Self-Publishing
Why Self-Publish A Book?
I have multiple self-published short stories. Most of them are related back to my Realm of the Light Series specifically or my Rai Saga in general. Two are a children’s Fantasy Series, The Sykar Series, about a volkrog puppy who explores his world and meets new friends. And a couple is stand alone short stories.
I chose to self-publish The Sykar Series because I wanted to write a couple books to share with my kids. When the series expands, I may or may not choose to sign with a publisher of children’s books.
I chose to self-publish the other stories for different reasons, but the main factor in each was that I felt the best way to share the word about them was to just release them to the world.
There are a quite a few pros to self-publishing with a publisher.
“I want full control over every step of the publishing process.” I have heard this, or if not this phrase specifically, something similar to it from many, many, many self-published authors. They want full control over pricing, marketing, promotional sales, book cover, book descriptions, etc.
What are the CONS to Self-Publishing?
Well, the cons are all the pros we talked about Tuesday with a Traditional Publisher. For me, it is pretty much having do everything that a publishing house does yourself with your own resources.
You are in full control of your pricing.
You have to either create a cover or pay for a cover.
You are in charge of marketing and when to do a promotional sale.
You are in charge of your own book descriptions, or book blurbs.
You have to either create your own audio book or hire someone to do it for you.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Not all books are meant for every publisher. Some books will do better if self-published. Others will do better with a small press, others with a large press. Every book has its own journey, its own ideal home. I recommend you think about what you want to accomplish with the release of your current WIP (Work In Progress) before deciding how to go about publishing it.