3 Reasons to Self-Publish Your Book

I know it sounds glamorous to have your book published by a traditional publisher. And, yes, there are benefits. However, having lived with my feet in both worlds since 2005, I can honestly say that the benefits of self-publishing outweigh traditional publishing.

Here's why…

1) Creative Power

Self-publishing gives you the power to design and create your book cover image and manuscript layout that's in alignment with how you envision your book. This is especially important if you are intending to build a powerful Author Platform that is related to your brand. Many authors don't think of their books as part of their brand, but this is a mistake. You want your readers to instantly recognize you and your brand the moment they see your book(s).

True story: One of my traditionally published books has a cover, title and subtitle that I do not like. In fact, I felt so strongly about it that I surveyed my community and asked them to vote on the title and subtitle and to come up with other variations (market research). I shared this information with my publisher and they said that their executive team “knew from experience” that the title they selected was a winner. The book sales proved otherwise.This is why I love self-publishing. I get to use my imagination to design a cover that I love, lay the manuscript out however I wish, so that I can publish a book that truly represents me and the content I'm sharing. This doesn't mean that I don't get feedback from others. Quite the contrary, I always ask members of my community to give feedback and vote on covers, titles and subtitles so that I can hear different perspectives that I may not have previously considered. This way, I can publish a book that incorporates the best ideas from my fans and include them in something important.

2) Freedom

Traditional publishers have to stay on good terms with all booksellers which means that they cannot favor one over the other. As a self-published author, you have the freedom to sell wherever you wish. And, the most obvious place to sell your books is on Amazon.

According to Forbes.com, “Amazon is now the world's third-largest retailer…”

And, an astounding “80% of Amazon's U.S. customers purchase from Amazon at least once a month.”
(Source: Digital Marketing Ramblings)

Amazon has approximately 300 million users. That means that every 30 days, about 240,000,000 million (80%) are shopping on Amazon and most have their credit cards locked and loaded ready to purchase.

This is why authors should be rushing to self-publish and promote their books on Amazon.  And, as a self-published author, you have the freedom to do so.

3) Money

It's a well-known fact that most authors do not make money from traditionally published books. After paying my editor, agent and publicist, I literally made nothing other than the advance. However, advances are harder and harder to come by unless you are a celebrity, well-known personality or have a large social media following. And, as you likely know, it's up to you — the author — to market your book to generate sales even if you work with a traditional publisher. Keep in mind that in any given season, a publisher has many books being published. They cannot, and in my experience do not, spend large amounts of time and money promoting every one. And, once the advance is spent, there's the expectation for you to continue marketing your book as all future book sales go directly to paying back the advance. Yep, that means years of working for free.

Since you are going to end up being your main marketing engine anyway, you may as well keep more of what you earn and do it how you want without the restrictions of a publisher with somewhat different motives.  If you publish your print book on CreateSpace (owned by Amazon), you will be amazed by how much more money you can earn per copy. And, since it's “print on demand” and they handle shipping, you never have to open your garage door to see 1,000 copies of your book looking right back at you (Been there. Done that!).

When I order one of my own traditionally published books, I have to pay $8.00 per copy not including shipping. If I were to sell this book at an event for $15.00, I would earn only $7.00 per copy not including the cost of shipping to the event. For one of my self-published books, I would pay approximately $3.00 per copy to print and at $15.00 per copy that means that I would earn about $12.00 per copy sold (not including shipping) and I don't have to invest in inventory, website sales, etc.

CreateSpace has a free handy calculator to figure out the cost of printing your book. This calculator assumes a full color glossy (or matte) cover.

You own the rights

Another important aspect of self-publishing, in addition to the ability to make more money, is that you own the rights to your book. I can't emphasize the importance of this enough. You can edit, change, launch or re-launch your book and book cover whenever and however you wish. Nothing is more frustrating than wanting to make a change to your traditionally published book and… you can't. You no longer own the rights. And, imagine having to seek permission from the publisher to quote yourself when you want to publish an excerpt in the media, magazine or contribute to someone else's blog.

Lastly, given the number of previously traditionally published authors now going the self-publishing route, and the number of terrific books that have been self-published, the former status of being able to say, “I got a deal with XYZ publisher” has lost some cache. Today more people are inclined to wonder why an author would relinquish so much control and even consider a publisher.

To be clear, there may be occasions when authors would go the route of a traditional publisher, and I do not fault them. But, for the reasons I have outlined above, this is why I help authors self publish their books! I believe that if you want to get your book out to the world so that readers can benefit from your imagination, stories, experience and expertise, then give yourself the creative power and freedom to self-publish. This is the best way to earn more money writing and gives you the ability to share your gifts so that others can benefit.

Dr. Tamara Monosoff is a book marketing expert, an Amazon #1 Bestselling Business Author, and creator of the Author-to-Income Formula – a revolutionary, step-by-step system that shows Authors how to reach #1 bestseller status on Amazon, execute a successful book launch (or re-launch), bask in the media spotlight, and make a hefty income from your book and business.

Tamara has been featured on the Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, U.S. News & World Report, Wall Street Journal, Oprah, People & Time magazines to name just a few. Before becoming an author & entrepreneur she served in the White House and U.S. Department of Education as a Presidential Appointee to the Clinton Administration.