do it… You can’t please everyone. But this can also mean that bookshops might not take your works either.
• Distribution – This can be hard when you are a ‘one’ man / woman band. You again may not know all the right people or without it being translated into other languages you may not be able to sell it oversees.
• Having to buy your own ISBN – Every book has an ISBN number which cost around £89 each give or take at the time you read this. When you go traditional the ISBN will be included in the book deal, when you self publish its your responsibility and will cost you.

As you can see there are many Pro’s and Con’s for Self Publishing, but at the end of the day it is essentially up to you as to what path you wish to take and what risks you decide are worth it.

I’m still a little undecided myself but I think I am leaning towards more self publishing at this moment in time. Plus, just because you self publish doesn’t mean your book might not ever get taken on by a ‘Traditional’ publisher. If it does well and catches the eye of someone at the right time, there could still be hope yet. Just look at E.L James with 50 shades of Grey!!! Which was originally self published as Fan Fiction of the Twilight series but became so popular that it was taken on by a traditional publishing house and then became adapted for films. So… There you have it, pro’s and con’s, hopes and dreams, and a decision on a path to take.

What do you think I should do? And what will you do? Let me know.

xo Piper xo