Pros and Cons of Self Publishing Your Book

Generally, we count the benefits of one product by comparing it with another. So, here are the advantages and disadvantages of Self-Publishing by comparing its services with traditional publishing. Based on my experience as a self-published author under guided publishing and DIY publishing. I share some pros and cons of self-publishing. 

Pros

• Longer Shelf Life 

• Less Time Consumption to Publish

• Complete Control Over Rights | Non-Exclusive Agreement

Longer Shelf Life 

A traditional publisher is always looking for a new writer with a unique writing style. If the publisher found the new one, then the new book will easily replace your one. Because the traditional publisher is working for the company. While a self-publisher cannot. If you are aware of the marketing of your book, you can easily be capable of maintaining the perfect space for your book on the shelf for a long time, as you desire.

Less Time Consumption to Publish

Self-Publishing takes a few weeks to publish the book. If the author submits a final print-ready manuscript. Then the book will be published within a month. Despite a self-publisher, a traditional publisher takes a long time to review the manuscript and reply to the author regarding the selection of their manuscript for publishing. And then the publishing process takes months or may be turned into a year.

Complete Control Over Rights | Non-Exclusive Agreement

One of the major benefits of Self-Publishing is the author has all rights and control over distribution. Self-publishing is done with a Non-Exclusive Agreement. This grants the authors to publish their book anywhere at any time. 

Cons 

• Publishers' Low Distribution Scale 

• Publishing Fee | No Forefront Payout.

• High MSP | Minimum Selling Price

• Less Acclaim | 

Publishers' Low Distribution Scale

It takes years to establish as well as to be recognized. So every self-publisher works within a budget limit. Since the reputed book stores mostly deal with recognized publishers. So, it is a difficult task to coax a well-reputed store manager for every book. In such a case, the publisher deals with a few offline stores with a low budget, and mostly self-publishers give licenses to the printing press vendors for a particular book within a particular period. The selection of books is a mutual understanding of the Publishers and Vendors. The reach of these vendors is limited to certain book stores, so they also work within the budget limits and print the books on demand. 

High Publishing Fee | No Forefront Payout

Unlike a traditional publisher, the self-publisher does not pay any forefront amount to the author. Instead of it, a high amount of publishing fee is charged to bear all expenses incurred in the publishing process, marketing, printing and distribution. 

MSP | Minimum Selling Price 

Self-publishers give indirect freedom to the authors to allow them to choose the MRP of their book. But to run the company, the self-publisher set the minimum selling price of the book. Now, If you notice the publisher has chosen your book price already. 

Less Acclaim

Self-publishing gives rapid exposure to the author but less acclaim. Alert reader trust in the recognised publishers and give priority to a Big Publisher. If you want the widest readership, then a traditional publisher will be a good option for you.

Selection of A Good Self-Publishing House | Debut Author

I have been asked for a lot of times about the selection of a good, self-publishing house. So, here I share.

 

Whenever you go to publish your debut book, whether it belongs to any genre? Remember the following things: 

 

• Publishing plan

• Editing Service

• Proofreading Service

• Graphic design | Illustration 

• Marketing, SEO and Distribution

• Royalty Pay-out Time | Author Copy Cost

 

Publishing plan 

Every self-publishing house has its publishing plans, ranging from a couple of thousands to lakhs with a wide range of services. I share a bit about the variation in services that leads to the price difference. Most of the debut authors choose the basic plan, which includes all of the services mentioned above. 

 

Editing | Proofreading services 

As per the need of the publishing process, regular editing services are provided for the basic plans. Sometimes it includes the copyediting service which is for a few words. No line editing is provided until it is opted by the author. 

If you are planning to opt for an editing service for your book. Be well aware of the editing services and the importance of each editing service in detail. Because it directly affects your manuscript content.

 

Why is it expensive?

Since the editor and proofreader charge per word. Due to this, hiring a full-time editor for each specific genre would be costly for publishers. So, in this case, freelance editors are being hired on a project basis and are paid for each word edited. 

It is time-consuming work. And that is the main reason for being highly charged for the SILVER, GOLD and PLATINUM PLANS of the Publishing Houses. 

 

Graphic Design | Illustrations 

Usually, in the Basic Plan, the normal cover design is offered in comparison to the other cover design offered in plans like Silver, Gold etc. However, the author has a choice to customise the plan. Either opt for the premium cover design or basic cover design even in the basic plan. While the silver, Gold and platinum plan comes with a premium cover design.

 

Marketing, SEO and Distribution

One of the most important factors that must be observed by a debut author is the marketing services offered by Publisher. 

 

The author should ask about the media promotion, news in a local newspaper, digital marketing, book launch, and listing on e-commerce stores. 

 

In the Basic plan, 

• the book is listed nationally on e-commerce websites.

• The best SEO facility for books is provided with one month of ads run campaigns. 

• And the limited distribution to the offline stores.

 

While in the other highly paid plans 

• The book is listed globally in almost all e-commerce stores 

• An exclusive interview of the Author in digital and print media. 

• Publisher invites celebrities and influencers to launch the book. 

• And makes the availability of the book in the offline book stores  

 

Royalty Pay-out Time | Author Copy Cost

I noticed the debut authors ignore the earnings in terms of royalty which is very wrong. Here, I suggest If you are aspiring to become a full-time author. Then be sure about the following 

• Royalty payout time.

• The author copy cost including the shipping cost.   

• the detailed delivery time

• the minimum acceptable order of the books by the publisher.

• And asks if the delivery location is flexible or fixed. (author home address only).

 

Publishers pay when the royalty reaches the threshold amount. Be aware of the threshold amount and the royalty payout date after applying for release. Because the royalty transfer process is very slow.  

The Low-Cost Book Publishing Plan | Do It Yourself - DIY

Every self-publishing house offers a “Do It Yourself” publishing plan. Generally, known as a DIY plan. Some publishing companies offer it under a different name as Starter Publishing Plan or Standard Publishing Plan. This plan is suitable for those who can edit, proofread, format the book, illustrate, and design graphics. 

As the name shows “Do it Yourself.” So, the author has to do all the publishing process yourself. And submit a print-ready file to the publisher. The file submitted by the author is the final manuscript. This will be sent for printing after pasting the ISBN, copyright disclaimer and publisher logo. If the author faces any problem in the formatting or any other process. Then hints are provided by the assigned manager.  

The DIY Publishing Plan services are as : 

• Publishing Support | Author Dashboard

• SEO | Marketing | Distribution

• Book Printing Quality 

• Royalty Criteria and Author Copy Cost 

Publishing Support 

The DIY services come with a Dedicated manager, Publishing consultant and Printing team support. 

The author dashboard is provided to the author to track the ordered author copies and to see the live sales report on both online and offline platforms. 

SEO | Marketing | Distribution 

Good quality SEO services are done for the book. And the book will be listed on the e-commerce websites as per the consult by the Publishing Consultant.

The author should not be worried about the distribution of the book. If your book is good, then it will grab a perfect space for distribution by the publisher. 

Book Printing Quality

No publisher would compromise the printing quality of books. The books are printed according to the option selected by the author or to the respective book genre.  

Royalty Criteria and Author Copy Cost 

As per the contract that happened between the publisher and author. The royalty will be distributed as per the guidelines. However, there is some difference in comparison to the other publishing plan’s royalty criteria. But the DIY has its own benefits to the author. And it is the best publishing plan to make my debut as an author. 

Proofread Your Book Before Publishing

As a proofreader, I proofread articles and manuscripts. In the bunch of skills, I have selected a few skills to proofread the manuscripts within the time limit. 

To proofread the manuscript and articles on your own, you have to focus on the following:

• The First Letter 

• Spellings, Punctuations, Abbreviations

• Sentences Structures | Tense | Voices | Direct-Indirect Speech 

• Check Plagiarism  

• Content Title

You can follow the procedure and apply them. The results will be an error-free manuscript and article.

The First Letter of Paragraph

During the proofreading process, you have to read throughout the whole manuscript. You can start with any paragraphs/sentences by keeping the first letter capital. 

Spellings, Punctuations, Abbreviations

It will be an embarrassment for both the author and the publisher. Assume your published book has mistakes such as misspelt spellings, punctuations, and wrong abbreviations. Then the reader will not pick that. So, proofread your content mindfully. 

To save time, you can correct the misspelt spelling and punctuation with the help of online software. The most used software is Grammarly. 

Sentences structures | Tense | Voices | Direct-Indirect Speeches | Model 

The sentences written in the content are according to the flow of the conversations. Have you ever noted that when the team members are talking, their conversations involve sentences from the past, present, and future tenses at a time? Their sentences in conversation are not limited to tenses. It hovers around the voices and speeches, depending on the selected topic. While writing such content, it becomes difficult to understand. 

A proofreader has to check whether the written content is understandable or not. This process is very time-consuming. The professionals have to inspect thousands of words. So, to review within the time limit, to check whether the content is hard to read or understand. They use a Software called Hemingway editor. 

I advise you to use this software to check your content readability. Usually, the readability score must be below 10. And to reduce it more follow software instructions. 

While using any software, be aware of the emotional flow of your content and check it manually as well. Sometimes software makes mistakes, so be truthful with your content. And your knowledge and be confident. 

Check Plagiarism

In the publishing houses, submitted manuscripts, articles and journals undergo a plagiarism checking process. And it is done with the help of software. 

So, before submitting your content, check it using any plagiarism detector software. If your content is poached, re-write it and create 100% unique content. 

100% unique content is acceptable everywhere and published without any worry.

When you accept any manuscript/article for proofreading, initially check its uniqueness using 2-3 online plagiarism detection software. And assure it must be 100% plagiarism free. Once sure, it is unique. Apply proofreading process. Otherwise, return the content to the writer to re-write.

Content Title

The content title must be bold and clear. It should represent the written data theme. When you write it for your blog, before publishing it, please check the headline score of your blogpost’s title. 

To check headline score, use the online software Headline Analyser. The recommended score is above 65. 

Thus applying these steps, the resulted manuscripts and articles will be error-free. However, to make the content 100% error-free follow the procedure 2-3 times.

Format Your Book Before Publishing

The format of a manuscript improves during the editing and proofreading process. Based on my experience, I have some suggestions for formatting a book. I saw that to format a manuscript professional focus on the following:

• Font and Font Size

• Line Spacing

• Paragraphs Size

• Space between Paragraphs

• Picture | Illustration size

 

Font and Font Size

Select font and font size carefully for literary works, especially for creative works such as stories, poetry, Shayari, nazms, ghazals, and novels. The font has its own imprint on each creation. Here are some fonts you can use according to your work. The fonts are: 

• Stories - Arial, Nirmala UI

• Novel - Standard fonts - Times New Roman and Arial (11-12 Point)

• Children’s Books - Century School Book (16-24 Point) 

• Thrilling Stories - Scary Fonts (Use anyone)

• Love Letter - Humble Hearts Font 

• Romantic Poems - Romantic Fonts ( e.g., Oh Darling, Bunga)

• Academic Works - Times New Roman, Nirmala UI (Bilingual work)

• Journals/Magazine - Times New Roman (most used in newspapers)  

Source - For Fonts Suggestion - Google (Shown for English Language)

To publish a book in a bilingual language (English-Hindi). I suggest choosing Nirmala UI Font with font size 11. I used this font for my book Necessary Words - A Vocabulary Book

(English - Hindi Version).

Line Spacing

Line spacing is the blank space between two lines of a paragraph. The improper line space will create a random and messy passage. While formatting a document, keep an eye on the spaces between words and sentences. But do not worry about it. This space will stabilize according to the line space. 

A perfect line space comforts the reader and makes it easier to re-read. This paragraph on this blog has a line space of 1.5 and a font size of 14 PPT of Calibri Font. 

Paragraphs Size

It is easy to concentrate on the short paragraph. It makes the reader easy to re-read after a break. So, distribute your lengthy paragraphs into 2-3 short passages. 

Remember one thing about formatting for a story. The paragraphs play a vital role. So, here select the paragraph size according to your story flow. But try to keep that shorter too. 

Space between Paragraphs

Paragraph spacing is the blank space between two paragraphs. It belongs to the area above and below the passage. 

The congruent space between the paragraphs beautifies the written material. So keep it equal in your manuscripts or articles. The article you are reading has Paragraph space 14 PPT with the Calibri font. 

Picture | Illustration size

Use good quality pictures and illustrations of good size. It should not be too large that it points out the selected place or not too small that it would be uncomfortable to see by readers. Select the perfect place for the illustrations and figures in the manuscript that either centre, left side or right side.  

Illustrate for Your Book Before Publishing

Illustrating figures for a book is very devoted work. But it needs strong dedication, hard work, and a few basic drawing skills. The process I used to illustrate for my book Necessary Words - A Vocabulary Book will hopefully be helpful for you. I have written a few steps that might fulfil your requirements. 

• Visualize the image.

• Draw roughly

• Get help from a pro

• Software and procedure

Visualize the image

Whatever the figure you want to depict in your book. Visualize the appropriate picture according to your story, poem, or academic writing, related to its genre, such as fiction, non-fiction, technical, or science. Be sure that your image is perfect for your story.

Draw roughly

Once you visualize it, draw it immediately. Draw its basic structure first. Do not be afraid if you have not done painting before. Try to be dynamic and learn this beautiful skill. As the keynote is practice, practice and practice, every artist is well aware of it. So, no need to be afraid to try. 

If you are not able to draw, then take professional help.

Get help from a pro

If you are a full-time writer, I suggest you take a few classes in fine art. So, enrol for a couple of weeks and sharpen your skills instead of purchasing illustrations from any professional. You will need these skills for your future books, even to get work from professionals. You need to depict the picture or describe it through expressions.

But be true to yourself. Fine art requires a lot of practice and patience. But I assure you that good practice of fine art will give you more than you deserve. 

Software and procedure 

After a successful line drawing of the figure on paper, take an HD snapshot of your work and then use its soft copy to trace. I traced the figures in Adobe Photoshop. So, the explanation is according to this. You can choose another software which is compatible with your computer. 

Follow the procedure

1. Open photoshop and select New File 

2. Select the size for the file

3. Set it as a Background copy and lock it

4. Open the file that be traced

5. Decrease its opacity up to 50%.

6. Select the pen and begin tracing

7. Hide original picture

8. Save as image 

Use these illustrations in your book, and It would be interesting to be heard, as you are the illustrator of your book too.

1. Open photoshop - select New File

2. Select the size for the file

Scale your file according to the requirement. Remember to keep 300 DPI and a bit large for HD print Quality. 

3. Set the scaled file as a Background copy and lock it.

4. Open the file to be traced

    

In your case, original file will be your drawing.

5. Decrease its opacity up to 50% and lock it.

  

6. Select the pen and begin trace

7. Hide original picture

As the tracing completed, hide the original picture. 

8. Save the file in JPG Format.