“Should New Authors Start with a Smaller Publisher, or Self-Publish?”
ByPatricia asked a great question when she signed up for the Author Success Plan. (You can also do both at the same time–just click the link under the red arrows. As you can see, I do answer questions here!)
“Is it better for an unpublished author to publish with a small publisher not a ’self-publisher’?”
This is a great question, but it’s more complicated than it appears.
It really depends on several things:
- the kind of book you have
- your platform (i.e. current following)
- your goals for your book and getting published
- your resources
- how long you’re willing to wait to get published
- how important it is for you to keep all rights (standard publishing contracts often don’t allow you to “repurpose” your content into other media, which could mean a huge loss of income from your intellectual property)
First of all, the kind of book you’re writing is a big factor, as well as your goals for publishing.
If your book is geared toward business people, know that your book can be a great credibility booster and lead generator, and that’s what your goal should be. (If you haven’t gotten my free Special Report on “14 Ways a Book Will Boost Your Business,” get it now.)
If your book is connected to a business, you probably should not wait around for the time it takes to try to find a publisher. If your book is part of your overall business plan, then getting it out as quickly as possible is smart. Take the cost of self-publishing from your advertising budget, for that is what it is.
Then there’s the issue of rights. Many publishing contracts prohibit you from using the content in other forms of media that they don’t control. Since other media forms can be potentially much more profitable than a book, this can really be a big issue.
If you have the time and the patience–i.e., you’re in no particular hurry–and you don’t have the resources to pay for publishing services, and you don’t care about “repurposing” your content, then you can try the small publishers route first.
If that fails, you can then investigate the publishing service companies such as InterMedia (my top choice. You can listen to my interview with Terry Whalin about publishing and Intermedia here).
In either case, what you need to be doing, as you’re writing your stellar book, is at least thinking about how to create a following.
Preferably, you actually do things to build your following as you’re writing your book.
Check out the Publishing Coach Weekly articles and teleseminar replays, as well as other posts on this blog, for ideas on how to build your author platform. I write a lot about it!
