17. Is self-publishing worth it? My honest take

Ironically enough, the publishing part of all of this was actually very simple and straight forward. Here are somethings I learned along the way that can help you!

First, You need to pick how you're going to publish. I'm an indie author. I've got no previous experience, no other books published, and I'm doing everything on my own. So I self-published. All that means is that I'm on my own to take care of EVERYTHING. From finding an editor, cover artist, website, social media, newsletters, marketing, publishing, planning. All the things. Now I obviously have tons of help from lots of people around me, but there is no corporate entity backing or supporting this project. On the plus side, I have absolute control over everything. A down side is that I have absolute control over everything! I can do whatever I want, but it might not always be the right choice.

Plus it's free and I'm not bound by schedules or deadlines or any sort of writing restrictions. However, I don't have the financial backing of an established publisher with resources, teams, and an entire industry for support.

I chose a self-publishing route for a few reasons. I don't have the huge financial capital to dump into a project that might ultimately fail. To work with many publishers, there are several up front costs as well as few returns if the book doesn't do well. I had no idea what to expect and since I'm just starting out, I didn't want to take that risk. I also am new to the whole realm of publishing so the last thing I wanted was to get scammed by a vanity publisher - fake publishers that promise the world, charge a ton of money, then essentially only provide with you the base services that you can find for free online anyway.

My advice if you are starting out: start small and build up from there based on your own comfort and experience. Please do not go out and spend a bunch of money in the hopes you're going to be a best seller. In all likely hood, you may not even break even with your first or even second book. But it's better to spend a few thousand dollars on a passion project then $20,000 that it might cost you for your first two books with a publisher over the course of 3-4 years.

However! If you do have the means and are not sure what you need to do, there are several great publishers out there willing to partner with you and help you get your book out to the world. They will front much of the costs and give you different sales tiers that you will slowly make back IF your book does well. If it doesn't, then a lot of that up front cost you paid stays with the publisher. But their advice and experience can be a huge weight off your shoulders if you are not able to dedicate large chunks of time to all the little behind the scenes stuff with marketing, editing, and promotion.

All in all, it just depends on what you are comfortable with.

Go slow, do your research, and do your best to provide an excellent story for your readers to enjoy! Above all else, do it because you want to do it - not because you feel like you have to do it. Do it for your readers and your own passions for your story.

You got this!

Next week, I'll talk more about a few other things I learned along the way!