Becoming an author is no easy feat. If you’ve never published a book, you may disagree, since self-publishing seems easy enough.
When an author self-publishes, he or she just has to write their book and upload it to Amazon, right? Technically, yes. But if the author wants that book to be successful (i.e. make any money), there is so much more they need to do.
With traditional publishing, the author doesn’t need to do as much of the legwork once they get a publishing offer, but finding an agent to represent them and get that offer is another story and presents it’s own challenges.
Below, I have outlined some pros and cons of self-publishing your manuscript versus going the traditional publishing route.
Self-Publishing
Pros
- Publish on your own timeline
- Your manuscript is your own — you own the rights
- Profits are 100% yours — you own the royalties
- Customize your own cover and formatting without outside influence
- Complete creative control
- Higher profit potential
Cons
- Learning to manage the process of self-publishing is difficult and time-consuming
- Publishing Expenses
- Cover Creation
- Editing
- Formatting
- Marketing
- Content Creation
- Social Media Management
- Unpaid time with a potential to not make any money
Traditional Publishing
Pros
- Publishing expenses are covered by your publisher
- Marketing is largely taken care of
- Advance payment prior to publishing
- More time to write
Cons
- Less than 1% of proposals that come across a publishers desk gets a book deal
- Finding a literary agent can take months
- Rejections from agents and/or publishers
- Rights and royalties belong to the publisher
- No or little creative control
- Generally slow timeline to get your book published
In general, especially for a niche author (like dark romance), you will be better off self-publishing. It’s hard work to get your book seen, but in the end, the profit potential and creative control with self-publishing is worth it!
Indie Editorial 
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