Self-publishing a book – Pros and cons

Nowadays, many authors prefer self-publishing. It has many benefits. It helps authors publish their own work without the help of a publishing company. Unlike traditional publishing that takes several months to publish a book by a publisher, self-publishing has many advantages.

Here is a list of some of them:

• Self-publishing can be done quickly if you have resources without waiting for approval from the editor or publisher. You have to wait for 4 to 5 months in the publishing industry to get your book published, but you don’t have to wait if you self-publish a book.
• You can decide the price of your book. The sales process is also transparent.
• You can earn better royalties on your book by up to 70 per cent.
• Self-publishing books have a longer shelf life. Traditional publishing houses keep your book in the bookstore for one or two months and move it to inventory to keep newly published books. As part of the continuous update process, your book has a limited shelf-life in the bookstore.

However, self-publishing has the following downsides:

• Marketing is one of the biggest problems associated with self-publishing. You have to spend a lot of money on advertisements to get your readers.
• As everything from content writing to editing, proofreading, and publishing is done by the author, typos and other mistakes may be overlooked.
• Reviews play a vital role in the sale of any product. Self-publishing books miss reviews. Your friends and acquaintances may buy your book and appreciate your efforts, but they do not spend time writing a review on your book.
• Since many self-publishing printing firms do not distribute your paperbacks in bookstores, it might limit the distribution of your book.
• Self-publishing is an expensive process. You have to keep your book’s price based on the publishing cost. Hence, the MRP of the book may be higher than those of other books published traditionally.

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