The Benefits of Self-Publishing

Self-publishing is publishing without the help of traditional publishers.  Instead, self-publishing involves authors or books and other works doing everything from editing, to the layouts to distribution and marketing.  Self-publishing has always been around since long ago, but with the advent of technology, it has recently found itself exploding in terms of authors availing of this form of publishing.

Unlike traditional publishers, self-publishing authors often take charge of editing their own works, marketing their products and distributing them.  Sometimes, they can outsource some parts of the work to other companies. These outsourcing outfits usually take care of one area of the work, like usually editing or printing, while the author or the creator takes care of the rest.

There are many benefits to self-publishing.  One is that the author can exercise all the artistic freedom, he or she wants.  Nobody will tell him to cut out some chapters of a book, or to tame down some sections.  What’s more, because the author or creator is involved every step of the way, he can translate his passion onto the final product every step of the way, too.  He oversees everything from layout, printing, marketing and eventual distribution.  This assures him that the product is of great quality.

And lastly, the creator keeps all the money he earns.  Instead of just earning meager royalties, he gets to keep the sales from his books.  Instead of paying commissions, he gets to minimize the amount of commissions he pays by cutting the number of middlemen (traditional publishing involves a bevy of sales people).  The author only has to worry about the cuts a retailer gets from displaying and selling the book.

With the advent of the Internet and the technologies that are specifically beneficial to publishing, the costs of printing, publishing, storing and distributing books are not as hefty as they were 50 years ago, and maybe not even 20 years ago.  At present, you can write, edit and layout your book on your own computer using a desktop publishing suite.  You can opt to have it printed on demand, a technology that allows you to upload digital copies of your work to a printing service who then prints out your book when someone orders it.  Some print-on-demand companies also offer related services like getting your ISBNs or providing you with book jackets.  However, the thing is, with print-on-demand technology, you do not have to have thousands of printed copies for your book.  You can stock as little as you like and still get a copy out to a customer who needs it in two or three days.

You can also use the Internet to market your works.  There are a lot of retailer sites – like Amazon and eBay – that can help you with your marketing.  You can also host your own Web site and sell your book and other works there.

Self-publishing capitalizes on the long tail.  Admittedly, if you put out a book on common topics, you will have a hard time going against established authors with established machinery for promoting their works.  Self-publishing has given the unknown author or creator a chance to make money doing what he loves to do or write about something he loves to write about.

Self-publishing also gives readers a chance to find books on hard-to-find topics, or controversial ones.  Traditional publishers have long eschewed subject matters that could become PR disasters for them, or things that they think would not appeal to the mass market.

In short, self-publishing not only makes it easier for an author or creator to publish himself, it also equalizes the playing field and makes publishing a more dynamic industry that caters to just about every person’s passion and whim.  Whereas before, it would be difficult to find autobiographical works on, say, a simple accountant, or perhaps a how-to plant-tropical-seeds-in-warm-climates guide and other obscure works.  These are now possible with self-publishing.

The Internet has long been regarded as an equalizer of scale.  Small companies and individuals can capitalize on the size of the Internet and catapult themselves to success.  Self-publishing is just one of the prime examples of how the Internet works it magic.