Self-publishing is the most modern thing that has happened in the book world. And, more than modern, I think it’s the best that any author can imagine. Usually, what used to happen was that struggling authors would go to every publisher in the market and the publishers would separate the wheat from the chaff. The wheat here is the author who in publishers’ opinion is smart and more talented than the others; and on the same note the chaff is the author who publishers consider less smart and less likely to succeed.

So, to start off I think this point makes it clear that self-publishing is indeed a plus-point for struggling authors. Think about it… you don’t need to pass whatever criteria the publishers put you through. In other words, you can simply reach to another level. Great, isn’t it? And that, in a way, says a lot about the advantages of self-publishing.

Now coming on to the bad points of self-publishing, the most important point is that if you are associated with a publisher, your book gets worldwide marketing. And, if you are selling directly, it’s likely that your sales would be low. The key point to note is that sales are never self-sustaining. Your website simply won’t have the kind of reach that any e-tailer can provide.

Even the e-tailers fail at some point and then there you realise the value of traditional publishers. It’s about A/B testing. Okay… for the ones who are naive to publishing industry, A/B testing is the comparison technique where you distribute the two versions of your book to check which one is better.

Hence the conclusion that I can draw here is that if you do want to go for self-publishing then you need to do a lot of hard work. Else, you have the option of taking the long route i.e. the traditional publishing.

So, which one would you prefer?