Should you self-publish your novel?

When someone learns I'm an indie author, one of the first questions they ask is, “Why did you decide to self-publish?” and “Would you do it again?” or “Do you think I should self-publish my book?”

...or some variation on that.

The truth, of course, is that everyone has to decide for themselves, as every author (and book) is different. But I think it's an important question for all of us to consider—and I'd be delighted to share the reasons that led to my own conclusion.

Really, there were only two.

(Just a caveat that these thoughts will generalize a bit, and mostly relate to genre fiction. Outliers will usually be, in my opinion, exceptions to the rule.)

The rights to your action figures.

The first reason you might want to consider self-publication is to protect your rights: film, audio, translations, spinoffs, action figures, and the like. Because if you didn’t already know, when you publish traditionally, you typically sign away many of these rights to the publishing house.

Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily. A publishing house has a lot to offer in terms of resources and distribution. But when a film studio comes along wanting to turn your Young Adult Science Fiction Werewolf Mystery Romantic Thriller into a movie, the power is no longer in your hands. The decisions (and likely most of the proceeds) will be left to your house.

Another reason to keep your rights is so that you can legally continue writing your story. Let me give you an example of what I mean.

Years back, a friend of mine sold a children’s book series to a small publishing house. Sadly, after a couple installments, they declined to pursue further books. Which meant that when my friend wanted to continue writing novels in that series, he was forced to buy back his own rights from the house.

Sure, that’s an “extreme” case. Maybe you just like the idea of owning all your own intellectual property (IP) to prevent a Hunger Games Netflix spinoff down the line. Whatever your reasons, your rights are one piece to consider when choosing between indie and traditional.

Time is money, and money takes time.

I hope it doesn’t come as a surprise, but self-publishing is a lot of work. It’s a lot like starting your own business—which I personally ended up doing, in order to juggle expenses and legalities.

Not coincidentally, the second (and arguably more important) reason to self-publish comes down to profitability.

It’s a matter of comparing how much time and resources you’ll pour into your own marketing, design, editing, translations, registration, and web development against the percentage that a publishing house will give you.

Because the truth is, a publishing house is really just a group of industry professionals willing to do that work for a share of the proceeds.

By way of an example, let’s say that, through indie publishing, you’ll sell 5,000 copies a year. Currently, you can bring in 70% of ebook profit from US sales through Amazon. At this rate, an ebook priced at $3.99 will net you a pre-tax total of $13,965 per year.

Depressing, right? Comparatively, I’ve read that on average, New York publishers will only give authors 25% for ebooks. And yet, if they boost your sales to 15,000 copies a year, you’ll already exceed your indie profit by just under $1,000. (That’s assuming your publisher decides to keep your book at the same price.)

On top of which, ebooks aren’t the big differentiator. Paperback sales are going to be the bigger challenge as an indie author, as you’ll struggle to get your novel offset printed at a manageable rate. (The more copies you order from the printer, the cheaper they are to print—meaning tiny print runs will kill your profitability.) That’s not counting the difficulty of getting your book into libraries or brick-and-mortar stores like Barnes & Noble in the first place.

My point? Your royalty rate is substantially higher as an indie—but in order for it to matter, you need to be sure you can reach a legitimate audience. Easy math, friends!

Of course, it’s always good to remember that publishing is a slow play. Most novels take a few years to garner a solid readership. In my experience, the final book of a trilogy is often hitting shelves by the time readers are becoming aware of the series at all.

About platforms and gatekeepers.

Just for giggles, let me give you one more thing to consider; really, an argument for why you might want to consider not self-publishing.

As I just mentioned, a publishing house is really just a group of industry professionals. When they offer you a contract, they’re making a bet on your work. If your novel is a success, they make money. If your book gets turned into a line of clever whiskey holders, they don’t make very much money. More mathematicals.

So, the rule of thumb I’m driving at is this: If agents and editors think your idea is a tough sell for their publishing house—which has a lot of resources at its disposal—it’s going to be a much harder sell for you as a solitary indie author.

If you’re considering self-publishing in order to dodge the gatekeepers and “get your work out there,” that’s okay. Just don’t expect to quit your day job.

For the record, this isn't meant to be discouraging. It's just important to realize that these people have reasons for what they do and do not publish. They're not just Meany McMeanyFaces for the fun of it. (Well, at least not all of them.)

So… should you self-publish your novel?

Really, it depends on what you want out of publication.

There are plenty of ways to share your story and find support—such as Wattpad or Patreon—that may prove a more rewarding outlet from an exposure standpoint. If you're thinking more along profitability lines, you may want to let a publishing house handle the legalities and distribution so you can focus on doing the thing that you love. Which is… writing stories, I guess?

Either way, there are more options for artists than there have ever been before—even if the reasoning behind them is still rather simple.

Many thanks to PEName for letting me share my ramblings on their fancy page. For more of my thoughts and details on my self-published novel, Biome, visit me here.

#SelfPublish #Books #Biome #RyanGalloway