The Top Ten Reasons to Self-Publish Your Book
Guy Kawasaki
On a mission to make people remarkable. Chief evangelist, Canva. Host, Remarkable People podcast.
The self-publishing revolution is in full swing because we’re at a great time when tablets have reached critical mass, connectivity is ubiquitous, and people want to spread, not horde, their knowledge.
Thus, the time for every author to consider self-publishing is upon us. I’ve written a book called to explain the process. Here are the top ten reasons why authors should self-publish their books.
- Content and design control. Self-publishers can control what’s in a book, how long it is, and how it looks. They only answer to themselves for most aspects of their books.
- Time to market. Self-publishers can get their book to market in less than a week once it’s copyedited. Traditional publishers take six to nine months to get a printed book to market, and they will not release the ebook version earlier than the printed version.
- Longevity. Self-publishers can keep their book in print forever—or at least as long as it takes for readers to discover it. Traditional publishers stop marketing a book once sales decline.
- Revisions. Self-publishers can revise books immediately with online ebook resellers and printers that are working “on demand.” Traditional publishers can take months to fix errors because they print revisions after they’ve sold off current inventory.
- Higher royalty. Self-publishers can make more money. Amazon pays a 35 percent or 70 percent royalty to ebook self-publishers. On a $2.99 ebook, most authors make approximately $2.00.
- Price control. Self-publishers can change the price of their book at will. For example, they can set a lower price to try to sell more copies or set a higher price to communicate higher quality.
- Global distribution. Self-publishers can achieve global distribution of their ebook on day one. For example, Kindle Direct Publishing will list an ebook in one hundred countries. Apple’s iBookstore reaches fifty countries.
- Control of foreign rights. Self-publishers determine who buys foreign rights and for how much. They can make more money because they are not sharing foreign-rights revenues with a traditional publisher.
- Analytics. Self-publishers can receive real-time or near real-time sales results. Traditional publishers provide twice-a-year royalty statements—imagine running a business with two sales reports a year.
- Deal flexibility. Self-publishers can cut any kind of deal with any kind of organization. Traditional publishers only sell to resellers except for bulk sales of printed books to large organizations.
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2022 Mandela Washington Fellow, Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA||Founder, Zee Learning Annex & Consults||Learning & Development Trainer, Jobberman Nigeria||Educational Consultant||Transformational Speaker.
9 年I am also writing a book. Thanks for the tips here. I believe they will be resourceful.
World’s Savviest Traveler. Passionate problem finder. Creative problem solver. ???
11 年I self-published my book in 2001. Main reasons were creative control and immediacy. Interesting that those are your first two items.
Personal Brand Coach | 30 Yrs Empowering Leaders, Women & Entrepreneurs, to Amplify Impact & Income Without the Frustration | $5B+ Global Results | Marketing Strategist & Speaker
11 年Thanks Guy Kawasaki this info is very timely for me as I'm about to start my book writing & self publishing challenge!.
A Journey of Two Mediums: The Futuristic Sculptor Who Breathes Life into Motion Picture
11 年Self-publishing has opened so many doors and leveled the playing field for authors (exceptional ones) who would otherwise, not get off the ground. It's a great way for self-publishing authors to gain exposure, earn income, and to raise money to reinvest in hard copy, as well as for promotional efforts. I am personally excited about going e-book because of the greater flexibility.