Many people feel the best is yet to come in the world of book publishing and self-publishing will reap the benefits. Traditional publishing is changing and will need to come up with new business models to stay afloat. Even though publishing profits are declining, it not because readers are not buying, if anything, there’s more demand from readers than ever. While the big publishers concentrate on their blockbusters, many holes are left unfilled. These niches – from nonfiction titles to alternative fiction – are potential markets for writers willing to take the self-publishing plunge.
#1 The Stigma of Self-publishing is Losing Ground
It’s a matter of numbers. As more writers turn to self-publishing options, less people think of it as vanity press. Readers certainly don’t make that distinction. With the popularity of eReaders, they are turning to Amazon or Barnes and Noble to find digital books on subjects they want and at lower prices, too. Many established authors are also turning to self-publishing to republish their out-of-print books.
#2 More Tools Make Self-Publishing Easy
Writers have more options than ever to self-publish. Many of these options can be low-cost to no-cost depending on how much work the writer is willing to put in. Publishing directly to the eReader market is probably the easiest and least expensive. It’s generally a matter of logging onto a site, like Amazon’s Digital Text Platform and uploading the manuscript. Other services, like Lulu.com and Authors Solutions can handle the whole process, including editing, design distribution for a fee.
#3 Self-Publishing Doesn’t Eliminate a Traditional Publishing Deal
The list of self-published writers who landed traditional publishing contract grows each day. Some may be nonfiction books that sell to small publishers to fiction books like Christopher Paolini’s best-selling Eragon, originally self-published and later picked up by Alfred A. Knopf. Traditional publishers no longer look down on self-published books, instead, they seriously looking books that have proven themselves and come with a built-in audience.
#4 The Internet is a Valuable Marketing Tool for the Self-Published Author
Writers like to write. The editing, printing, distributing and marketing was the venue of the publishers. Nevertheless, as fewer books sell and traditional publishers focus in their blockbuster authors, mid-list writers find much of the marketing falls back in their laps. Fortunately, for those writers and self-publishers writers, the Internet makes marketing much easier. Blog, blog book tours, the Google search engine and social media make getting the word out about a book a viable option.
#5 Money Flow to the Writer Who Self-Publishes
Rock bands have been doing it for a while now – foregoing signing with traditional record labels and going it alone and taking a greater control and percentage of the profit. Many writers are taking heed of that business model. Traditional publishing is expensive and the writer gets a small percentage of the book – generally 6% to 10%. Self-published writers not only take greater control of their work, but they share a bigger piece of the pie. Royalties for self-published books are going up, like Amazon’s Kindle royalty moving up a whopping 35% to a total 70%.
There are no guarantees of success for a self-published writer. However, the same can be said for writers who take the traditional path. Writing, marketing and distributing books is hard work. But the book business is changing and writers will have to decide their best path – the changing world of traditional publishing or alternative markets such as self-publishing.
More Self Publishing articles from K.D. Kuch: Are Book Publishers Turning to Self-Publishing and Self-Publishing for the Kindle
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