Walking into church this weekend, I connected with a friend I hadn’t seen in years. We hugged, and a big smile flashed across her face when we stepped apart. She reported that her book was almost complete after five years of work. Her face lit up as she shared the inspiring stories she’d collected in a devotional to encourage others.
She briefly mentioned self-publishing as the next step. Since worship was starting, I couldn’t give her a full pros-and-cons debrief on self-publishing versus traditional publishing, but I told her to email me. Today, I’ll share what I will explain to her later about making sure that the choice to self-publish doesn’t sabotage one’s pursuit of traditional publishing in the future.
Self-publishing, formerly called Do-It-Yourself Publishing, has existed since the 1800’s. Fast forward two hundred years, and Amazon revolutionized access to DIY publishing with the launch of CreateSpace shortly after the entrance of Kindle in 2007. Before CreateSpace, authors paid printing expenses before publishing. However, Amazon’s model didn’t pay a fee for publishing services until their book was released. Self-publishing exploded because the barriers to publishing a book seemingly disappeared. Anyone with a manuscript and a computer could create a book.
Today, self-publishing is attractive to many writers, especially those who see traditional publishing as a high mountain to climb. Self-publishing offers a fast, low-cost path to accomplish the writer’s goal: a published book. Yet, I’ve had many conversations with potential clients who didn’t recognize that self-published books could stall their pursuit of traditional publishing.
How can you leverage self-publishing and ensure that using that option doesn’t dead-end your dream of traditional publishing? Here are three insights to keep in mind:
Self-Publishing Book Sales Matter
Literary agents and publishers will ask how many copies you’ve sold of your self-published books. Traditional publishers want to know if they can be financially successful in partnering with an author. Book reviews and solid sales are key indicators that an author has established a brand and readers and understands how to create a marketable and salable product. It’s a red flag for literary agents when we see an author with self-published books on Amazon with no reviews or multiple books published a few months apart.
Next Step: Market your existing books before introducing projects. Here’s an opportunity to connect with your readers and build your audience.
Note: For those who want to “hide” self-published books by deleting them from Amazon or their website, hiding your books from a potential literary agent or editor isn’t advisable. There are ways to check.
Choose Quality Over Speed
Controlling the timeline is an attractive benefit to self-publishing. It may be tempting to finish the last sentence, give it a quick read-over, and send the manuscript off to print. Traditional publishing takes professionals up to 6 months to complete the editing and proofing process. This means you’ll need at least that amount of time, if not more.
Next Step: We encourage you to build in 3-6 months for professional editing and proofreading. The bottom line is this: if you’re asking people to purchase your book, they deserve a high-quality product. Also, higher quality books sell better.
Treat Your Self-Published Book Like a Dress Rehearsal for Your Traditionally Published Book
“If you want to run fast, run alone. If you want to run far, run with a friend.”
Normalize involving others in your publishing journey. In traditional publishing, a large group of people work on a single book to make it successful. You can duplicate that team approach and it can increase your book’s success. Consider gathering a launch team, hiring a publicist, or temporarily contracting a marketing company to help you with messaging. While you may hear the ching of more dollars, you can’t write a book and expect not to spend money on marketing. Read that again.
Next Step: Research and compile a full marketing plan before you self-publish. Ensure the budget includes funds for an online presence on a website, email marketing, digital ads, merchandise, and other related expenses.
Join Today’s Conversation: If you’ve self-published successfully, tell us the lessons that you’ve learned? Also, if you’ve self-published and then traditionally published, share your story – we’d love to hear it!
Yeah, I tried self-publishing,
and now I wonder why,
for I knew nothing, not a thing,
and saw writing dreams die.
Marketing was a closed book
and seemed quite declassé,
but I didn’t face the fact it took
that step to make the effort pay,
so on the sea I cast my bread
in trust that readers would arrive,
but the sales stayed flat (well, dead),
and the career did not survive,
nor even have a chance to start,
because of my impatient heart.
Andrew, I love this rhythmic composition – for it’s wit and its wisdom. I don’t take likely the disappointment behind your cautionary tale. Thank you for sharing your story today. Makes me appreciate all the more your willingness to share your craft in other inspiring ways!
Thanks so much for this wisdom, Barb! In particular, the search for a character artist who could draw children and animals that would engage young readers was a long one, but so worth the wait!
Barb, great info for self-publishing. I’m not published myself but I can share as a consumer. Personally I prefer traditional for reading pleasure. As a consumer when I see self-published books they tend to be more expensive (per page). Some lack proper editing. I have an art background so I place a high value on cover design and interior font as well as the paper quality. That may seem unimportant but I believe the cover sets the stage for the story as well as a poor cover would hint at quality of what’s inside. Some of these issues I’ve seen in small print houses.
The exception to me investing in self-published books is if the author has proven success in the traditional market and I’ve read their work previously. But I still look for quality in their self-published work and may sway future purchases.
Traditional offers a whole team from beginning to end allowing more time for the author to hone their marketing skills!
I have interested to bookshop.org for many years
Hi, it’s always been my dream to be a children’s book author. I published and illustrated my 1st book on kdp last year. I had no idea, that sales and marketing would be like pushing a boulder up hill.
I sold less than 80 books in a year. “The Pink Moon”. I have since written and illustrated 2 more books to add the Pink Moon and Friends series.
I had the book looked over rd by a creative editor, she changed every word. I have since taken down from kdp.
I am at a stand still, coming up with my own ideas to improve my books. I have written 12 children stories 2 middle grade, and 3 Adult novels in the works. I intend to keep writing. But how to proceed, escapes me. I did everything, editing, formatting e-book, print and even my website.
Any insight to revive my future as a author, would be appreciated!
Thanks
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Hi Barb! I wanted to follow up on one of your statements, which I have indeed read multiple times. 🙂 “While you may hear the ching of more dollars, you can’t write a book and expect not to spend money on marketing. Read that again.”
How much should a debut author budget for marketing? Is there a typical range for this expense? I have been looking through various publishers, and some of them even list their clients’ marketing plans, including “paid social media marketing.” I’m aiming for readiness. I appreciate any insights you can provide! Thank you for your article!
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