Overview
Self-publishing is one of the fastest growing segments of the publishing industry; authors find it attractive for many reasons. Unlike using traditional publishing companies, self-publishing allows the author to be in control of the entire creative and selling process.
As a self-published author, you pay the full cost of
producing your work and are responsible for marketing and distribution.
Therefore, the finished copies, the copyright, all subsidiary rights, and all
money received from book sales are exclusively yours. You own 100% of your rights!
First-time authors may find it difficult to be accepted by a
traditional publishing house because of the unpredictable sales of a newcomer's
book. You can test your book's sales potential by self-publishing a small
quantity with a short-run with Jasher Press & Co. We provide a full line of
services to produce an attractive, professional book, as well as one on one
interaction time with your project. We also provide quick turnarounds without
compromising our quality.
What Types of Books Are Best-Suited for Self-Publishing?
Tightly targeted nonfiction books are still the best bet for self-publishing. The most successful self-publishers are those who (a) are experts in their field and (b) are familiar with the target audience for their books. It can be more difficult to persuade a commercial publisher to accept a book that has a relatively small target audience -- which makes self-publishing the ideal venue for this type of book.
Books for which the author has a "built-in" market or audience (which often fall into the previous category) are also likely to do well. If, for example, you regularly speak or teach on a particular topic, you may be able to take advantage of that audience by self-publishing a book that you can market at your talks or seminars. You might even be able to self-publish a book that you can use as a "required text" in your classes. If you belong to a particular professional organization, this can also provide you with a built-in "market".
Self-published fiction still has a low success rate overall. Most fiction is still purchased through real-world bookstores, where one can browse the shelves for titles that look "interesting" (and then flip through the book itself to review a few sample pages). The fiction "readership" is also too vast and diverse a market to target effectively with a direct-mail campaign -- and the competition with other titles is too fierce. There are, of course, notable exceptions that are often cited as "proof" that self-published fiction does sell -- e.g., Richard Paul Evans' The Christmas Box or M.J. Rose's Lip Service -- but the reality is that these books stand out because they are exceptions to the rule, not because they are representative of the success of self-published fiction as a whole.
Children's books and collections of poetry are also poor candidates for self-publishing. Buyers of children's books, like buyers of fiction, tend to prefer to browse the selection at bookstores, where they can easily review a book before purchasing it. In addition, many children's books are illustrated and/or produced in special large editions with high-quality paper (or added features such as pop-ups), which are extremely expensive for the self-publisher. As for poetry, its market is limited at best, especially if a poet does not already have an established reputation.
This doesn't mean that you can't succeed in self-publishing with a work of fiction, a children's book, or even a collection of poetry. It simply means that to be successful, you must have an exceptional product AND the willingness to make a major investment in promoting that product.
What Are the Primary Advantages of Self-Publishing?
The advantages of self-publishing
are numerous:
- You retain full control over the content, design, and
marketing of your book.
- You retain all rights to your manuscript (with the
exception that self-publishing is itself a use of "publication"
rights; you cannot then sell a book to a publisher as a "new,"
unpublished work.)
- You retain all revenues earned from the sale of your
books.
- You may be able to exploit markets that a larger
commercial publisher would overlook or ignore, because of your special
expertise in a particular area or simply because of your commitment to
your book.
- Your book may have a greater chance of success simply
because you're more committed to the process of promoting it than a
publisher who has hundreds of other titles.
What
Are the Primary Disadvantages of Self-Publishing?
Unfortunately, the disadvantages of
self-publishing are also numerous!
- Print self-publishing (which is still the method by
which you are most likely to sell the greatest number of books) is
expensive. You will probably need to invest a minimum of $3000 to $5000 to
get your book into print.
- Self-publishing requires a huge investment in effort.
You must be aware that you are setting up a business -- and what you get
out of it will be directly proportional to the time and effort you are
willing to put into it. (See "Tasks," below.)
- Self-publishing requires an ongoing investment of
funds. While it is possible to accomplish a great deal of marketing online
today, you may still find that you need to fund advertising and
direct-mail campaigns, as well as pay to ship books to reviewers. It is
these ongoing expenses that make it difficult to "break even" in
the self-publishing business.
- Self-published books still lack respect in many areas.
Many reviewers will not review self-published books; many bookstores and
libraries will not deal directly with a small press; and many professional
organizations will not consider a self-published book as
"published."
