Why You Want to Self-Publish Your First Book

Writing a book can be a big endeavor - figuring out the content, topic, title, and what you will write for the chapters. How many chapters should you write, and how many words should you have in your new book?

When you’re writing a book, there are many decisions. However, if this is the first book you’ve written, then deciding whether to work with a publisher or self-publish your book is easy for 98% of first-time authors - you’ll want to self-publish your new book.

Most New Authors Never Publish Their Book

And while many people have a “book in their head,” more than 80% of those who want to write a book never successfully do so. I’ve had to ghostwrite clients to finish their book and not publish it because of imposter syndrome. They have finished their book, but they are afraid that no one will take them seriously, so they never publish the book they’ve spent hundreds of hours creating, editing, and putting together to publish.

Why Choose Self-Publishing for Your First Book?

Many people start writing their first book with dreams of traditional publishing, picking up their book to send off to Amazon and book stores nationwide. And while that is a great long-term goal for a new author, getting a traditional book publisher is very hard. Not only is this process time-consuming, but it’s also very expensive, especially if you hire an agent to represent your book.

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In addition, many new authors can take up to three to five years to get their book accepted by a traditional publisher if they do get accepted. You could receive upwards of 100 rejection letters before you finally find a traditional publisher that’s interested in your book. Then you’ll spend time negotiating a contract with the publisher - which will take more time and money. In the amount of time you land a traditional publisher for your first book, you could easily write a series of self-published books and have an established following.

Traditional Publishers Depend on the Author to Market their Book

A traditional publisher is looking for someone with a following - typically a minimum of 10,000 names on their email list. Why? Because when a traditional publisher takes on your book, you’ll have to do the lion’s share of the marketing. Contrary to popular belief, a traditional book publisher doesn’t market your book for you - that’s your primary job. They have the editor and other services available, but they won’t do your book marketing after publishing your book.

When you don’t have a large following via email or social media, your best bet is to self-publish your first book. This shows traditional publishing companies the quality of your work and that you can complete your book through to the end. 

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