Rainer Maria Rilke once said, “if, when you wake up in the morning, you can think of nothing but writing . . . then you are a writer.” But once you are done putting your thoughts on the paper, the next important step is to publish your work. When we think about publishing a book, we can get stuck between self and traditional publishing. Going with the traditional, big publishing houses such as Random House, HarperCollins, and Penguin might look like an easy bet, but making the cut is fairly difficult. According to Forbes, around a million new books get published every year in the United States alone, which makes the task of getting your book published in the traditional manner even more daunting. Most publishers will also tell that they receive 1,000 to 2,000 query letters every month. This shows that only a small percentage of the submissions make it to the publishing stage. Also, only because you’ve been contacted by a publishing house does not mean that your book would garner maximum revenue. So, unless you’re destined to become the best-selling book of the year, you should be either content with selling a handful of your book copies or start marketing your book on your own. So, if you are an author and want to have your book published and get noticed, why not have it self-published?
Self-publishing vs. traditional publishing
Self-publishing allows the author to be in control of the literary content as well as the book selling process. As a self-publishing author, you are on your own and responsible for marketing and distribution, as well as for the capital investment required; however, the best part is that the maximum amount of your profit is yours. On the contrary, traditional publishing is where the publishing house prints, and sells the books through various retailers and booksellers. Here, the publishing house bags the maximum amount of the revenue generated from the sale of the book, also because the entire invested capital comes from the publishers in traditional publishing.
With more and more writers choosing their own ways of marketing and promoting their work, the concept of self-publishing is becoming the buzzword in the book’s world. Here are the top 7 self-publishing companies in the world for you to choose from:
Why is self-publishing gaining momentum?
As it becomes difficult to get your book published through traditional, popular publishing houses, authors across the globe have found self-publishing as something to look up to. Moreover, the penetration of the Internet in all walks of life, including book publishing, has helped authors explore opportunities with self-publishing. From Kindle Direct Publishing to online retailers and aggregators, self-publishing or “indie publishing” is becoming the talk of the town.
What makes self-publishing a hit among authors?