Why self-publishing your book is a great and viable option

Me being incredibly open, honest and vulnerable on the data from my self-published book

Hello everyone!

Today marks the day my self-published book, Plant Your Poetry: 365 Poems and Prompts to Grow Your Writing Habit went live on Amazon and IngramSpark. I remember it so clearly, the dread mix with astonishment that it was actually happening, the doubt as to whether anyone would resonate and the slightly anti-climactic feeling of finishing a huge labor of love - now what?

Before that, I was one of the many thousands of people out there who have been at the cusp of taking a risk on themselves and their words for a little too long, leaning towards self-publish but scared the industry or literary peers wouldn’t take me seriously, amongst other fears and doubts that plagued my dreams of becoming an author.

There are so many things I would say to that girl who wanted to take matters into her own hands and make it happen but who wasn’t quite sure if she could pull it off. I don’t have the option to talk to my former self, however, I can help you. And if you have clicked on this post and are reading these words, I bet there is a little voice inside of you that says …perhaps…

To honor your valuable time, I’ve tried to distil my experience into a few main points, and then the floor is open for discussion and questions which I’m happy to answer in the comments section.

By no means is self-publishing the only right answer, but it is an option, a beautiful and lucrative one if handled well.

So here goes…

Reasons Why You Should Self-Publish Your Book

1. You will reach more people than you think

   58 eBooks and 104 Print Books of Plant Your Poetry have been sold on Amazon alone, as well as 4,394 kindle pages read in multiple countries across the world.

   170+ people have found my book, most I do not know, can you imagine that many people in a room all holding your book?
   
   Not to mention all of the people who are aware of my work who haven’t bought my book but I’ve interacted with as a result. This includes other writers and poets on forums and social media that I’ve collaborated or engaged with. Event managers who have invited me to perform the poetry in my book at events. Writers groups and forums I’ve joined when helping others and received support myself. When you have a why, which in my case was spreading the word about my book, going to events and engaging in the ecosystem feels a little more relevant/urgent. This energy of backing yourself has karma, and will be returned to you in ways you never imagined.

2. Royalties can be lucrative
   

   (Brace yourselves I’m a poet that’s going to talk about money). I have made £510.80 in royalties (and counting) for a 466 page poetry book. It may not seem a lot to some but I’ve made a profit and apart from a few edits I’ve made or will have to make post-publish, the book sells itself most of the time, yes I do one thing almost every day to market but this is mostly organic and when it suits me.

   I honestly thought I’d have some sales in the first three months and then it would trail off, but it’s actually increasing. Imagine if I had a few books on the go? The initial creation of a self-published book, especially if you do a lot yourself is a big investment of time and energy (and potentially funds if you outsource), however that book is a sellable and marketable product forever unless it’s subject matter or genre becomes dated, which doesn’t happen often. It will be the gift that keeps on giving, especially if your book fits into the holiday sales market (for example a Christmas themed book).

   There are a lot of authors out there who run their self-pubbed books as a viable multi-book business under a few different pen names, you can find more stories and information on this via the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi). Whether or not you make money or want to make money with your self-published book, it is all about intention, just because you can doesn’t mean you need to, could, or should. But I want you to know that making money from self-publishing is possible, whether that’s with poetry or other genres).

3. It could (and most likely will) go better than you expect

   I expected this book to be valuable to my already established community only, peak in sales within the first three months and then trail off in time for me to move on to something else. However, Plant Your Poetry became an Amazon bestseller, reaching the top three in most categories related to poetry as well as Canada’s #2 most gifted poetry writing guide AND sales actually are slowly beginning to increase.

   Not only that, the book has currently received 13 five star reviews, is now being stocked in large retailers and the reach, although not huge in publishing standards - exceeded my original expectations based on my network of consistent engagers with my work which was around 30-50 people strong and grew to 170+ which is a win in my books.

   This result was without pre-orders (which were unavailable to me) and I did most of the graft work in under 6 months from first draft to publish, not that I would recommend such a fast turnaround but I work better under a little pressure. A lot of my marketing was post-publish (except I had been steadily increasing my IG account followers organically for a year before that) and I’m still winging it/figuring it out as I go. Now imagine what you could do with a solid marketing plan pre-publish too?

   The most important thing about this is no people didn’t hate it. And any mistakes were simply learning opportunities that have helped me to become a better writer, author and advocate for myself and my work.

4. You don’t have to wait to have your voice heard

   You have something to offer that no-one else can - your unique story, and sometimes we can become so wrapped up and distracted with the how that we never get to actually finishing anything. For example, trying to leverage the story for maximum output, package it in the best way, articulating it as perfectly as possible, which delays the inevitable - putting yourself out there. If you self-publish, there is a lot you are in control of, you have complete autonomy over what you put out there and when/for how long.

   What I’ve noticed happens with me, if I stall on the opportunity to share my truth as and when the instinct arises, if I wait for a ‘better’ moment - that moment rarely comes around again. Perhaps that is a quirk of having ADHD but if I reject an impulse to share, whether that is a poem, a book or a post on social media, I end up getting blocked. It’s like there becomes a backlog of stuck energy that I struggle to release again.

   For Plant Your Poetry, I emailed a few small presses and trad publishers who were interested in the idea for the book but told me that they wouldn’t be able to publish for another 2-3 years. Which is okay if you don’t mind that and there are valid reasons why it takes that long, but I know me, and there was a wave and if I didn’t ride it I knew it would come to nothing. I had people who needed my unique story and experience to help transform their writing lives. I wanted to help those people now, not in 3 years. So I took matters into my own hands and I’m so glad I did.

5. You will create so many cool opportunities for yourself

By getting the book out there I...

• Was interviewed for my first ever podcast feature

• Was invited to perform at Red Deer Arts Council 50th Anniversary

• Created a Substack platform

• Hosted 2 Book Giveaways

• Had my first ever online live book launch

• Gained the courage to join in person writing and critique groups

• Created a flourishing community of writers who write regularly and have written at least 5000 poems over the past year, and counting!

• Generated three other book ideas, a journal and a subscription service as a follow-on

• Connected with the most amazing poets and writers from across the world who I now consider friends

• Have changed my mind about what is possible for myself and others

6. It will pave the way for your next project

   It’s true what they say - nothing comes from nothing. I didn’t know it at the time but Plant Your Poetry was to be a springboard for so many other ideas and projects that just wouldn’t have had the opportunity to grow if this beautiful but imperfect book hadn’t planted the seed.

   It also allowed future readers and lovers of my work to find me and know that I exist.
   

7. It is possible to have creative control AND a professional high quality book

   Self-published no longer means ‘not as good’ anymore. Although I think there is definitely a need for traditional publishing routes as well, we no longer have to sacrifice quality in order to have creative control of our work.

   I curated my book myself. Apart from enlisting a few trusted friends/fellow writers to look over the introduction for edits. I made the book cover via a free trial on Canva, I formatted the interior using a free editing software, created my own publishing imprint (much easier than it sounds) and mostly, you wouldn’t know. You can go one step further than I did and hire professional freelancers such as cover designers and verified editors/formatters, Reedsy have a user-friendly was of finding the person or skill that you need but it’s not compulsory.

   A lot of people have commented on how professional my book looks and retailers are picking it up, not just online, but in stores too. The fact I created my own publishing imprint rather than using my name as the publisher could have helped that, but the book itself doesn’t cause any concern because I did my utmost to make sure it could hold up alongside a trad pubbed book too. So yes you can have creative control for little expense AND have a professional book.

8. You will learn so many useful skills for future you

   I had NO experience and very little knowledge about how to put a book together.

   I improved my editing, marketing, design and creative problem solving skills all in one go - mainly through self-led research and inquiry, supported by the thousands of other people who have gone through this before and have written or made videos about it on YouTube, Instagram and various other forums and websites.

   Although it wasn’t easy to be an amateur, it gave me the opportunity to stretch my courage and resilience, to expand. The most important part about this?

   It changed my mind about what was possible and what I was capable of. Regardless of how many books I sold, that is priceless.

Thank you so much for reading this and I hope it gave you some clarity, hope and inspiration. Please do ask any questions about self-publishing or this essay in the comments section. If you have self-published and would like to share your story, experience or data in the comments too, please do so and we can connect and help spread the love and support.

If you’ve found this post helpful, please do consider subscribing for just 3.50 GBP a month to support more long-form content like this, plus you will receive 365 days of themed prompts in a downloadable and printable calendar, plus a live writing session at the beginning of each month and a community chat where we write and share our daily poems.

I look forward to chatting with you in the comments!

Stay fabulous,
Louise
A Poet on the Road