Why self-publish? Why are so many authors electing to self publish? It’s the MTC Factor. What’s that you ask?
- Money
- Time
- Creative Control
Let’s talk about money first. For many traditionally published authors a royalty payment may be less than ten percent of the list price of the book. That means that if your book sells for $20, your royalty (per book sold) may be $2 or less! If you self-publish your book the right way, you can earn as much as 70% of the list price or more in profit.
Time is the second reason to self publish. Traditional publishing can take 12 to 24 months to get your book published. Self publishers who have a professionally edited manuscript can get their book to market in ten days! Why is this important? Let me give you an example. If you are writing a book on the war in Afghanistan and you go the traditional publishing route your book could be released two years after contracting with your publisher. Could that impact the relevancy of your book? You bet it could.
The “C” in the MTC Factor is control. Creative control of your project is something all authors want. That means you make the crucial decisions about your book.. You own your book and that gives you 100% control over audio rights, electronic rights as well as book cover design, plot decisions and more. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take professional advice. If book cover design isn’t your area of expertise you should hire a graphic artist to help with your cover. All self-published authors should hire a professional editor. Creative control means it is your book and because you own it, the major decisions regarding the book are yours to make.
As a self-published authoryou will do most of the marketing and promotion yourself. In todays publishing environment both traditionally published and self-published authors do their own marketing. The real difference is that as a self-published author, you are the first in line for the profits.
So let’s recap. If I decide to self publish my book, I retain the lion’s share of the profits, (provided I self published the smart way). I can get my book to market quickly and I keep control over my product–my book.
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