10 Reasons Why I Self-Publish

I get a lot of people who, when they find out I am a published author or they meet me at a book signing, ask, “Oh, so you self-published?”
 
Now, I’ve been doing this for quite a while, and I’m well familiar with the stigma around self-publishing. But it’s interesting to me how so many of these people still view self-publishing or independently publishing through such a negative lens, especially with how successful indie-publishing as a practice has become.  
 
When I have people comment this way, I always answer proudly, “Yes, I do it all myself.” Because I am proud to be an indie author. I am proud to publish my work on my own. Today, I’d like to share with you some of the reasons why I choose to self-publish.
 
1. Growth. Self-publishing has allowed me to learn and gain new skills for all aspects of publishing and marketing with every new book I release.

2. Deadlines. I set my own timelines.

3. Decisions. I get to decide exactly what I want for every part of the process.

4. Freedom. I can sell my books anywhere I like (as long as I have purchased my own ISBN for that book).

5. Involvement. I can be as involved as I like in EVERY SINGLE part of the publishing process. I LOVE that I don’t just write the book.

6. Independence. I love that my success is on my own terms, and succeeding as an indie author feels so incredible, especially with all the doubters out there.

7. Autonomy. I love that I can do it all myself.

8. Community. Through my independent publishing journey, I get to be a part of a super cool (mostly) down to earth community of other indie authors and artists and book lovers.

9. Pride. I take a lot of pride in my art, and I get to really focus in on the art of drafting, editing, designing, formatting, and marketing.

10.  Support. Now that I have gained the knowledge and skills required for publishing books, I have been able to apply that knowledge and those skills to supporting other indie authors looking to put their own work out into the world.​

BONUS: Money. I love that, as an indie author, I am able to make higher royalty payments per book sale than many traditionally published authors. (The downside, of course, is that often self-published authors make fewer sales or have higher expenses for book production, so things ultimately tend to balance out).

I had another book signing event yesterday, and I’ve learned a lot in a recent author summit I’ve been participating in for fantasy and sci-fi authors. I’ve got a lot of thoughts to share with you all, so stay tuned for more blog posts like this one. Have a great week!