Adam Croft

It’s no secret that I’m an advocate of self-publishing. Naturally, I’m not averse to the traditional route of seeking professional literary representation through a conventional publishing house, but I believe self-publishing has a number of benefits and advantages which just aren’t available through traditional routes. If you’re thinking of self-publishing your own novel, I’ve put together five good reasons to do so. 1. You can write what you want, when you want One of the biggest constraints that writers face when tied to publishing houses is that many publishers will tell you that they want you to write a certain number of books in a year. For those of us who aren’t literary machines and prefer to ride the wave of inspiration in order to end up with a better finished product, being held to deadlines and contracts on your art can be arduous and stressful. You may even find that a publisher selects a storyline for you and simply asks you to write it, giving you very little control over the work which will eventually have your name on. Self-publishing allows you to write what you want, when you want. 2. You set the tempo If you’re tied to a publishing house, your marketing and promotions activities will go either one of two ways. Some publishing houses will put you on a gruelling tour of book signings, interviews and speaking events (particularly if you’re a very marketable author) and some will make no effort in terms of publicising your novel whatsoever (especially likely if you’re a new, unknown author). Self-publishing your novel allows you to set the pace of your marketing activities, letting you approach the book-shops and outlets you want your book sold in, at the price you want it sold at. Again, it’s all about control. If you want to keep it between family and friends, you can. If you want to market it to the whole world, you can. 3. It gives a much higher profit potential The fact of the matter is that published authors get very little of each book which is sold. Some of the published authors I know tell me that they get between 30-35p per paperback book sold. When said paperbacks are selling for £7.95, it’s easy to see how much goes to the publishers and agents. By self-publishing your book, you’ll probably have higher printing costs due to the short runs, but as your only other outlay will be commission for shops (if you choose to sell through shops), you’ll keep a much higher portion of the money yourself. 4. Self-publishing is a great testing ground If you’ve written a novel but aren’t sure on the reception it’ll get or whether it’s a line you want to go down (in terms of a genre or series), self-publishing allows you to release your novel to a smaller audience in order to gauge the reaction and reviews. This was the prime reason for self-publishing my novel, Too Close For Comfort. Being able to speak directly to the people who’d bought my book was amazingly insightful and allowed for real feedback which otherwise isn’t available. 5. It’s so much more fun No, really, it is. Rather than sending an A4 manuscript to a publisher and sitting back and relaxing, it’s actually an awful lot of fun spending hours typesetting your book and engaging in promotional activities. It might sound like hard work – and it is – but it is also good fun and incredibly rewarding. To know that every sale is down to you, and not to a marketing department, gives far more value than allowing someone else to do it. Nowadays, you can also consider eBook publishers for an easier and more relaxing self publishing experience. Have you self-published your own novel? Perhaps you’ve experienced both sides of the coin. What are your experiences?