What a great day to be a writer, right? Now, all that’s left is to publish your work.
When it comes to self-publishing, you should know that it has emerged as a means for writers to maintain creative control over their writing. It also enables them to earn a larger percentage of royalties than older forms of publishing.
In fact, in only the past five years, the number of self-published novels has increased by 264%.
Since Amazon is one of the most popular online platforms, many authors opt to use their streamlined self-publishing service. Should YOU do the same, though?
This article is just for you if you’ve been debating the perks of self-publishing on Amazon. You can take a peek at this link to discover more relevant info on the subject https://www.fastcompany.com/90794037/how-to-self-publish-amazon.
Read on for the benefits and drawbacks of using Amazon’s self-publishing platform if you’re considering going that route or just want to learn more about it.
Table of Contents
Amazon is huge!
We can all pretty much agree that Amazon is a massive platform in and of itself. It is reliable and well-respected, and you will be able to sell your book alongside others written by renowned authors.
This indicates that you will no longer be selling your books out of the trunk of your car; rather, prospective readers will be able to get their hands on them online, and you won’t be required to distribute them.
Also, the majority of self-published authors are clueless about how to market their works, and Amazon offers a plethora of built-in marketing tools, so you will need to educate yourself on how to make the most of them.
Get those royalties
We want you to know that there are a lot of benefits that come with self-publishing. The first benefit is the portion of the royalties that will be yours if your books succeeds in getting the attention you need.
You might have to pay money up front to get the books created, but if you sell the books yourself, you will keep one hundred percent of the royalties you earn from their sale. Oh, and this also depends on the platform you choose.
You also have the option of using the print-on-demand strategy, which is what Amazon does. You’ll still get the most of the royalties under this approach, but Amazon will deduct some to cover the expenses of printing, binding, and hosting your book.
You are stepping into the realm of freelancing when you decide to publish your work under your own name. In addition to this, you are an entrepreneur, also known as an “authorpreneur”, who is trying to establish a name for themselves as well as a source of income through the sales of your books, which are fully in your hands. You can discover more on this page.
The hassle of traditional publishing
When using a traditional publishing model, getting a single novel or book published can take many years. Yikes!
Let us paint a picture for you of how the process will look.
For starters, you should look for agents to represent you. But, the annoying part is that the majority of agents have their hands full and are unable to take on new clients at this time; hence, your book will need to blow them away in order for them to consider representing you.
The next step is for you to collaborate with your agent to shape the book to their preferences, which may need a complete rewrite of the manuscript. And that’s if you even get the chance to sign with an agency in the first place.
After your literary agency has given the book its stamp of approval, you will need to send it off to several publishing houses. They will study the manuscript before deciding whether or not to invest in the project, which is ultimately dependent on a measure of chance. Oh, and you should also be aware that the majority of reputable publishing houses will not view a manuscript unless it has been submitted by an agent.
If you want to secure a deal for the book, you’ll have to continue to work on it after you sign the contract. This will require you to make further adjustments, some of which you probably hadn’t planned for when you first conceived the book.
The problem is that you won’t have much say in many areas of how your book is published. This is what discourages a lot of new writers to pursue their goals.
On the other hand, if you want to self-publish, you will be able to make edits based only on your preferences. When you self-publish a book, the narrative is wholly and completely under your control from beginning to conclusion. The awesome thing to know is that there are a lot of reliable businesses, like Publishing that can help you get started the right way!
When having a book professionally published, you will need to take into account the preferences of others who have made financial investments in the book.
Accessibility
New authors now have a much better chance of breaking into the competitive publishing business because to self-publishing. People who may have believed that their writing ambitions could never come true but now have access to free self-publishing choices can make their writing ambitions a reality.
Because self-publishing can sometimes be an expensive option, the availability of an alternative that is both realistic and inexpensive for authors is a really ground-breaking development.
Flexibility
Here’s another awesome thing to know, writers! In the modern landscape of publishing, authors need to give serious consideration to the question of whether they would choose to produce their work in a digital or printed format.
The process of self-publishing on Amazon provides a degree of flexibility. You have the option of publishing your book solely in a digital format (such as an eBook), publishing it in paperback print, or selling it in both formats. You get to decide what to do!