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Self-publishing is the publication of any book, album, or other media by its author without the involvement of an established publisher. Unlike the traditional publishing model in which control of the publication is shared with a publisher, the author controls the entire process in a self-publishing effort including the design of the cover and the interior, price, distribution, marketing, and public relations. The authors can do all of these activities by themselves or they may outsource these tasks. Self-publishing is not limited to physical books, but includes pamphlets and brochures, as well as digital media such as e-books and websites. In traditional publishing, the publisher bears the costs, such as editing, marketing, and paying advances, and reaps a substantial share of the profits; by comparison, in self-publishing, the author bears all of these costs but earns a higher share of the profits. In common parlance, the term usually refers to written content in book or magazine form, in physical media such as paper or in electronic form, but theoretically it could apply to the self-publishing of video content or zines or uploading of images to a website.

The self-publishing landscape has changed considerably in the past two decades with new technologies such as the Internet, and the $1 billion market continues to change at a rapid pace. Increasingly there are numerous alternatives to traditional publishing, and self-publishing is increasingly becoming the first choice for writers. With this growth in activity, the book world has become flooded with titles, much of it of low quality, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for self-publishers to differentiate one’s offerings from the stew of average offerings. Most self-published books sell very few copies, although there are approximately a dozen books that sell into the millions. The quality of self-published works varies considerably.

 Main routes to self-publishing

There are an increasing variety of resources for authors choosing the self-publishing route.

 Basic pathways to publishing

• Traditional publishing. Authors don’t pay any publishing-related expenses. Large well-established publishing firms include the so-called ‘Big Five’: Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Hachette, Simon & Schuster, and Macmillan, including their dozens of imprints. These large publishers prefer authors with mainstream appeal, particularly celebrity or “brand-name” authors, and they bear most of the risk associated with publishing. They typically offer an advance payment, and sometimes authors can get a slice of the book profits. Publishers own the rights and control most aspects of publication, especially the design of the cover and the choice of a title. They can get books into brick-and-mortar bookstores and get reviews in mainstream media. Mid-size traditional publishers are smaller than the Big Five but usually offer the same arrangements. Small and indie presses are harder to categorize but can vary from well-established boutique presses to mom-and-pop start-ups with little experience, and they are more accepting of first-time authors and usually don’t require an agent to be approached. Authors probably won’t get an advance but may get a larger share of the profits instead. It is harder for smaller presses to get books into bookstores.

• Hybrid publishers. There are intermediate arrangements between traditional and self-publishing in which both author and publisher bear some of the costs of development, sometimes called “cooperative publishing”. In some of these models, a hybrid publisher may offer selected services to help an author get a book published, such as story editing, copy editing, proofreading, and marketing and public relations such as promotion through social media and search engine optimization strategies. Many such firms have their own online bookstores. It is important for authors considering a hybrid approach to fully understand what services will be included, and at what cost, and to fully understand the terms of any contract. Some intermediary firms offer less-than-ideal contracts, which make it hard for an author to get out of the deal at a later time, and can take a disproportionate share of profits; one adviser suggests it’s “buyer beware” when hiring such firms. With this model, the author funds the publication of the book, sometimes spending thousands of dollars, to get the know-how and editing skills of the publisher. Quality of services and the terms of contracts vary widely. Some professionals who used to work in the traditional publishing industry work in hybrid firms. Royalties are less than true self-publishing but more than traditional publishing. Books rarely get into bookstores. Authors should understand the terms fully and try to keep as many rights with as much flexibility as possible. Some firms are nothing more than funky assisted-publishing services which are overcharging.

• Assisted self-publishing. These firms charge fees for various publishing-related services such as formatting and cover design and copyediting, and make their money from these services alone, but authors earn all of the royalties and retain control over editing and cover design and title. Firms that offer help with publicity and marketing, it is not a good deal, and firms that have pushy sales tactics such as AuthorSolutions should be avoided. There are books such as Mark Levine’s The Fine Print of Self-Publishing, which can guide would-be authors. For authors who are serious about making money through self-publishing, it is vital to have quality artwork, particularly on the cover, as well as interior formatting, and professionals doing publicity work, so hiring competent freelancers is not really optional.

• True self-publishing. The author controls the entire publishing process from start to finish, and can hire freelancers to help wherever it is needed, such as cover designers and copy editors and story editors. It is necessary for the author to think like an entrepreneur and take charge of all variables, and as much as possible, get the finished book to look like a quality product. All profits and rights stay with the author but it is nearly impossible to get the book into bookstores unless it become a breakout bestseller, which is highly unlikely. Authors can sell their e-books through Amazon’s KDP, Apple’s iBookstore, Kobo, and Nook Press, and can distribute them through e-book distributors such as Pronoun, Draft2Digital and Smashwords. Popular print-on-demand firms include Amazon’s CreateSpace and IngramSpark.

 Advantages of self-publishing

Benefits include:

• Speed. An author finds out right away whether a book is a hit with readers; there is not a six-month or longer delay typical with an established publisher since the usual back-and-forth steps with a publisher are bypassed. It is possible to release a book within a few weeks after it’s finished. Further, it is possible to avoid the lengthy process of trying to find a literary agent to secure a publishing contract.

• No start-up costs. Manuscripts uploaded to KDP or Smashwords typically do not incur any fees.

• Freedom to begin the next book. An author can self-publish and then begin work on the next project, potentially being more prolific, although this presumes that the first book won’t need any marketing effort.

• A greater share of royalties. Self-published authors earn four to five times more per unit than if an author works with a traditional publisher, sometimes 70% of the sale price.

• Pitch books straight to the readers. There is no intermediary censoring what might be shown to the public. The route to readers is more direct.

• Creative freedom. With self-publishing you don’t waste your time trying to get published, which can take years of query letters and agenting, and all this stuff. You go straight to the real gatekeepers, which are the readers. If they respond favorably and you have sales, you can leverage that into a writing career. If they don’t, you write the next thing. Either way you’re not spending your time trying to get published, you’re spending your time writing the next work.

 Disadvantages of self-publishing

There are significant challenges to self-publishing as well.

• Most self-published books sell few copies. Some estimates are that they sell fewer than 100 to 150 copies; another estimate is that most sell fewer than 250 copies. However, it should be noted that the vast majority of books promoted by traditional publishers fail as well. Still, the overwhelming odds are that any self-published book will be ignored and end up in the “digital slush pile.”

• Authors must spend much time marketing their books. Authors must work hard to market their books, which is a task that many authors are not skilled at or willing to do.

• Crowded landscape. There is much competition and it is difficult to get one’s book to be noticed in a glutted market. Big publishers have much better prospects for getting attention for a book.

• Lack of prestige. A book from a traditional publisher still has a lot of cachet in that it has been vetted by editors, which gives it a “stamp of approval.”

• Hard to get into bookstores. Big bookstores rarely take self-published books, and if they do, they want 50% of the sales price. Publishers have established distribution channels to make this easy.

• Publishers offer editorial and marketing help. Plus they usually pay an advance to help the author with expenses at the early start of the publishing cycle, an advantage which self-published writers do not have.

• Difficulty getting reviews in the mainstream press. It is difficult for self-published books to be reviewed in newspapers and magazines. The media favors books from traditional publishers before giving reviews.

• Having to spend time marketing the book. One self-published author in Britain was working “14 hour days”, spending months promoting her book Only the Innocent; while she eventually made it to the UK Kindle bestseller chart, Rachel Abbott still has difficulty getting the publishing world to take her book seriously. Another writer, Ros Barber, thinks self-publishing is a “terrible idea for serious novelists” since the requirements of marketing and promoting a book will prevent one from writing, and he continues to recommend the traditional approach.

• Self-published books usually ineligible for prizes. Books are not eligible for major prizes such as the Hay festival, the Booker, the Baileys, the Costa and the Man Booker, and literary novels need these prizes to become a bestseller. However, there are signs that this is changing as more books become self-published.