What You Need to Know Before You Self-Publish Your Book in the Digital Age

A quick perusal of the millions of eBook titles available online can leave an ambitious writer caught between laughter and tears: Although it’s amusing how much dreck is out there, the equally vast number of quality reads can be disheartening to a new self-publisher hoping to break in. How do you know if boarding the eBook train is a good move for your career, or if you’re better off pursuing a traditional book deal? Like most conundrums in this crazy industry, the answer is it depends on your personality, your goals and the type of writing you do.

Before you decide you want to digitally self-publish, ask yourself these questions:

1. Are you an entrepreneur?
Self-publishing requires an entrepreneurial spirit: you must be as much a visionary as you are a businessperson. Kim Bookless, a Chicago-based publishing consultant, editor and writer, states that “having a vision of your book’s purpose, your goals for the book and your audience determines the entire publishing strategy.” If you can’t see the big picture, self-publishing may not be for you.

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2. Are you a control freak?
One common thread among industry experts regarding the positive side of self-publishing is how it gives you total control. Diana Burrell, co-author of The Renegade Writer and self-pub guru, sums it ups: “I’m a control freak. I love everything about [self-publishing]: Picking out my covers, working with editors. I like having my fingers in all those pies. If you like bringing a whole project together, you will love self-publishing.”

3. Do you have the means to hire a team of professionals to help you?
Whether you’re independently wealthy or you have a killer fundraising strategy, successful self-publishing — the kind that strengthens your career, that is — isn’t cheap.

4. Do you want to make money?
Although there’s no guarantee your eBook will sell, digital self-publishing makes much more sense from a business viewpoint than waiting years to get a book deal with a traditional publisher. Orna Ross, author-publisher and founder of the Alliance of Independent Authors, says that self-publishers “don’t tend to be the kind of writers who say, ‘I don’t care about money.’ Writing can be about craft, but publishing, while it can be highly creative, must succeed at a business level.”

5. Do you have the time, energy and availability to write and market a book?
Where traditional publishers will handle the end-to-end production of your book, a self-publisher must have the energy and time to oversee every stage himself.

6. What are you true goals?
David Gaugran, indie author and blogger, says, “Writers get so obsessed with finding an agent that representation becomes the goal. They forget that’s just the first hurdle.”

After that, your book gets passed to editors, marketing teams, sales teams and booksellers — and there’s a good chance your book may fail at any of those crossroads. If you need an agent and a traditional publishing house, rather than readers (and yourself) to verify your awesomeness, are you writing for the right reasons? Gaugran urges writers to consider, “why don’t you pick yourself, instead of waiting to be picked?”

Bring the right people on board.

Just because you may have the means and desire to self-publish, doesn’t mean it’s a foolproof way to boost your writing career. To get that competitive edge, there are a number of pre- and post-publication steps you can take to bring in money and influence with your eBook.

The best decision a writer can make before debuting an eBook is to hire people to help. Burrell explains, “That’s the thing a traditional publisher would do for you, but as a self-publisher, you have to do it yourself.” Your creative team should include a copy editor, proofreader, cover designer, marketing expert, publicist and an attorney.

And although it may be tempting to save money by asking your teenage son to tinker around on Paint and design a cover for you, don’t. “There are certain things only a book designer knows,” says Bookless. “For example, a designer may have gone to art school and may design an awesome-looking cover. But you’re looking at it full-size. It might look terrible on a thumbnail.” If you’re really pressed by budget constraints, Bookless urges you to, if nothing else, invest in an editor first and cover designer as a very close second.

However, Gaugran recommends you self-publish direct, rather than using a self-publishing company. With a self-publishing service, even one born from a large, reputable publisher, “at best, you will lose key aspects like the ability to make quick price changes, and you won’t have live sales reports. At worst, you will get scammed by one of the vanity presses masquerading as a self-publishing company.”

It’s true: because more people are self-publishing, more scams are cropping up. Bookless says, “Depending on the company, they may jack up the printing cost, or they charge more for the book to balance it out. Some of them will try to take a portion of your royalties, or upsell you. I’ve seen people spend $20,000 or more. It’s amazing how many people get taken in by that kind of thing.” Bookless recommends visiting the Preditors and Editors website, Writers Beware or the BBB to check if a company is reputable. Even simply Googling a company name alongside the word “scam” or “ripoff” can help.

Have a marketing strategy.
You should also allow your marketing plan to develop organically, and early. “Think about how you will reach readers as you write your book,” says Ross. “See your marketing as a natural extension of your other writing. Do what you love — it’s much more likely to win your readers than trying to do things for the motive of trying to win readers.”

Once your book is out, your work has just begun. “Get out there, do social media, get a website. You have to do a big push and be prepared to tout your book,” says Burrell. However, she warns, don’t go overboard by spamming your friends, family and followers. “It’s good to let your friends know, but it’s not good to drive them crazy.”

Getting your book noticed in a sea of eBooks may seem challenging, and in some ways, it is. But Burrell offers this encouragement: “There are wonderful, traditionally published books that get overlooked by all the big authors. It’s less likely to happen with self-publishing. If you have a good marketing campaign, you get the books into the hands of readers who can do pre-release reviews — that’s going to help you.” She mentions the algorithms within the Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites, and how they will push popular books with reviews and word-of-mouth appeal to the top of their rankings so they’ll sell better. “It’s just a very democratic way to sell books,” she says.

The bottom line.

Despite the work and upfront cost involved with digital self-publishing, the verdict among experts is overwhelmingly positive: The eBook is a great way to start, or boost, your career as a writer. Ross states, “I think it is a better for the author to self-publish first. Then when you have established a platform, if you still want to be trade published you can have those conversations with the publisher from a much firmer foundation.”

Gaugran agrees. “There’s no question in my mind that a new writer is better off self-publishing. If you look at the [traditional publishing] package offered to most debut others, they will have to sink or swim on their own. They’re not going to be on the front table at every Barnes & Noble, they’re not going to get a serious push, but they will be handicapped with a high price tag. The writer will be the one that’s expected to reach readers and, if you have to do that, you might as well self-publish and earn 70 percent royalties.”

Finally, Burrell mentions the economical logic of self-publishing for the working writer. “[Traditional publishing] is really not a living wage. However, if you can write quickly and get your books out there, if you’re good at what you do and you’re resonating with people, you can actually make a pretty decent living off your self-published work.” She adds, “it’s like the Wild West out there, and it’s fun, if you’ve got that kind of personality.”

Amanda Layman Low is a freelance writer and artist. Contact her on Twitter @AmandaLaymanLow.