Self-Publishing Exposed: The Truth About Making Money! #SelfPublishing #AuthorSuccess

Last week I talked to somebody who decided to hire a hybrid publisher instead of us. Now, fast forward 14 months and they call me and the book is still not done. And the company is now upselling them very expensive marketing packages to do social media and build a website. Now that it is all said and done, they realize they're paying more and getting less. But the hybrid was really good at selling hopes and dreams. But self publishing, your book isn't all roses and rainbows and gumdrops either. So if you're still thinking you need a traditional book deal or a hybrid publisher to be a successful author, well, you might be right. Or you could be misled. Either way, this video is for you. Hey there. I'm Julie the Book Broad, founder of Book Launchers. We're a full service self publishing company and actually once upon a time we were only serviced, but. But we've recently added courses and our author business accelerator so that we can help a lot more nonfiction authors write, publish and promote their book. Because, well, I am tired of seeing authors like this one I mentioned at the start fall for a $6,000 or $7,000 publishing package, thinking it's a better deal than hiring us, only to find out they aren't actually getting what they thought they were paying for. So we're here to help you and we'll guide you to make the right choices, hire the right people and create success with whether you have the budget to hire us for full service, so you're using our team, or whether you have a smaller budget but want to produce the best possible book with that budget and you're willing to do a lot more work, of course, to make that happen. But now if you're still sitting there thinking, well, I might want a hybrid or I really want a book deal, let's talk about 5 facts about self publishing. You may not realize fact number one. Many people think having a publisher means you have someone that has a vested interest in your book selling well. So all you're going to have to do is write that book and someone else is going to do the rest. And there is an element of truth to that. Whether it is a traditional publisher that's going to give you a small royalty or it's a hybrid and they're taking a dollar or two per book sold. Both of them do profit when your book sells, but that does not mean they are doing all the work to complete and sell the book for you. In fact, what is more true is that they expect you to sell the book and will pressure you to do so. In the case of the hybrid I mentioned at the start, they were pushing really expensive marketing packages with a website, social media platform, work and a press release with the guys that this was going to sell books. But clearly this was actually their way of making money from the author. Their offering was really not going to be worth it for anyone but them. Basically, if you want to be an author because you think you're going to write a book and do nothing else, I just suggest you find a different path. Because being an author means you're building a business. You have to invest time, energy and money into creating a successful business. And your book is not any different. So fact number one, it's a book business. Even if you get a publishing deal, you're creating a book business and you have to work hard to make that business successful. Anyone who tries to sell you fast and easy in the publishing world is making promises they will not keep. All right, fact number two. Some people think the only successful authors are the traditionally published authors. When in fact some self publishing authors are making a lot more money. While traditionally published authors typically earn less than a dollar per book sold, self published authors can make four to six dollars per copy sold through traditional channels like Amazon and bookstores. And when you sell directly or in bulk, you can make two to three times that amount. Let's look at some stats to back this up, shall we? Recent surveys indicate self published authors are earning more on average compared to traditionally published authors. A 2023 survey by Ally, which is the alliance of independent authors are that found the medium income for self published authors was $12,749 in 2022. This is higher than the $8,600 medium income reported for a traditionally published authors in a 2022 survey. The Ally survey showed a 53% increase in average income for self published authors in 2022 compared to 2021. So fact number two, you can make a whole lot more money self publishing. Self published authors are typically earning 60% royalties on paperback through Amazon versus traditionally published authors are receiving roughly 10%. That income distribution makes a big difference. There's a wide variation in earnings among self published authors. 28% of self published authors surveyed are reporting six figure incomes. 43.8% reported earnings over $20,000 from from their books. That's pretty good money. That's a lot of authors making good money self publishing. Of course there are about 25% that are earning between zero and a thousand dollars. Ultimately the conclusion of this survey and an article in Publishers Weekly stated that experienced self published authors seem to be increasing earnings more and more effectively over time. Established full time self published authors more than doubled their book income from 2018 to 2022, reaching $19,000. It in contrast, established full time traditionally published authors only saw an 11% increase to $15,000 in the same period. I hope you're taking away from this a very important point, but as an author, you have a lot of opportunity when you self publish to create massive success and impact. And you should be thinking about building an empire around your book to do that. All right, Fact number three, self publishing, well, it's mainstream even if some people still don't realize it. But. But readers do not care if a book was self published or not. They care if a book is what they're looking for and if it's well done. Readers are not that forgiving of books that are not edited or poorly put together. But if it's a high quality book and it solves a problem, readers don't care because they're not searching for what will Wiley published this month. They're searching for books on leading my team better or how to be a better parent or how to beat cancer. So if your book solves a problem or tells a compelling story, they can relate to and you've positioned it well so they can find it when they're looking well, you can find success without a publisher. David Goggins has sold millions of books without a publisher. And in one of his Instagram videos, which I can't find, but I know he said it, he said he didn't pay anyone to market his latest book. He just built a killer platform where basically he runs around screaming at people. For the record, I've seen him running around the trails in Las Vegas and he was not yelling at anyone, but. But when he does an Instagram video, he's yelling at you to stay hard. But anyway, he has done all of that without paying for book marketing, but he built a phenomenal platform. And I was speaking at the ALA American Library association and one of the librarians said, you know what? My library doesn't carry any self published books. And I said, oh really? So you guys don't carry David Goggins books or Pat Flynn? And I started listing off books that I know are self published. And she said, well of course we carry those books, huh? And I said, oh, did you know those are all self published books? She felt a little silly, but she was also much more open to this discussion when she realized that they will carry high quality books. That are in demand. And who the publisher was was not a factor. Fact number four, and this is probably my favorite, although they're all pretty good facts as far as I'm concerned. But when you sign a traditional publishing deal here, you're giving up the rights to your intellectual property. I tell everyone about this because especially when you're writing nonfiction, you've worked for decades to build your expertise and your system, and then you're going to sell it for small dollars when you could own it and turn it into an empire. What do you mean you don't own what's in the book? You might be saying, well, it's your stories. But let me tell you about my friend who had his publisher take his name off the book about investing in U.S. foreclosures. And. And they republished it under somebody else's name because he wasn't promoting it anymore. It was word for word, still his book, with a different introduction from the newly named author. And they can do it because it's their book, not yours. With self publishing, you maintain full control and can leverage your contact for speaking gigs, courses, TV deals. And you don't need somebody else's permission. Intellectual property is an asset and owning it has value if you leverage it. This is huge, and here's why. Because now you can publish in different formats like print, ebook, audiobook. You can pursue international markets, translation rights to foreign publishers, open up a whole new audience and income stream. We've worked with an international marketplace and we've had several authors land multiple international rights deals like Nick Hutchison and Carol Sanford. There's also the potential for adaptations. Now, Netflix may come knocking, but there's also a ton of other production houses that are constantly looking for content. And it could even be somebody who wants to turn your concept into an app or a game or a docu series. And of course, there are future opportunities. You can create spinoff products, courses, or merchandise created based on your book without any restrictions. Think of a series like Chicken Soup for the Soul or even Rich Dad, Poor Dad. And by the way, Rich Dad, Poor dad started off self published. He sold it to a publisher, then bought it back because he realized the real empire was in owning it all. So he could create space, spin offs, and then long term value your books. Rights are a valuable asset that you can leverage or even sell in the future. Your family can inherit it. It's your legacy and you probably want to keep that in the long run, right? So number four was rights. Now number five, let's be real. Self publishing is a Heavier lift. It is work to self publish, but it's work again going back to number one, no matter what route you take. Because it is a book business. I mean, you can hire a company like Book Launchers because we do a lot of the work with you and for you, but ultimately you are the CEO of your book project and your book business and as such you have more work to do, you have more marketing control and flexibility. And I mean really, I wish I could tell you how many authors I've met over the years that were traditionally published that felt sad about the book cover or even the angle of, of the book that they were forced into. And they were self publishing this time around so they had more control. When you're self publishing, you are the one who's making the final decisions. And while that is harder work, being in control of your brand, your message and your story is something many authors truly want. And by the way, even if you get a book deal, traditional publishers are still expecting you to do most of the marketing. They will give you distribution most of the time, although that's even changing. And that's as far as physical bookstores. But beyond that, you have to get that book into readers hands. And guess what? It's really hard to do Amazon ads or other promotions when a publisher has control over your book because you need to change the price and you need to have more flexibility and control. With self publishing you have full control over your marketing strategy, pricing and promotional efforts. This means you can pivot quickly, run sales when you want and target your specific audience effectively. Control a little bit more work, but a lot more control. And that can be a wonderful advantage for self publishing authors. So if you've been holding out for a traditional deal, it might be time to reconsider. And if you're looking at a hybrid, read that contract oh so carefully. Because most deals that sound too good to be true are going to cost you a lot more later. Self publishing offers more control, higher royalties, the potential for significant success. And yeah, it takes work, but every path as an author is full of work to be done. Book launchers, by the way, can help, even if it is just one of our groups or courses. Just so you don't feel like you're doing it alone, reach out and let's chat about it. Book launchers.com apply oh, and need some inspiration? One of my favorite stories is Andy Weir, who self published the Martian as a serial on his blog, then as an ebook that sold 35,000 copies in three months before scoring a movie deal. And a traditional contract. By the time he got a traditional offer, he was in such a good standing he could negotiate terms that worked for him. Don't let Ole Miss hold you back from sharing your story with the world and making a good impact and income from it. If you're stuck on writing, well, this video right here will help you with that. And if you're wondering what is the difference between hybrid, traditional and self publishing and you want it in more detail, I got you here. This one is the one you should watch. Whatever you do, say hi when you watch. I always write back.