So you want to self-publish?

Recently, I’ve gotten some questions about self-publishing (or indie publishing, as it’s often known). Rather than answer them myself, I will link to people offering better explanations.

Joanna Penn has written an excellent overview post – How To Self-Publish An Ebook – and has many other useful articles about the topic on her site.

Kristine Kathryn Rusch wrote a blog post about bestseller lists that turned into an excellent explanation of the underlying economics of indie publishing. Many people think that traditionally published writers make more money that self-published writers, but save for the top 1% of traditionally published writers, this is no longer the case. It’s not because publishers and agents are inherently dishonest or abusive (though many are), but indie publishing is more efficient and cost effective, the way a modern solid-state hard drive is more efficient and cost effective than an old 3 1/2 inch 1.44 MB floppy disk. A writer will make more per copy from a $3.99 self-published ebook than a mass market paperback, a trade paperback, and most hardcover sales.

Related to that topic, the Author Earnings website offers a detailed examination of Amazon’s bestseller lists, attempting to ascertain just how many books are sold on Amazon, and how many of those books were sold by traditional publishers and how many by indie publishers. The reports are well worth the read, especially if you enjoy data analysis.

Finally, it’s well worth reading David Gaughran’s excellent LET’S GET DIGITAL, a short introductory book to self-publishing. (It’s also available in print if you prefer to read in paper.) If you read both that book and Joanna Penn’s series of articles above, you will be well-equipped to tackle your own self-publishing projects.

-JM