Is indie publishing the same as self-publishing?

They often mean the same thing. Sometimes indie publishing refers to smaller, independent publishers who work with authors, and self-publishing refers to authors who take on the responsibilities of publishing themselves. To be very clear, someone could say they are a self-published indie author.

Do indie authors make more money than traditionally published authors?

Yes, the profit percentage is much higher for indie authors. The catch is that traditional publishing houses often have marketing departments to help sell books. But the majority of traditionally published authors never out-earn their advance and do not receive royalties.

Can a self-published book become a bestseller?

Yes. Books like Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl, E.L. James's Fifty Shades of Grey, Andy Weir's The Martian, and Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad Poor Dad were all self-published before becoming bestsellers.

Do I need a literary agent if I want to self-publish?

No. Literary agents help authors get traditionally published. If you are self-publishing, you are not looking for a publisher, so an agent is not necessary.

What is the biggest disadvantage of self-publishing?

The biggest disadvantage of self-publishing is that all of the responsibility falls on you to put out a flawless book that also hits all the hallmarks of its genre — cover design, formatting, editing, and more.

How to Self-Publish a Book: A Step-by-Step Guide for First-Time Authors

Oct 1

Written By Natalie Saar

You’ve decided to self-publish your book… What now?

Self-publishing can feel overwhelming, especially if it’s your first book. But there are some tips that can help you streamline the process and hopefully even enjoy it. Here’s a high-level roadmap to get you started.

What Does Self-Publishing Actually Mean?

Self-publishing means that you are publishing your book yourself. You have taken your creation into your own hands, as well as the potential to earn higher royalties, and you’re going to release your book to the masses. This also means that you’re now responsible for all parts of the publishing process, from the drafting to the editing, to the creative decisions like your cover, to the marketing. 100% of it falls on you. It’s like the saying, “With great power comes great responsibility.”

However, depending on your budget, you don’t have to go it alone. You can hire companies to help you with all of these steps, which means all that you need to do is write the book. In these cases, it may cost you more up front for production, but since you own all of the rights, you can choose how you want to structure your royalties (up to 70% in some cases!).

What Are the Steps to Self-Publish a Book?

There are quite a lot of steps in publishing a book, but they can be broken down into chunks. Here is what those look like:

Make a schedule

It sounds simple, but when you self-publish, you need to keep track of everything your publisher would normally track. Decide what your ideal launch day is and work backwards. Build in at least a month for you to find and give your book to ARC readers (and alpha and beta readers if you’re going that route, too). If you’re working with a developmental editor and/or line editor, then you’ll want to build in another couple of months, depending on the editor’s time requirements. And all of this is before you even finish writing the book.

When you build a schedule, it helps you see the whole picture at once and helps you stay on track.

[If you want to use a proven, tested 13-step plan to help you get started, you can find it here.]

Create a budget

You know when you want to publish; now you need to think about how much you’re willing to set aside. There’s almost an infinite amount of things you can spend money on when you release a book, so narrow down the list to what is necessary and what you can afford. Some considerations are:

Editing
Book formatting
Cover design
ISBN numbers
Copyrighting
Marketing

Just know that it is possible to publish a book for $0, meaning you don’t need a budget at all. That said, paying for things like editing and cover design can help you get more positive reviews and start building up your readership.

Decide on your formats

The freedom of self-publishing means that you get to choose what format your book is in. Maybe you only want ebooks so that you can forego formatting issues that hard copies can introduce. It’s possible your budget only accommodates one ISBN, which means that you can only use that on one format (though there are ways for the platform, like KDP, to provide a free ISBN, but it’s only usable on that specific platform). If you want to produce an audiobook, that is a different production schedule and also requires an ISBN.

Write the book

You can work on all of the above tasks while you’re still writing your book. Make sure to do continuing research while you’re writing so that you know what trends are happening in your genre.

But the most important part is to write the book. If that feels overwhelming, remember that just 200 words per day will give you a 73,000-word book in a year’s time. You can do it!

What Do You Need Before You Publish?

Before you publish, the only thing you really need is a well-edited manuscript. However, it’s suggested that you also have an eye-catching cover that fits the book’s genre and an ISBN so that you can widely distribute your book.

The other parts you should have could include a marketing plan, a distribution plan if you want to get your book into physical stores, and a website for your book where people can learn more about you and your writing.

Always remember that you need to be your book’s biggest champion. There are millions of choices that people have, and what will make them choose your book is the connection they feel to you, your story, and your characters.

How Long Does the Process Take?

The self-publishing process can take weeks or years; it’s entirely up to you. If you write about 2,000 words/day, you can complete a 60,000-word novel in a month. Then, it’s just a matter of editing and marketing, which, again, is all on you.

Some writers prefer self-publishing because the timeline can go so quickly. In traditional publishing, the lead time is often 1-2 years, because they have a robust process that it needs to go through, as well as marketing that must get done, and all of that requires time.

Keep this in mind with your own book. If you want to get advance copies to people, then you may need to push your launch date back. Or, if you’ve written about something timely, then you may need to publish quickly while still ensuring it’s high quality.

How Much Should You Budget?

Budgeting for a self-published book can be really broad. You can publish a book for $0 or spend $10,000+. It all depends on what your skill set is, how much you can afford to budget, and what sacrifices you’re willing to make.

It’s important to know that there are many, many tools and resources out there for you to publish a book for $0, and that your budget should never be the thing that keeps you from sharing your story with the world.

If you want to see examples of a $0, $100, and $1,000 budget, here’s an in-depth blog about it with examples and details: How Much Does It Cost To Self-Publish a Book?

What Should You Do First?

First things first: You need to finish writing your book. There’s no point in worrying about a publishing process or anything else if you don’t have a book to publish in the first place. Start with an idea, then turn that idea into a well-planned, well-paced outline. From there, you’re off to the races!

Embrace the journey and know that you’re creating something only you can do. Even if two people have the same idea, they’ll both write it differently. So truly, only you can write the story that’s in your head and in your heart. That’s where you start.

The Indie Authors is here to support you on your publishing journey. You can find more resources and courses to help you here.

Natalie Saar