{"id":102793,"date":"2025-02-19T21:57:07","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T21:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ajayeni.com\/?p=102793"},"modified":"2025-02-19T21:57:07","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T21:57:07","slug":"the-authors-journey-to-self-publish-or-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ajayeni.com\/?p=102793","title":{"rendered":"The Author\u2019s Journey: To Self-Publish or Not?"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

The first question you\u2019ll be faced with once you decide to write that book that you\u2019ve been thinking about for so long is whether or not you want to get it traditional published or self-published. This question isn\u2019t even one that you\u2019ll just think about once and be done with it, no siree bob. It\u2019s a question that will remain on your mind like a circus-trained monkey who also happens to be professional wrestler, constantly on your back, gnawing at you. Indeed, I struggled with the decision between going traditional or indie several times during the genesis of The Zaragoza Chronicles: Beginnings<\/a>, and even tried to jump ship after publication, which I don\u2019t recommend unless you\u2019re a masochist like me<\/em>. Before going into more detail about my ever-reliable indecisiveness, I\u2019ll go into the nitty-gritty details of each publishing route and hopefully by the end of it, you\u2019ll be in a better position to decide which method works best for you.\r\n\r\nSelf- Published (Independent\/Indie)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

The big-boy publishers literally have hundreds of years of experience on their belt which has garnered them plenty of clout and influence. However, as we all know, the bigger they are, they harder they fall, and the advent of all-in-one self-publishing firms like Amazon KDP has chipped into the considerable gap of resources that the publishing houses possessed. In fact, it has never been a better time to become an indie author. Anyone who\u2019s even remotely familiar with the word bureaucracy inherently understands that bigger isn\u2019t necessarily always better, and this saying is especially true for traditional publishers. The fact is, these companies have become so bloated that their established systems make it harder for authors to sell books, and what may have worked 15-20 years ago, is no longer viable in todays market. The biggest ships often turn the slowest and traditional publishers are behemoths. They have been known to ignore trends and continue with business as usual, partying like it\u2019s literally<\/em> still <\/em>1999. I say all of this because even though indie publishing is a scary beast in of itself, one of the biggest advantages you possess is retaining all control over your book, enabling you to have what those fat cats could only dream of: flexibility, or the ability to be agile, responding to changes in the market like an urban cat. That flexibility allows indie authors to be in control of the following.\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\nBenefits of Publishing Independently<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n1. Book Pricing<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nThe ability to control the price of your book is priceless pun intended. <\/em>Publishers are a business and in order to turn a profit, they often will overprice your book to make their money back. If you rather be on top of your own pricing, as well as reaping the maximum royalty from your baby, self-publish.<\/em>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nIf you\u2019re not already a bigshot author, don\u2019t expect people to purchase an overpriced book. The main way indie authors can stay competitive is with their pricing. Furthermore, with the ability to offer limited time discounts around holidays, the world suddenly becomes your oyster when it comes to creative book marketing based on dynamic pricing.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n2. Digital Book Options<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nAnother way indie authors can flex their creative muscles is with digital book options. Some publishers won\u2019t even \u00a0allow authors to have the eBook file of their own book! Can you believe that nonsense? Why is it necessary to possess different eBook formats you may wonder? Well because different retail sites use different formats, and when it comes to the distribution of your book, you\u2019ll want it in as many hands as possible. Furthermore, eBook pricing is a major part of a book launch strategy. Adjusting your eBook price by offering discount promotions and days when your book is free is an excellent way to gain momentum for your book.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n3. Book Updates<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nSome traditional publishers have hard and fast rules when it comes to updating your book. Often not allowing you to update your book until you reach a certain amount of sales. If you are a non-fiction author, this severely impacts your ability to stay on top of your subject, diminishing your relevance. If you are a novelist, this hinders your ability to re-release a backlisted series that did well before and could likely do well again if the storyline and concept are popular once more.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n4. Amazon Optimization<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nAs you all probably already know, Amazon is probably the biggest fish in the game when it comes to marketing and selling your book all in the same place. Unlike traditionally published authors though, indie authors have full control of their presence on Amazon. This allows indie authors to directly manage their own discoverability and book marketing, especially when Amazon constantly updates their categories and keywords. Getting your traditional publisher to do the same can sometimes be analogous to getting a root canal, not pretty.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n5. Book Marketing<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nThis one might be surprising but publishers offer close to nothing with the marketing of their author\u2019s titles. They use the majority of their budget on less than 1 percent of their authors.\r\n\r\nThough, most authors don\u2019t realize this, or refuse to realize it until they grasp that their publisher pretty much left them out to dry. By being an indie author, you know straight-away that the lion\u2019s share of marketing will come from you, so you learn, adapt, and overcome. Indie or not, you must be responsible for the marketing of your book, gaining those skills that are invaluable to the craft.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nHowever, as any fledgling business under control of the Mafia can attest to, there is some comfort in having that protection, and the same holds true for authors who decide to traditionally publish.\r\n\r\nBenefits of Publishing Traditionally<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n