What are the cons of self-publishing your own book?

Answer 1

Self-publishing is publishing a book yourself. The key requirement is being an entrepreneur. Many reference books are available on how to be successful at self-publishing. If you are a self-starter, go to the writing section of a bookstore and buy one.

Advantages of self-publishing include total control over design, content, cover and title; you can get the book to the marketplace much faster (two months compared to 12-18 months for a large publisher); you have more profit per book, up to $5-$10. You get only .50 cents to $2 from a publisher. If you are successful, it is a stepping-stone to a major publisher. Self-publishing is considered respectable in the publishing industry.

Disadvantages of self-publishing include investing your own money up front--usually several thousand dollars; and needing to spend about 20 hours per week promoting your own book You have to not only write your book but edit, design, print, distribute and market it. It's a full-time job.

Promotions, publicity and marketing are what makes or breaks a book. You must be willing to be a publicist or have enough money to pay one. If writing, not promoting, is your passion, self-publishing may not be for you.

Answer 2

You get a nice box full of books to hand out to your friends and family. Other than that, I really don't know of any. It costs a great deal of money, you have to promote yourself, many self publishers are fly by night scam outfits, there are thousands of lawsuits against various self publishers, their books are often of very poor quality with loads of errors in them, I could go on and on. Personally I see no benefit to it other than the fact that they will publish anything as long as you are willing to pay for it. Personally, you would be better off researching the GOOD small publishers by surfing Preditors and Editors, joining Absolute Write Water Cooler and getting the Writer Beware free online newsletter. Self publishing is just another name for a vanity press. Unless you plan on writing ten thousand letters to bookstores asking them to stock your book and going around from store to store with boxes of books, I would steer clear of self publishing. Space in bookstores is now at such a premium that the major chains are even charging the A List publishers a dollar extra to stock their books on tables near the front. What chance would your little self published book have? Very little. And if you have to pay for an editor as well, a decent editor gets between 2.50 and 4.00 per page to edit. Sometimes more - depending on the manuscript and what has to be done to it. Sound worth it to you? Not to me. C.

Answer 3

The biggest disadvantage of self-publishing is the lack of marketing for your book. Unfortunately, getting a book published by a professional publishing company is almost impossible these days.

I print my own books and market them through my website. It is the best way for unpublished authors to get their books out to the public. I offer my book in e-book form as well as printed form. I am currently selling about three books a day, but as my website traffic increases so does my sales. I hope to be selling ten times as many books in a year from now.

Answer 4

1. You must fund the entire project yourself. Even if you use a "free" service like Lulu, if you intend to do it right you will have to pay for book design, copy editing, proofreading, advertising, distribution, and everything else. These expenses can run in the thousands.
2. Unless you are versed in marketing, you probably won't sell any books. There are thousands of books printed each year, and if you don't know how to promote your book will be buried.
3. Most brick and mortar bookstores do not stock self-published titles.
4. Self-published titles have difficulty finding reviewers, because so many have a reputation for being terrible. Also, self-published credits cannot be listed on most professional credentials (for example, Poets & Writers does not accept self-published credits to be listed in their director). The HWA (Horror Writer's Association) also does not accept self-published credits on their applications for membership.

Answer 5

I'm looking for a site when I can just post my book to. I don't care about book sales or even really site views. I just want to get my story "out there. I've been writing in my journal since I was a little girl and I have entries dated back as far as 1996-1997 so, I am looking for a site that could hold as much as I want to print.

Are there any other sites besides Lulu and Bookemon?

Answer 6

I've read somewhere most self-published books only sell 100-150 copies.

Answer 7

You have to pay, and you have to pay for an editor which is almost always a good thing to have. I've read a few self-published books which CLEARLY had no editor, and they just looked sloppy.