Things the Internet Didn’t Tell You About Self-Publishing

If you find an article that tells you self-publishing is all about finding satisfaction from your craft – walk away. If you are looking at content that is trying to persuade you that writing is about personal fulfillment – walk away. 

Sure, some people write for pleasure. Most aren’t in that position of privilege. If you’re writing – it’s because you’re trying to make a living from your craft while also enjoying some sense of accomplishment – two birds with one stone basically.

Publishers don’t care about you as a person

No one is really interested in your or your book when it comes to publishing. What they’re interested in is whether your book will make money for them. When you find a publisher that requires an upfront payment to handle publishing, editing, proofing, graphics and a touch of marketing – they also want your money.

Sure, they will do their bit to get your book in print, but they will also want you to do as much marketing as possible. If your book then fails to sell or make a profit – you get the blame for not doing enough marketing. Always read the fine print when going the self-publishing route.

Don’t write to make a living

Few writers ever truly make a living from writing. Even when they choose the self-publishing route, they still look at this site to see more opportunities to make money, and they start working on such writing services. Their lives will be overwhelmed with the level of marketing they will need to do to sell their book.

Learn how to market before you decide that publishing on the internet if for you. Even if you do decide that internet publishing is the way to go, you need to figure out which format to use.

Unless you are informed about marketing techniques and use these to promote sales, you are not going to make a living from your work. This is evident from the average sales of an e-book amounting to just $300 according to some sources.

Why are you even writing this book?

Have you focused on writing self-help or industry-related e-books for the past 5 years and now want to become a real author? If your motivation is for your ego – you’re going to be in for a big surprise. Full-length novels take loads of work and time. So much so, that you might be tempted to forget about the ‘integrity of your craft’ very quickly. 

If you’re into writing for the money, stick to the commercial stuff like your e-books and web content until you’ve made your fortune online. The chances are that you won’t make a fortune, though. No matter how well you write or how fascinating your short stories are, publishing on the internet takes talent and persistence. 

Publishing on the internet

Internet publishing can take several other forms. Many will require you to provide content in someone else’s name. If you want to get published under your own name, you better make sure that your work stands out from the crowd. 

Competition is incredibly stiff in this industry, so self-publishing takes a special kind of ‘tough’ to roll with the tumbles that are bound to happen.

Be forewarned too! If you go into self-publishing, you may never have the opportunity to go into traditional publishing. Traditional publishers’ frown on self-publishing and may not want to touch your work. This is especially the case if you have a history of failures to your name.

If you’re going the internet publishing route – do it well

In contrast – if you’ve self-published on the internet and you sold anything over 5,000 copies – traditional publishers will be interested in your work. Nothing speaks of success, like success. 

And, like a magnet – success attracts more success. So, if you’ve braved the self-publishing route, have honed your marketing skills, then you can quite conceivably make that desirable transition from self-published to traditional publishing.

Of course, you may have been so successful in the self-publishing efforts that you feel confident enough to snub traditional publishers. Don’t do it. They, too, can boost your career into the stratosphere – an enviable destination for every writer who seeks recognition and success.

Conclusion

Self-publishing can take a lot of guts. There are no guarantees of success. The obstacles are numerous, and your ego and craft are at stake. Best to put aside personal feelings, weigh the pros and cons, and make decisions that are most likely to benefit you and your craft – financially and through recognition. Best to brush up substantially on your marketing skills if you want to go this route – since this will be your biggest determinator of success or failure. 

Author Bio:

Sandra Larson is a leading author from ElizabethAnAuthors.org who has written and self-published many books in both fiction and non-fiction category. She dreams of being an award-winning author and producing some bestsellers that can make her popular. She works as a freelance academic writer for a reputed online writing service that helps students with thesis, dissertation and essays.