Some Reasons You Might Want to Self-Publish Your Novel

By: Ebonye Gussine Wilkins

There has been debates for years about why someone should or should not self-publish a novel.

Here are a few reasons why you should self-publish your own novel:

• You are critical about details: This means that you will publish a pretty solid product. You know that the cover has to be just write, the manuscript has to be in excellent condition and you will make sure that it all happens exactly the way it should.
• You love having control over the entire process: This one is related to details. You like to make sure that everything meets your standards and you are willing to put in the work to make that happen. This will serve you well in self-publishing.
• You already have a platform: If you’ve been building followers forever, that means that you have a reader base already built in. As long as you keep them engaged, this can only work in your favor! Leverage those readers!
• You love researching and learning from others: A better self-publisher will always try to keep up with the trends. This doesn’t mean trying every trend out there, but reading up on them, being aware of them, and watching where they go will help you do your job better.
• You don’t mind wearing many hats: This is essential. As a self-publisher, you have to have a marketing arm, a publishing arm, a public relations arm, a flexible arm, an analytic arm, and a head for organization. If you don’t mind switching hats to get things done, then this might be a good solution for you.

Clearly, most of these are related to each other in some way, but if this sounds like you, you should look into the benefits of self-publishing. Of course, before you do that, you should build a self-publishing team and figure out what needs to happen and when. Developing a time-line of milestones and activities will help you plan all of the nitty-gritty details that you’ll need to succeed. And of course, make sure to plan for some unexpected obstacles, as they will come up.

Do you fit these criteria for self-publishing? Do you think you can self-publish your novel?