You may already know David Kazzie through his YouTube videos “So You Want to Go to Law School” and “So You Want to Write a Novel.” Even though he has an agent, he chose to self-publish his debut novel The Jackpot. I stumbled upon his blog this evening and found this interesting piece on self publishing.
The moral of the story is that a self-published book needs to be just as polished as a traditionally-published one. That means no covers that look like they were done by a kindergartener using MS Paint and no text that looks like it was typed by drunken howler monkeys. Unless you’re lucky enough to have the right friends, you’re going to have to pay for professional editing and cover design, and it could cost you a sizable chunk of change.
Unfortunately, it may be difficult to recoup that initial investment since most self-published ebooks still sell fewer than 100 copies. Even when one becomes a hit, it usually endures several months of sluggish sales before it starts to sell well. For me, that uncertainty is one of the biggest drawbacks to self publishing. Traditional publishing certainly doesn’t guarantee success, but at least you don’t have to pay money upfront.