Why I Decided to Self-Publish
Happy New Year!
The release of my debut novel Of Mountains And Seas is only a week away, so I thought what better time than now to start documenting the journey that led me to this point?
I started writing Of Mountains And Seas way back in 2019, and at the time, I was determined to go the traditional publishing route. Fast-forward almost five years, with a finished draft on my laptop, I began researching query letters and what to expect from agents and traditional contracts. Throughout my research, two points kept coming up that got me to consider and then finally choose self-publishing: time and money.
Time
To the above point, I’ll try to keep things short and sum up all my weeks of research for you. It takes a long time to find an agent through query letters. Even with an agent, it takes a long time to get a deal with a publisher. Even with a publishing deal, it takes a long time to bring a book to market, and there is no guarantee that will happen even with a contract. A contract may languish under a stack of higher priority contracts until it expires and then I’d have to start all over again. From what I understand, getting a publishing deal to begin with is like winning a jackpot, and after five years I wasn’t willing to take that gamble—which brings me to the next point.
Money
Unknown authors can usually expect an advance of around $500 to $1500 upon signing. Depending on your circumstances, this may or may not be something you’d be excited about. However, there are other costs the publisher is paying for upfront as well such as editors, cover designers, printing and distribution, etc. I estimate these would run around at least $10,000 to start, although self-publishing can be done for much less. For me, I’m very fortunate to have a day job that can help fund my self-publishing. There’s also the fact that publishers pay writers very little per sale of their books, and self-publishing gives much more per sale.
The Other Stuff
Losing rights and having to market yourself even with a contract.
I kind of like keeping control of the creative process and learning the ins-and-outs of the publishing and marketing world this first time around. And if I have to market my own book either way, why not do it on my own terms? These days, social media and print-on-demand services open a whole new world for indie authors. If I succeed in building a bit of a following, then I have more bargaining power and knowledge of the industry if I decide to pursue traditional publishing for future projects. Also, I’m not a very prolific writer to begin with, so I don’t mind spending extra time of the self-publishing side of things.
I hope this helps others trying to decide if self-publishing is for them. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me on my Contact page.