How to Self-Publish Your Book, Traditional, Self-Publish, and Hybrid or Book Marketing Services
How to Self-Publish Your Book, FAQs. Let’s break down some questions on the different types of publishing
• Traditional Publishing
• Self-Publishing
• Hybrid/Book Marketing Services
Self-Publishing, Traditional Publishing or Hybrid/Book Marketing Publishing?
This is a big one and a question I am often asked. There are two main routes, traditional publishing or self-publishing. We even have hybrid publishing.
To go the traditional publishing route, you will generally need an agent. Not always but often, and it is the agent that approaches the publisher. This can be a difficult, and long journey. Publishing is a business and they want books that come with an audience and will sell. I am not a fan of this route. If you have a big following, then it is possible, but for most of us, this route is very hard. In traditional publishing, your publisher gains control over your rights and content. If you control your rights you control your content. I teach using your book’s content for marketing and selling. I also want you to create other products by re-purposing your content. This isn’t available to you if you give up your rights and go with a traditional publisher. The author retains ownership and control of their rights and content. One of the best decisions Amazon made. The copyright stays with the author.
I am a huge fan and supporter of self-publishing. Self-publishing used to have a bad taste to it, but not anymore. Remember vanity publishing? If you want to publish a book; you can publish a book. It is being done all over the place with great success. The gatekeepers have fallen. We have Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Smashwords.com, IngramSpark.com and many more. No one is going to say no to you publishing your book. It is all up to you. Self-publishing has become easier and easier to do and very often free. For self-publishers, the world is opening up.
The writers I know, who have gone the more traditional route, have found success with smaller, more focused publishers. Publishers who know their market and can work with an author. For me, it comes down to control. Who controls the rights and uses of our content? I like being able to use my content in any way that I want.
Self-Publishing
• No one can say no. If you want to publish your book, you can publish.
• Faster to market. I have done books in one weekend.
• Control of your content, you keep your copyright, this is super important.
• You can re-purpose your content for marketing. Create other products such as workbooks and journals. Make podcasts and videos.
• Self-publishing is free or close to it. You pay the costs to edit, design and format your book, free if you do it yourself.
• You will have to market your book yourself. But even with most publishers these days you will have to handle the marketing.
• Higher royalties, estimate $2.50-$3.50+ vs. $.70 for traditional publishing.
Traditional Publishing
• You will need an agent to approach a publisher.
• Lots of people can and will say no to publishing your book.
• It can take a year to create and release your book.
• You lose your copyright and your rights to control your content.
• You will not be able to re-purpose your content. The publisher owns your material. This is important in marketing your book. You want to be able to use your content how you want.
• A publisher will do the production work for your project. Don’t pay a publisher to publish your book.
• You will most likely still have to handle all the marketing yourself. This can be a challenge because your publisher now controls your content and may not like your ideas.
Hybrid/Book Marketing Publishing Services
Hybrid publishing is in the middle between self-publishing and traditional publishing. My definition of hybrid is a company that assists you in publishing and launching your book but maintains all the features of self-publishing. Think of them like a contractor for publishing. The hybrid publisher manages the creation, editing, design, and layout of your book. They assist you in launching and marketing your book. Some hybrid publishers work with ghost writers to help you create your book. They do all this for a fee, but you retain all your rights. And once published you receive all the royalties. They are not vanity publishers. Prices can range from $2,500 to $50,000 depending on their services.
Why would you pay a hybrid publisher? You might not have the time or skill needed to self-publish your book. But you want to maintain control and copyright. Hybrid publishers bring a lot of experience and resources to the table. There are also many hybrid publishers that specialize in niche markets and can cater to your needs.
• Most Hybrid Publishers have a menu of services that you can pick from.
• Assist you in creating, editing, publishing and launching your book.
• Assist you with marketing. Even doing Amazon best-seller campaigns.
• You are usually working one-on-one or with a team.
• You retain control of your content, you keep your copyright.
• Help you re-purpose your content for additional products, such as workbooks and journals. Making an audio version, podcasts and videos.
• You pay the costs to produce book, but you retain the royalties once it is published.
Be sure to check out my companion PDF book, How to Self-Publish Your Book, Create, Publish & Sell Your Book
