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Book writers and authors know that self-publishing requires a great deal of effort, as well as the responsibility for assuming most of the costs. The payoff, of course, is in the satisfaction of seeing your book hit the bookstores, and, hopefully, even creating a positive return on your investment.

Through the years, many people have avoided investing in self-published books. Many assume the content of self-published works to be amateurish or lacking in literary quality. Thus, it is very rare for self-published books to become best sellers. However, it is not impossible. In fact, numerous books that are now regarded as classics were originally self-published by their authors.

Here is just a list of some of these books. Hopefully this will provide new authors with inspiration and sufficient proof that choosing to self-publish your work does not meant that it will lack in commercial appeal, or be of lesser quality:

‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’ is a compilation of inspiring stories written by different people from various backgrounds. The book was compiled by motivational speakers Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield. The first book was an unexpected success and sold more than 2 million copies worldwide. The massive support by readers prompted the publication of succeeding volumes. The book is now one of the most successful book series ever published in the field.

Tom Peters’ ‘In Search of Excellence’ is seminal management material that is has been designated by history as being among one the most widely read books to date. The book points out effective management insights and guidelines for corporations and businesses. Robert Waterman co-authored this book. After being published way back in 1982, this book still enjoys huge sales up to this day.

Irma Rombauer’s ‘The Joy of Cooking’ has set the trend for cookbooks in the US long before current famous chefs have hit the bookstores. The book was originally published in 1936 and was able to sell up to 18 million copies worldwide. The book was self-published by the author in 1931 before Boobs-Merrill Company picked it up for a greater commercial printing run.

‘Celestine Prophecy’ discusses several spiritual and psychological ideas that can be traced back to ancient Eastern Traditions. Author James Redfield told his first-hand views and experiences in trying to understand nine spiritual insights found in a discovered old manuscript in Peru. This book about one’s journey towards spiritual awakening has already sold more than 20 million copies since 2005 and has been translated into more than 34 different languages.

Matthew Reilly’s ‘Contest’ is a novel-thriller that took Australia and some parts of the world by storm in 1996. The book was initially rejected by almost all major Australian book publishers until the author decided to self-publish it.

‘The Christmas Box’ tells of a story that is specifically for children, who are said to comprise the spirit of the season. Author Richard Paul Evans self-published the book in 1993. In 1995, a commercial publishing house took up the publishing aspects of the novel.

As you can see from the above, self-publishing is responsible for having brought many great books from great book authors to light. Those best sellers were once underrated and rejected by commercial publishers, but their authors believed in their potential. Now they are part of the industry’s history.

So, what then are some of the things you should be looking into if you decide to go down the self-publishing route?

• The number of copies can influence what kind of publishers you should approach. For example, if you want to produce about 25 to 500 copies, then print-on demand publishers would be suitable.

• When looking for publishers that will handle the technical aspects of your book, look for those that can provide service and assistance in areas like book layout, printing and production demands. When shopping around for a publisher, ask for samples of the books that they have published before. Ask them questions about printing. There are some printers or publishers that cannot handle a specific layout or that have limitations. Make sure that the publisher you choose can handle your specific design and book layout.

• Design and book format can help your book stand-out. If this is your first time self-publishing a book, look for a mentor that can help you with the process. Some self-published authors use the services of a professional book designer to assist in layout and make their book design standout.

• As a self-published author, be prepared to assume all the expenses. Make sure that you are familiar with all the various costs and expenses that will be incurred in the process and have these written up in a financial projection spreadsheet so you can plan and budget for it. Become familiar with printing costs and how these will vary depending on the number of copies and services you will require. As well as printing costs, you also need to consider things like photography, copy editing, requesting the International Standard Book Number which will make your book uniquely identifiable, and so on.

• Distribution is another important thing you need to prepare for. In traditional publishing, publishers generally cover the costs of  marketing and distribution of the book. But since this is self-publishing, you need to identify how you plan to distribute your book and who will receive your product. Some bookstores will only take some copies initially to see if they will sell. If they don’t you then have to get your books back. You can also explore online sales and set up a sales page website with e-commerce capabilities for accepting orders and processing payment.

• Marketing is important in any kind of book selling. Apart from publishing, you also have to carry the marketing and promotion of your book. You can hire a publicist to do it for you or you can do it yourself.

With all of these additional things to consider, what can self-publishing give you in return? In a traditional publishing arrangement, an author can expect to get about 8% of royalties, while with self-publishing you can expect to get about 30% – 50 % of the returns depending on your marketing strategy. Apart from that, of course, you also get to retain control over most aspects of publishing and distribution.

I hope you have found the above information useful and that it has given you better insight into the potential  benefits and advantages of self-publishing. 

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