Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing

Congratulations! You’ve finished your final draft and are ready to put your book into the hands of readers, and now you’re working out where to start with the publishing process. The first decision you’ll have to make is whether you want to pitch your book to traditional publishing houses or take the self-publishing route. Luckily for you, we’ve put together this guide to self-publishing to help you work out which is the best option for you!  

PROS 

• Creative Control  
• Higher Royalties  
• Hand-Picked Team 
• No Deadlines 
• No Rejection  
• Kudos  
  
  

CONS 

• Upfront Costs  
• Finding a Team  
• Less Support 
• Book Marketing  
  
  

PROS  

#1 Complete Creative Control & Maintaining Your Rights
While traditional publishing houses will undoubtedly want a say in the final edit of your book, the design of the cover and the marketing strategies, publishing a book yourself will allow you total control over every decision. You can choose which aspects to seek advice on and whether or not you follow said advice. You won’t have to give up the rights to your book, or any future work. You’ll also have better opportunities for niche publishing, as most traditional publishers tend to stick with the more popular and established genres. 


#2 Higher Royalty Rates
Traditional publishing routes can leave authors taking home as little as 10% of the royalties from their work. This is scarcely the case with self-publishing, especially if you opt to sell your books yourself and not through an online retailer. Publishing with Rowanvale Books and selling via our online bookstore will guarantee you a 65% share in the royalties earned from your books! 


#3 Hand-picked Publishing Team
Gone are the worries of not getting on with your colleagues, if you’re the person who gets to choose them! Much like the freedom of complete creative control, you’ll also have the final and only say in who organises the logistics of publishing your book. You can choose different people for different services to make sure everyone on your team shares the same vision and values when it comes to sharing your work with the world. At Rowanvale Books, we have a team of friendly professionals able to help in a wide range of services to ensure that you can build the team you need. 


#4 No Deadline Stress & Quicker Publishing Process (If Desired)
While setting your own deadlines can be a helpful time-management tool, when you publish your own work, there’s no one above you to bark orders about when final edits are due or when you need to have made a decision about your cover art. Especially if it’s your first book, it can be hard letting go of your work and putting it out into the world. Self-publishing gives you all the time you need to make the decisions that really matter to you. On the reverse side, if you want, you can speed up the process and release your book much quicker than a traditional publishing house, where it takes on average 12 to 36 months!  


#5 No Rejection or Confusing Contract Clauses
You could have a future bestseller in the palm of your hands, but the unfortunate fact of the matter is that traditional publishing is a struggling industry. Many publishing houses can only afford to take on books they can almost guarantee will do well, meaning less-established authors can easily become overwhelmed or put off when faced with rejection. If you know that what you’ve written is worth reading, then self-publishing is a great way to start getting it into the hands (or Kindles) of readers. You’ll also enjoy the added bonus of avoiding the confusing contract clauses that come with signing with a traditional publishing house! 


#6 Make a Name for Yourself
There’s no doubt that publishing a book yourself is a difficult thing to do, but the rewards at the end are so worth it! Seeing your finished product and knowing that every aspect had your direct involvement will only make you want to do it all again. And when the book does well, you’ll only receive even more kudos when people find out you published it yourself! 


CONS 
#1 Upfront Costs  
Although in the long run you’ll receive more of the profits from your books, the initial upfront costs of self-publishing unfortunately cannot be avoided. Luckily, there are many options for you to choose from to find the prices and services that work best for you! Rowanvale Books work as a remote team to help keep costs down and tailor all of our packages to each individual project. We recognise that it’s not a ‘one size fits all’ industry, allowing for all budgets to be met. 


#2 Finding a Reputable Publishing Team
The task of finding an entire publishing team yourself can feel pretty daunting at first, but rest assured, it’s by no means impossible. Rowanvale Books was founded when Cat saw the difficulties her father had faced with one of the world’s biggest self-publishing companies. As a result, the whole team is well aware of the service that authors deserve to receive and is dedicated to making sure they get it.  


#3 Less Support
One common, and understandable, worry when it comes to self-publishing is that you won’t have as much of a support network around you as you would with traditional publishing. However, once you’ve found yourself a team that you trust and work well with, it’ll become clear just how many avenues for support there really are. At Rowanvale, you can find support right from the editorial process all the way through to getting your first reviews!  


#4 Book Marketing  
The business and marketing side of publishing a book can seem like it’s written in a foreign language if it’s not something you’ve ever had to do before. Like most of your concerns when it comes to self-publishing, this can easily be addressed with the right team behind you. At Rowanvale Books, we offer services ranging from running social media campaigns to self-publishing on Amazon to help with analytics. We believe in coaching authors so that you become skilled in marketing your own work, rather than just doing it all for you. This only adds to the list of skills you can gain by opting to self-publish!  
 
Self-publishing a book, especially if it’s your first time, will always be a learning process. It is, however, also a truly empowering process when you’re able to be a part of your book’s entire journey from an idea in your head to a finished product. At Rowanvale Books, we’re here to help you every step of the way.