How to Make Self-Publishing Work for You
Facilitated by Chelsea Jackson
Questions to Ask before You Decide to Self-Publish
- What is it you want to share?
- Who do you want to share it with?
- Family members
- Children
- Young adults
- Adults
- Why do you want to share it?
- Who is your ideal audience members, and where are they?
- Write out a character profile of your ideal reader.
- Once you know where your audience is, you can figure out where to put your book.
- How much time do you have to dedicate to your book?
- Publishing is a lot of work.
- Both traditional and self-published authors have to market themselves a lot. With traditional publishing, you’ll have a team to help you out; with self-publishing, you’re responsible for all the work.
- You can hire out for some tasks. There is also great information on YouTube and in books. Be warned though: there’s a lot to learn.
- What resources do you have available?
- It costs a lot of money to self-publish.
- Is there anyone in the industry that can help you?
- What social marketing options do you have?
- Do you know InDesign?
- Do you have a following for beta readers?
- Define success for yourself.
- Keep work-life balance.
- If you don’t define what success looks like for you, you’ll find work and life overlapping a lot.
- Is it possible to do traditional publishing and self-publishing with the same book?
- A lot of publishers are pretty leery of self-published books. If you’ve already sold it, publishers will worry that you’ve already maxed out your market. Unless the book does really well and a publisher sees a strong market for the book, it’s hard for a self-published book in a niche area to be traditionally published later. Publishers look for a strong marketing plan and what’s new that you’re going to contribute from the previous version of your book. Big-name publishers will be hesitant to publish your book unless you’re an established author or well-known for other reasons.
- If you choose to use a company to help with self-publishing (a hybrid publisher), see if the company has a history of working with traditional publishers.
- What is the typical budget for self-publishing?
- It depends on how long your book is and how big your audience is (and who they are). $1,000–$5,000 is the typical range.
- What is the average timeline for self-publishing?
- It depends on you and how quickly you get things done. If you have a clean book and there aren’t huge changes that need to be made, you’ll get done faster. Traditionally publishing typically takes longer.
- How do you find an agent?
- Sites such as the Writer’s Digest website list agents and their genres.
Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing
Pros
- It’s typically faster than traditional publishing. With traditional publishing, it can take nine months to two years to get the book out. (If you have an agent, have them push on the timeline with traditional publishers.)
- You can set up your book on Amazon in a day.
- You’ll get your first royalty check in two months.
- You’ll have complete creative control. You get to pick the title and the cover, for example.
- You’ll receive higher royalties. For example, with Amazon, if your books is priced between $2.99 and $9.99, you’ll get 70% of the royalties. If it’s priced below $2.99, you’ll get 30%. Traditional publishers typically give you 6% to 15% on a sliding scale (discounts drop the rate you get.)
- You’ll have complete control of your writing career.
- You don’t have to worry that your book is in too small a niche for a traditional publisher to accept.
- You’ll get to handpick your publishing team.
- There are no deadlines besides the ones that you set for yourself. Traditional publishers are very deadline oriented.
- You’ll maintain all the rights for your book.
Cons
- You won’t have a free, experienced, professional team.
- You won’t have as many people look at your work before you publish, so it won’t be as refined.
- The upfront costs are substantial.
- There is a steep learning curve (marketing, hiring professionals, etc.).
- There isn’t as much prestige in self-publishing as there is in traditional publishing.
- It can be difficult to win literary prizes because competitions often won’t accept self-published books.
- It’s difficult to get your book in stores, unless you use a hybrid publisher that has experience with getting authors into stores. (However, you can easily get your book on Amazon.)
- You might feel alone because you don’t have a publishing team by default.
Other Advice
- Get to know the market you want to be in, including what’s already been written and how to connect with your audience.
- Use Amazon to see how other books in your genre are doing.
- Find beta readers (not family, if possible—you want honest feedback).
- Get your book edited.
- Decide how you want to publish your book (e.g., all by yourself or through a hybrid publisher.)
- An ebook needs just the front cover design; a print book needs the front and the back covers designed. You don’t want to go cheap on the cover; ensure it looks polished and professional. We all judge a book by its cover.
- Scrivener is great for creating ebooks. A print book should be laid out in in InDesign.
- Be open to trading work. (“You edit for me, and I’ll write for you.”)
- Romance, sci-fi, fantasy, YA, adult, and nonfiction books do well self-published.
- Middle-grade and children’s books don’t do as well self-published. You need a great marketing plan for those. Many parents buy children’s books through Scholastic
- Self-publishing has revolutionized the publishing industry. Lots of people have been successful with it. If you have the will, there is a way.
Resources
- Joanna Penn runs the Creative Penn website, which has resources such as a list of professionals who can help with layout and cover design.
- Mark Dawson is a great resource for information on marketing your book. Check out his podcast on self-publishing.
- Visit the Utah Freelance Editors Facebook page and website. They have a list of services that they offer.
- LDSPMA also has a job board where you can post freelance jobs (e.g., typesetting for book), and we are creating a membership directory so you can search for editors, writers, graphic designers, etc.