For those of you who still aren’t sure why you should self-publish, here are 10 great reasons in infographic format.
Artisanal Publishing: The Top 10 Reasons to Self-Publish
1. More control over content and design
When you self-publish a book, you control what's in it. You control how long it is. And you control how it looks. Of course, if your book isn't good, you have no editor or editorial board to blame.
2. Self-publish with better time to market
You can get your book to market in less than a week once it's copy-edited. A traditional publisher takes six to nine months to get a printed book to market. And it won't release the ebook version earlier than the printed one.
3. Better longevity when you self-publish
When traditional publishers stop marketing a book, the author has little input. As a self-publisher, you can keep your book in print forever. Or at least as long as it takes for readers to discover it.
4. Quicker to make revisions when needed
Traditional publishing can take months to fix errors. Why? Because publishers print revisions after they've sold off the current inventory. Self-publishers can revise books immediately. That's because they use online ebook re-sellers and printing on demand technology.
5. Higher royalties when you self-publish
The royalty you receive from traditional publishers is 10-15% of sale. On the self-published side, Amazon pays a 35-70% royalty.
6. More control over price
Self-publishing enables you to change the price of your book at will. You can set a lower price to try to sell more copies or a higher price to communicate higher quality.
7. Easy access to global distribution
Self publishing enables you to achieve global distribution of your ebook on day one. Kindle Direct Publishing will list your ebook in 100 countries. Apple's iBookstore reaches 50 countries.
8. Full control of foreign rights
If your book is successful, foreign publishers will contact you to buy the rights for their country. In this scenario, you might make more money. You 're not sharing revenue with a traditional publisher.
9. Better access to analytics
Most online ebook re-sellers and print on demand printers provide real-time or near real-time sales results. Traditional publishers provide twice-yearly royalty statements - imagine running a business with two sales reports per year.
10. Increased deal flexibility
As a self-publisher, you can cut any kind of deal with any kind of organization. Traditional publishers only sell to re-sellers, except for bulk sales of printed books to large organizations.