Should I self-publish my first book? This was a question I asked myself before I published my first book and I’m sure one many authors ask themselves. In today’s industry, it’s very hard to get a publishing deal – especially for first-time authors.
Check out what independent publishing is and should you traditionally publish you book?
I chose to self-publish because I’m a very independent person by nature and the more I learned about traditional publishing more I didn’t feel that it was for me. That’s not to say that self-publishing is an easy route. Believe me, it’s not!
Here are a few questions to ask yourself:
- Are you positive and motivated? Publishing is a hard business and a steep learning curve if you don’t know what you’re doing. Don’ expect to make a fortune overnight either. You have to put the work in to sell any books.
- Are you willing to take a risk? Self-publishing costs time and money with no guarantee that you will get any of that money back. But contrary to what some people say, it can be done cheaply. The most important things to pay for things such as cover design and editing.
- Are you entrepreneurial? Writers and authors these days have to think of publishing as a business because that is what it is. If you want to publish books just as a hobby that’s fine. But any serious author needs to treat your book as if it were part of your business.
- Do you have a plan in place? I made the mistake of not have any real kind of plan when I published my first book and had a steep learning curve after it. Learn all you can about self-publishing beforehand to see if it’s the right option for you. Definitely have a marketing plan and a budget too.
- Do you know who your audience is? One of the most important things when it comes to marketing is to know who your ideal reader is. Who are they? Are they male or female? Where do they hangout? What does your book offer them?
Did you choose to self-publish? If so, I’d love to hear your reasons.
Resources
Should you self-publish your first book
6 reasons you should self-publish
Should you self-publish or traditionally publish
Julie Richmond
These are excellent questions! I self-published as I wanted control over…everything. 🙂 I plan to continue self-publishing and not try a traditional route. I need to work on a launch plan for my next book as I didn’t have one with the first and sales were slow to start before they began to pick up steam.
Thoughtflask
It’s so good to read the questions you need to ask yourself when doing anything like this, the ones that are always overlooked because you’re so set on doing whatever it is. I want to write a book in future and I’ll definitely have these on the forefront of my mind, along with checking out you recourses.
Fabiola Rodriguez
I was just thinking about self-publishing as a goal for this year, so your post was very helpful. I have a Spanish-language blog about health and fitness that has grown considerably in the past year. I was thinking about writing an e-book, but I’m not sure if that will help grow my blog. Ultimately, I would like to make an income by blogging. Your opinion on this would be helpful too!
tiffanyshand
Hi Fabiola, I think writing a book would be a great way of growing your blog. I’ve read books and then gone on to read the writer’s blog. It’s a good way of expanding your fitness brand. Or if you didn’t want to publish your book straight away you could just do a short ebook as a PDF and give it away for free in exchange for people to sign up for your newsletter – if you have one.
tiffanyshand
Hi Julia,
Thanks for commenting. Yes, I wanted control over everything too but I wish I’d learnt more about publishing before I published my frist book as I really didn’t know what I was doing. That led me to be conned out of a lot of money by a very unprofessional editor and two bad formatters.
One of my goals now is to teach and help others authors about self-publishing and I’m planning on writing books about it too.