5 Reasons You Should Self-Publish

Every aspiring author has dreamt of getting a book deal with a traditional publisher. (Don’t even try to lie to yourself. You know it’s true!)

Then they write query letters and find if they get a response AT ALL, it’ll be a hard, “No Thank you!”

Most of the time, literary agents won’t even respond. 

It’s a sucky process. And very deflating. And discouraging. And disappointing. And stupid.

Ok, not stupid. I understand why there are many denials from literary agents. They have hundreds of proposals regularly and have to pick the story they resonate with. It’s a slim shot. 

For the longest time being an Indie Author or Self-Published Author was seen as…let’s say, not professional or not a legitimate author. 

I believe the world is finally seeing that this isn’t the case. Self-publishing can be just as legitimate if done correctly. And truly, there are some crappy traditionally published books out there. So, traditionally published books aren’t always the best.

Being a self-published author is HARD. 

So when a self-published book does well, it’s even more impressive because it was achieved solely by one person calling the moves. 

Without having all the connections and money to back marketing, print production, and shelf space, it’s difficult to make a splash in the book industry. 

But there are MANY pros to self-publishing that I think should be given weight in your mind. 

I hope by the time you finish reading this article, you’ll be able to see Self-Publishing as a viable and awesome option to choose in becoming an author! 

Here are the top 5 Reasons you should self-publish:

Move at your own pace. 

Traditionally published books can take 1 to 2 years to complete. 

I’ve published a book in 1-2 months at a minimum. By doing everything yourself, you can move as quickly as you’d like. When you hire services like illustrations, or book design, or editing, they typically have a fast turnaround.

This means, yes, you can TOTALLY become an author this year!

Create exactly what you want

When you are in charge, you get to choose every detail for your book. If you are creative and have a good eye for design, you can do this right. AND if you’re stubborn like me, being in charge is a good thing. 

For those who traditionally publish, they get little or no say in the cover design or illustrations. That would break my heart. My stories are pieces of my soul. I wouldn’t want to end up with a design I HATE just because someone says it needs to be that way. As the creator of our stories, I think we should have a part in how our book is portrayed.

More profits in your pocket

This isn’t always the case, BUT you do get to decide how much to charge and how much you want to make per book. You also get to change these things whenever you’d like. 

With a traditional publisher, this is negotiated via a contract before your book is worked on. So when trends change, making changes to your book cost and profits are more difficult to adjust. You’re locked in until the contract is up. 

I’ve spoken to a traditionally published author who has published over 50 books. She was contracted to only 1%. I guess if the books are printed in China for pennies, the publisher will be able to profit at a higher margin which means the author will make more, but still, I don’t like the percentage she gets. I could just be too full of myself, but I feel authors deserve more. 

Control your future

Did you know that you still have to do marketing for your book as a traditionally published author? And if you want to do promotions, they might not always support you. As a self-published author, you can test, alter, and navigate marketing to meet the goals you have set for yourself. No need to get approval from anyone else.

Also, when you sign a contract with a publisher, you lose your rights to the work. It’s theirs. They get to decide what to do with it…:( Lame.

Opportunities for the future

By self-publishing, you become educated on how to do every step of the process. You can easily learn every step in my online course; Self-Publish Program with bonus coaching if you’re frustrated trying to do it all by yourself. It’s FREE.

Knowing every step and how the process works empowers you to create your own opportunities for the future. So you can publish as many books as you’d like for the rest of your life! 

You will never have to rely on someone else to create this future for you. 

See what I mean? There are so many amazing benefits for being self-published. 

Go with it and get to work! 

If you want the extra help, join my FREE Self-Publish Program to self-publish the book of your dreams on a budget.