To Self-Publish, Or Not to Self-Publish
This is a question I get asked all the time. Let’s see what Scott Jeffrey, www.BestSellingAuthor.com has to say.
The decision to self-publish versus publishing with a major publisher is sometimes irrelevant. Can you get a publishing contract from a major publisher? Naturally, this isn’t such a straightforward question since you really don’t know until you try, but here are some questions to ponder:
Can you get a book proposal in the hands of someone who will read it without going straight to the slush pile? Do you have any contacts in the publishing field? (Contacts aren’t essential, but they certainly can help.)
Do you have an agent? Someone who will champion your work—someone who is passionate about your message? (If you’re approaching small to medium-sized publishers, you don’t need an agent.)
Do you have a platform for selling large numbers of books like a radio or television show, a weekly or monthly column in a highly circulated magazine/newspaper, or a huge customer/fan base that buys your existing products?
Do you have an enticing, fresh idea (or a new spin on an old idea) for a book that a publisher will want to publish? And do you have the “expert status” to back it up?
Other Factors for Making your Decision
Motive: Why are you writing this book? Are you looking for fame or fortune? Are you just trying to share your message? Your motive for writing this book is an important consideration: You may be happy just getting a hundred copies of your book from a print-on-demand service. Or you may want to walk into a bookstore and find your book on the shelf. Perhaps you just want an additional product to sell at your speaking engagements.
Time: You can self-publish your book in about a fifth of the time (if not less) than it will take a big publishing house. Do you need the book right away to begin building your career? The publishing process of a major publisher generally takes a little over a year. Add the time it takes to land a publishing contract and you’re dealing with a long timeline.
Money: There are two factors to consider about money.
Are you financially “able” to self-publish your book? Self-publishing a run of 5,000 hardcover books will cost you $20,000 to $50,000, depending on the quality of the final product. There’s a misconception that self-published work has to look self-published. This is only true if you cut corners: one can typically distinguish a $250 book cover from a $5,000 one.
Do you want to make money with the book? This goes back to your motive for writing the book: if you already have a platform from speaking, etc., your book can become an income-generating product in the back of the room. From an economic standpoint, you can make considerably more money if you self-publish instead of going with a publishing house. Conversely, if your book has bestseller potential, a major publisher will give you significantly greater distribution capabilities.
The Economics: An Illustration
Self-Publishing: Let’s say each book costs you $2 to print (all costs included) and the book sells for $15. For every book you sell, you earn $13.
Publishing House: Let’s say, as the author, you get 20 percent royalties (meaning you get 20 percent of what the publisher makes, which is around 55 percent of the retail price of the book). With the same $15 book, you’ll earn only $1.65. (From the discussion above in “The Advance,” 30,303 books at $1.65 equals your $50,000 advance.)
If you sell 10,000 books at your venues, you’ll bring in $130,000 versus $16,500 from a publisher—that’s a 780% difference! Of course, if you don’t have a built-in platform for selling those books, they can take up a lot of space in your garage.
Advantages of a Major Publisher
There are many advantages to going with a major publisher:
Self-publishing a book is like starting a company—there are innumerable hours of work and challenges involved in producing the final product.
Publishers generally offer strong distribution capabilities for getting your book on the store shelves. Although there are a select number of distributors that work with self-publishers, it’s difficult to match the distribution capabilities of a large house. Plus, there are loads of headaches in dealing with these distribution channels.
You’re enrolling an entire team of professionals to help. Publishing houses have graphic designers, editors, copy editors, proofreaders, etc. in-house. Finding all of these components on your own can be a daunting task.
Publishers have relationships. You never know what contacts your publisher might have that could catapult your book to stardom.
Publishers take on all the risk (and invest all the money). Instead of investing tens of thousands of dollars of your own money, publishers take on this responsibility and even give you an advance prior to any book sales.
There’s a certain level of additional legitimacy that you get from a large house. It’s as if they are validating your existence in the marketplace.
Scott Jeffrey is an author coach and the author the 10-CD audio program, Everything You Need to Know to Become a Best-Selling Author. For more information, please visit www.BestSellingAuthor.com
