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Working with a publisher vs self-publishing
Many people have asked me why I wrote my first 2 books with publishers (Manning & O'Reilly) vs self-publishing.
In this thread I'll outline my decisions, the tradeoffs of each, & where I think the future of publishing is headed.
1/13
Many people have asked me why I wrote my first 2 books with publishers (Manning & O'Reilly) vs self-publishing.
In this thread I'll outline my decisions, the tradeoffs of each, & where I think the future of publishing is headed.
1/13
When writing a book you typically have some objective in mind.
That could be fulfilling a lifelong dream of just being a writer, making money, spreading awareness of an idea, establishing expertise in a subject matter domain, or a variety of other reasons.
2/13
That could be fulfilling a lifelong dream of just being a writer, making money, spreading awareness of an idea, establishing expertise in a subject matter domain, or a variety of other reasons.
2/13
In technical writing, I typically see people write to either make money, fulfill a desire to teach & help others, create a pipeline for future work / consulting, make a name for themselves in a niche / industry / technology, or a combination of these.
3/13
3/13
When self-publishing, it is hard to gain awareness unless you have a built-in audience or platform.
People make fun of "internet points" all the time (many times for good reason), but people with a large following can often put out some work & make tens or even hundreds of
4/13
People make fun of "internet points" all the time (many times for good reason), but people with a large following can often put out some work & make tens or even hundreds of
4/13
thousands of dollars in sales in just weeks.
If someone with no or a small audience creates a book, the chances of that person's work getting a large number of buyers is there, but the chances are diminished greatly.
5/13
If someone with no or a small audience creates a book, the chances of that person's work getting a large number of buyers is there, but the chances are diminished greatly.
5/13
When working with a well-known publisher, you get a built-in platform & audience without having to do the months or years of up-front work to nurture that audience.
Your book will appear on bookshelves around the world, available on Kindle, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc..
6/13
Your book will appear on bookshelves around the world, available on Kindle, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc..
6/13
If you don't have an audience, you can even use this publisher's built-in platform to build your audience.
Once the book is out, it will also be *much* easier for you to establish yourself as an authority on that subject as the publisher's also typically have ..
7/13
Once the book is out, it will also be *much* easier for you to establish yourself as an authority on that subject as the publisher's also typically have ..
7/13
some built-in trust based on their past body of work.
The tradeoff with working with publishers is that you only get a fraction of the money that the book makes. Typically anything in the range of 15 - 30% is normal, whereas if you self-publish you only are paying for ..
8/13
The tradeoff with working with publishers is that you only get a fraction of the money that the book makes. Typically anything in the range of 15 - 30% is normal, whereas if you self-publish you only are paying for ..
8/13
things like SAAS & transaction fees.
Self-publishing is wildly more profitable if you have a build-in platform or audience that can help you gain awareness of your work.
As far as establishing expertise, if your book is well done & enough people read it, you can do this..
9/13
Self-publishing is wildly more profitable if you have a build-in platform or audience that can help you gain awareness of your work.
As far as establishing expertise, if your book is well done & enough people read it, you can do this..
9/13
also while self-publishing.
In writing my second book with O'Reilly, I already had somewhat of a built-in audience but I have always had a dream of writing for them. I learned much of what I know from those books, so the idea of writing one myself ...
10/13
In writing my second book with O'Reilly, I already had somewhat of a built-in audience but I have always had a dream of writing for them. I learned much of what I know from those books, so the idea of writing one myself ...
10/13
is really kind of a dream come true.
The experience of working with them was also pretty flawless. I recommend it to anyone if you do want to write for a well known publisher.
I have already started working on my next book. I'm still undecided if I want to self-publish.
11/13
The experience of working with them was also pretty flawless. I recommend it to anyone if you do want to write for a well known publisher.
I have already started working on my next book. I'm still undecided if I want to self-publish.
11/13
What I recommend is this: If you are hoping to break into a niche & you are not yet well known, I would strongly consider working with a publisher.
If you have some decent size network, I would consider either.
If you have a massive network & your objective ...
12/13
If you have some decent size network, I would consider either.
If you have a massive network & your objective ...
12/13
is to make the most amount of $$, then self-publish.
In the future, self-publishing will continue to eat away at the publisher's platforms as a person's network & audience continues to become a more valuable asset & the value of publisher's platforms continue to decline.
/end
In the future, self-publishing will continue to eat away at the publisher's platforms as a person's network & audience continues to become a more valuable asset & the value of publisher's platforms continue to decline.
/end
