Pros of Self-Publishing Pt.2

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Introduction

In our last blog post, we got started on the topic of the advantages of self-publishing. We had so many good things to say about it that we decided one blog post would not be enough! So, here are some additional pros of self-publishing!

5- Your Ideas Have Value

A lot of authors are afraid to have their ideas rejected and this is totally normal! This is one of the main reasons why some people take a long time to start writing or are afraid to publish their work (we hope to explore this in a future blog post, so stay tuned). But guess what... Self-publishing authors can publish whatever they want!

In self-publishing, no idea is bad or will be rejected. There is no one to tell you that your content is not good enough! Everything is appreciated and your work is valued as it should be!

6- Faster Process and Quicker Exposure

In traditional publishing, it can take months for an editor (or similar) to read your proposal or script for a book, especially if it is your first work. Besides that, when the manuscript is approved, it can take somewhere between 6 to 24 months for the book to hit the shelves.

However, in self-publishing, once the author signs the deal, the process moves very fast. In theory, you could sign a deal now, and your book would become available immediately. Of course, this is not always the case because some authors need more time to refine some details before publishing but the good thing is: with self-publishing, authors can choose to adjust their timelines when they want to.

Because self-publishing is faster, books get quicker exposure, and authors have the chance to make a name for themselves. Building a fan base, finding their niche, attracting an audience and investors, and building an email list, among other things. This helps whenever they want to publish their next work because it will build their reputation as authors.

7- Niche Publishing

If you did not know, a genre is a category or style. We have genres for books, for music, for movies… Anyway, in the past, there were clearly defined genres for books and very few of them. If it was not romance, then it was non-fiction, or poetry, or something very different. But nowadays, there are several sub-genres inside those old genres and like younger generations of readers like to say, there are many “tropes.”

Today, a book can fit several categories or sub-categories, depending on critics’ and readers’ perspectives. Some traditional publishing houses insist on investing in few genres, which does not leave a lot of space for niche publishing. Self-publishing, on the other hand, does not care about which genres are “more popular” at the moment because the truth is nowadays people are interested in a handful of stories, and they are not always the traditional ones. There is a fan base for pretty much any type of story.

8- Longer Shelf Life

With self-publishing, your book has a longer time to find its audience. In self-publishing, your book stays on the shelf until you decide to take it out while with publishing companies, the inventory changes all the time. In this case, your book will probably have between a couple of weeks and some months, depending on how many copies you sell, to find a loyal audience before it’s replaced by another title.

When it comes to digital books, the story is a little bit different. They can stay available indefinitely depending on where they are located.

9- Pricing Control

Simply put, when publishing a book through self-publishing, you can pick how much you want to charge for a copy of it. Besides that, thanks to technology, the book writing process can now be completed for way less time and money than before. This is especially true when it comes to eBooks because the costs for printing and distribution are eliminated.