Five Reasons to Self-Publish Your Own Book

(This column first appeared in the St. Louis Publisher’s Association newsletter.)

Every March, book people across the country celebrate Small Press Month. While the term “small press” can refer to a modest-sized publishing company with multiple titles from various authors, it most often applies to self-published authors.

That’s another term that is subject to interpretation: “self-publish.” In the old days it was considered something you were forced to do if you couldn’t get a “traditional” publisher to put out your book. These days, however, self-publishing is a different ballgame. But many aspiring authors I meet still wrestle with that old stigma.

The Time and Money Excuse

Another comment I often hear: “I know that self-publishing is an option I should consider, but it will take so much time, effort and money. I think I may be better off looking for an agent or a publishing company to put out my book.”

True. Self-publishing a book does take time and effort. But so will preparing a book proposal and hunting down the right agent or publishing company — especially one that will send you something other than a rejection slip.

And with short-run digital printing (also known as “print on demand”), producing your own book doesn’t have to be expensive. You can print your first run of perfect-bound paperback books for as little as a couple hundred dollars.

Do It Yourself

As you may have guessed, I’m a big proponent of self-publishing. So, if you’re at that stage where you’re trying to decide between traditional and self-publishing, please consider my “Five Reasons to Self-Publish Your Own Book”:

You set the timetable. Big publishers can take from one year to 18 months or more to get a new book out. When you self-publish, your book can be out in a matter of weeks or months. Also, traditional publishers will only put a promotional push behind a book for a short window (perhaps three or four months). A self-published book can be aggressively marketed by its author for years on end.
It’s a great way to test market a new title. If you have a cool idea for a book, wouldn’t you rather get an early version of it out into the marketplace to see if it has legs? Or would you prefer to spend a lot of time writing proposals and researching who might me interested in helping you publish it? Personally, I’m most eager to see if my ideas resonate with actual consumers.
You can still reach the masses. Most aspiring authors believe that a publisher will get them into bookstores and other sales outlets, and that as a self-published author they’ll be hamstrung with limited sales options. The truth: Many established publishers do have developed sales pipelines through which they promote their titles. That can be an advantage, but it doesn’t guarantee your book will be widely available in bookstores.Today, using Amazon’s Advantage program and a POD service like Lightning Source (which gets your book listed with Ingram, the world’s largest wholesale book distributor), you can tap into many of the same sales channels as the traditional publishers.
There’s more profit potential. If you sold 500 copies of your self-published book directly to readers for $20 each (assuming your printing cost per book was $3), you’d make $8,500 in profit. To make that same $8,500 in royalties from a standard publishing contract, your publisher would have to sell more than 5,000 copies. In other words, you can make the same amount of money selling one-tenth the number of books.
It gets you into the game. Even if you some day want to have a traditional publisher handle the printing and sales of your title, I still believe self-publishing is the best first step. You learn more about the process, get feedback directly from readers, acquire a first-hand understanding of marketing, and more. And if you achieve some small-scale success with your self-published book, you’ll be in a much better position to get the attention of a major publisher. Perhaps, they’ll even pursue you. And wouldn’t that be a nice position to be in?

I encourage you to look over these reasons again and strongly consider putting out your next book yourself!

Bob Baker is the author of “Unleash the Artist Within,” “Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook” and “Branding Yourself Online.” Get a FREE subscription to Bob’s newsletter, “Quick Tips for Creative People,” featuring inspiration and low-cost self-promotion ideas for artists, writers, performers and more. Visit PromoteYourCreativity.com for details.

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Bob Baker

Bob Baker got bitten by the music bug at age 11, when he sang a collection of Elvis songs (Presley, not Costello) in a living room full of cheering relatives. Something clicked in his young mind. "Hey, this music thing can be fun." By high school Bob was jamming in rock bands and filling VFW hall kegger parties with classic songs by Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Jethro Tull. (Okay, this was the '70s, mind you.) By the early '80s, Bob was providing lead vocals and guitar duties for nightclub bands in St. Louis and surrounding areas. In the years that followed, Bob also put a lot of effort into writing songs and was drawn to melodic pop artists such as Crowded House, Cheap Trick, Squeeze and Elvis (only it was Costello this time). Bands he's been in over the years have produced three independent releases, on which Bob was a primary singer and songwriter. In 1987, Bob combined his love of music and feature writing and founded a St. Louis music magazine called Spotlight. Unlike other local publications, Spotlight focused on local artists and their activities. Not having much money to work with, Bob promoted his magazine using creative marketing tactics. He was soon appearing regularly in the St. Louis media discussing local music issues and for four years hosted his own music video program. The popularity of Spotlight magazine grew and became Bob's primary business for 10 years. Rockpress Publishing liked one of Bob's book ideas and published 101 Ways to Make Money in the Music Business in 1993. (He's often joked that his next book should be titled 1,001 Ways to Lose Money in the Music Business.) Being a published author got Bob excited about information publishing. He started writing a regular column in his magazine filled with tips that musicians could use to promote themselves better. He offered the column to other music magazines around the U.S. The book and the columns allowed Bob to get his message to a national and international audience. From 1993 to 1997, Bob also served as director of the St. Louis Regional Music Showcase, the annual music conference he founded. Once a year for five years, more than 100 artists from a 10-state region convened in St. Louis for three nights of showcases and two days of industry workshops. Organizing the annual event became one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of Bob's life. In 1994, Bob signed up for an AOL account and joined the wired world. He soon started publishing an e-mail newsletter filled with his music marketing tips -- one of the first e-zines of its kind on the Internet. Some time later The Buzz Factor web site was launched and Bob was hooked on the potential of the Net. Bob put Spotlight magazine to rest in 1997 and has since been pouring his energies into writing and marketing his indie music marketing expertise. Over the years he has self-published a number of how-to titles, including his bestselling book "Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook" (which recently made an appearance in the major motion picture School of Rock). Bob has been a panelist at SXSW and the Nashville New Music Conference. He's been featured in Music Connection, VIBE, American Songwriter, Canadian Musician and Electronic Musician magazines, among others. In 2001, Top Floor Publishing released Bob's "Branding Yourself Online: How to Use the Internet to Become a Celebrity or Expert in Your Field." In 2003, Bob released his newest book, "Unleash the Artist Within: Four Weeks to Transforming Your Creative Talents Into More Recognition, More Profit and More Fun." In addition to writing and presenting workshops, today Bob spends a lot of time with his daughter, Kelli-Rae. He serves as president of the St. Louis Publishers Association, and continues to write and perform music as much as time allows. Curious about what Bob's music sounds like? Take a listen to his old band, Roomful of Jimmys.

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Comments

Kathy Nesselroad says:

January 4, 2006 at 5:17 pm

Dear Mr. Baker,
I am in the process of writing an e-book – working title ‘The 5 Steps to Becoming a Profitable, Published Poet’ that is geared towards identifying the numerous options available. One of those options, as your article identifies, is self-publishing. I am in search of viable, informative content on this subject and would like to talk with you about contributing to my book.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
Kathy Nesselroad
knesselroad@mindspring.com
http://www.darkiris.com
Don Bradshaw says:

January 4, 2006 at 5:41 pm

Hi Bob,

I read your article “5 reasons to self publish”. I am a self published author. I did the POD thing with my first book and unfortunately found out how important it is to read the “fine print”. To make a very long story short, I retained my copyright and set out to learn about the publishing industry. I re-released my first book, Surreptitious in 2004 and fully published my second novel Messenger of God in 2005. IIt’s taken me five years now and I’ve had, in my opinion good success, people have bought them and feedback has all been positive. The trouble I have is finding a distributor. Should I go with a distributor I just continue seeking out local and regional bookstores, meet & greet and try to sell them my books? It’s hard because I work professionally during the day, so my time dedicated between work, writing, editing, playing with my two sons, handling all the usual day to day problems gets to be daunting. Just looking for some ideas of folks who have been there and done it so I can see what they’ve done and apply it to my writing / publishing career.

Thanks,
Don Bradshaw

P.S. I will be releasing my next two novels Sorrow’s Devotion and Without Remorse in 2006. I’m starting my 5th novel, which will actually be a 3 book fantasy story about dragons, wizards, witches and revenge.
RONALD SALONY says:

January 4, 2006 at 8:13 pm

Dear Mr. Baker:

Thank You For The Opportunity To Read About Your Self-Publishing Information. I Have Self-Published A Book About Love And Romance Through Dozens Of Poems And Letters Via A Storyline Format. However, I Am Requesting Your Assistance On How To Further Promote My Writings. I Don’t Know Much About The Internet Or E-Book Know-How, But Do Understand that Most Inquerys Are Rejected At 98% Especially With Reference To An Unestablished Author. Any Assistance On Your Part That May Enable The Potential Marketability Of My Book Would Be Greatly Appreciated. It Would Also Be My Pleasure To Send You A Completed Complimentary Copy Of My Compositions For Your Unbiased Review. My Book Is Entitled “SECRET CONFESSIONS OF THE HEART…” And Covers A Wide-Array Of Information Beneficial To Both The Female “Make-Up” And The “Untapped” Male Market Demographics Or Populace As Well! Should Your Interest In These Literary Works Continue… Then You May Contact Me Through The Following Methods:

Ron M. Salony
17808 VALENCIA AVENUE
FONTANA, CA 92335-4031
(909) 427-8063
sunlitmoonstruckproductions@yahoo.com
utilized with the expressions of suns and moons in my writings and the word “PRODUCTIONS” in incorporating “AUTHORING!”
Vela says:

January 5, 2006 at 8:39 am

Thank you for your views. It makes sense!
Marianne says:

January 5, 2006 at 2:19 pm

Good advise about self-publishing, which I am now more and more convinced I should do. It’s still a daunting idea at at times but I know I will relish in the challenge too.
Plus Ultra says:

January 5, 2006 at 3:10 pm

Where can I get 500 copies of my self-published perfect-bound paperback book printed for as little as a couple hundred dollars, or even at $3 each, as you state in this article?
lindacharliesmom says:

January 14, 2006 at 1:48 pm

I have been pub lished I am not making any money so I want to self publish my next book give me names of cheap selfpublishers my books so is Stop! calm down! and Depression is a hard road by publishamerica.com I need help please.
Winky says:

January 16, 2006 at 1:12 pm

Thank you for your article Mr. Baker
I Self Published my first Children’s Picture Book, entitled Beluga Sky, with Cork Hill Press, a POD that uses Lightning Press and Ingram. I was questionning my thoughts about self publishing two other children’s books in 2006, as they are ready to submit, and I wanted to say thank you for your article, which cleared up my negative thoughts regarding self publishing. I think what has me totally confused and scared to death (as fear is a huge motivator for me) is how do I sell them ? I called a few independent bookstores and they want nothing to do with self published authors. I have ran across some literary websites that encourage membership but claim to not advertise or help out the self published author. Are you aware of any sites or have any words of wisdom you can offer a very green new author and even greener self promoter ?
Rochelle Dubrow says:

July 22, 2006 at 2:48 pm

I self published my first book with Cork Hill Press in July, 2005. Everything seemed to be going well but I have only received royalty checks for Augus, September and October. Now it seems that the company is no longer operating. They have never contacted me to say there was a problem. Do you know anything and what are my options?

Rochelle
Terry Spratt says:

August 24, 2006 at 10:52 am

the owner of Cork Hill Press lost the business in divorce court to his wife. The day of the divorce she cleaned out the bank account and ended up closing the business. Employees were terminated and authors were left in the cold with no explanation.
Cork Hill Press was a great company before the divorce. Personally, I work for another publisher making better money and have better benefits, but Cork Hill and it’s authors still have a warm spot in my heart. Ex-employees were warned not to represent Cork Hill after being terminated. I am not rerpresenting, just letting you know the facts.
Rochelle Dubrow says:

August 30, 2006 at 8:46 am

Terry,

Please contact me at my email or url. I would like to speak with you.

Rochelle
Terry Spratt says:

September 14, 2006 at 12:02 pm

Rochelle my phone is listed in Indianapolis.
I now work for another publisher from 9am to 8pm
Mon.-Fri., but am at home after work and on weekends. Feel free to call. I have no records so I don’t know your contact info. Terry
mikhail lobko says:

October 2, 2006 at 2:11 pm

Need to find what ever left from Cork Hill Press Publisher.
the company took $2000 dollars from my son under promise to publish his book, no book no mony.
Mikhail Lobko
Alfreda Sutton says:

October 31, 2006 at 12:14 pm

My name is Alfreda Sutton, and Cork Hill Press published my book; The Goodie Book which is still being sold on the internet, here and across the seas. Now I want to know what happened to my book, what’s going on. This is mind blowing. Now he knew that he was going through a divorce, so therefore he could have done something about it, meaning he could have warned his writers. This is awful, and they won’t even call no one or write them to let them know what has happened. That’s real bad business. I want to say some other things, but being a Pastor, I’m trying to keep my cool. I had to search all over the internet to find out what happened. I am angry, real angry.
Terry Spratt says:

November 9, 2006 at 4:20 pm

The employees at Cork Hill Press had no warning that a kangeroo
Indiana court would let one spouse be outlawyered by another one. As far as the people who were at Cork Hill Press they were locked out with no notice. If you think your mad, we have even more reason to be mad. The new owner who never worked one minute at Cork Hill Press dropped the ball, by not notifying the authors. Legally the previous management/employees could be sued for 3rd party tortiary interference if they represented what happened at the company to authors. The former company President had over $100,000 loaned to the company and will never recoup a penny. So authors stay mad and do something other than talk about it. Doesn’t somebody have the strength or guts to get a class action movement going foward. I have litigation of my own going on but I am not a CHP author. It’s a completely different legal challenge.