Self publishing is not a new thing in the book world. It has been around us since ages, but the success rate of self published books and authors is so small. Due to this the question arises “Why does a self published author fails?” Well, there are many reasons behind the debacle of self published books and authors, as publishing is not only about printing a book.
It’s a complex and multi level process that needs to be understood well to achieve good profits if they want to be running in the race. Many young authors are also trying their hands at self-publishing books, all thanks to the growing readership of ebooks and digital platforms which allows freshers and newcomers to publish their books online.
There are hundreds of books which go unnoticed every year. So to enter the pool of books one has to be aware of the risks involved. As we all know publishing houses are tied up with different authors who write different genres and have the ability to attract millions of readers worldwide. Even in such a vast variety of books available by the publishing houses, every book is not a success story.
Out of these, only a very few gain huge success and some average success, rest of them are like gone with the wind. So, imagine the state of a self publishing author where he is not capable of churning out many books at a time due to which the success rate becomes low. This is one of the reasons that the self publishing author fails.
So, now we shortlist the main causes of “Why Does A Self Published Author Fails?”
1. Quality Of The Book
One of the reasons for the failure of the self published book is its quality in terms of editing and designing. As the author is the only person who is taking care of every department involved in the publishing of the book, then he doesn’t have the intricate knowledge of all the aspects involved. So, the end result is usually a low quality product (Book).
Some of the common quality issues in terms of cover design are art forms, fonts used in writing titles and subtitles of the book, quality of contrast is low in the art form used for cover design is not refined and polished.
Then in terms of editing most self authors just go through proof reading to rectify the mistakes. But in reality proofreading is not sufficient for a well edited book. Many publishing houses make sure that the books they publish go through Developmental editing, Line editing, Copy editing and finally proofreading which helps in landing a zero error book on the bookshelves of readers from the publishing houses.
2. Competition Is Savage
Even though we are talking about failure of self-published books, you will be surprised to know that every 5 mins a new book is uploaded on Amazon. Almost 2 million books are released every year. So with these numbers you can easily understand the level of competition self publishing authors have to cut through to reach the audience.
3. Audience Base Is Not Strong
In general seasoned authors or for that matter the fresher ones have their own audience/ fan base which follows the work, activities, events, launches etc of their favorite author. Nowadays it is easy to interact and communicate with your readers with the help of social media platforms. This helps in the formation of a strong fan club for the author. For self -publishing authors this fanbase is very important as it is the one factor which brings in the sales for the author. So, if the author is not tech savvy or spends time on social media then it will be difficult to maintain and solidify the fanbase in case of self publishing authors.
4. Target Audience Is Not Clear
Every author should know what he is serving for his readers and should be clear about his audience. Like a non-fiction author knows that his audience is someone who takes interest in actual facts and datas, information etc rather than spending time in a fictional world. So his target audience belongs to people who have keen interest in politics, social issues, economic development, history, biographies, etc. So, if he wants to cater his audience then he should choose his events, launches, etc and social media to keep his target audience active and curious about the new work which is coming soon.
5. Poor Marketing and Promotion
As the author of self publishing books is in incharge of every department then it is pretty obvious that some of the aspects will suffer. The author’s best forte is his writing skills and then he switches to marketing and promotions strategies for his book in order to self publish the book. Most of the time this decision leads to poor marketing strategies and poorly executed promotional activities as compared to publishing houses who have marketing and promotional teams working day and night to create a buzz about the book. This brings nothing much for the book and the result is very disappointing. Marketing and promotion are equally important in today’s time for book sales in fact they are riders on which books sales run.
Disadvantages of Self Publishing Books:
1. Less visibility
One of the major drawbacks for self publishing authors is the brand association with big publishing houses. These Publishing houses convert their best seller authors into stars overnight with the help of massive reach of their marketing strategies and promotional campaigns. This association of authors and publishing houses leaves very little space for self publishing authors and they really have to go through the grind to prove their mantle and sometimes many of them do succumb to the pressure too.
2. Higher costs
It is a known fact that self published books in the same category are priced on the higher end of the value. This happens because there are no advance payments involved in self publishing. So, when the author bears the cost of all the things at a go from his own pocket, then he tends to keep the prices high to meet the expenditure he spent on publishing the book.
Also Read – How to Become Self Published Author
3. No Backup Team
The difference between self publishing and traditional publishing is that the traditional publishing houses have a well skilled staff like editors, proofreaders,marketing strategists, publicists, etc. Whereas in self publishing it’s the author who works for all the departments and facets of the book publishing. The team not only helps in sorting out your work but also boosts your confidence and social interactions, creating and strengthening your fan base. They Keep updating the author’s upcoming projects via publishing houses, social media accounts, etc. So basically they always maintain a curiosity about the author in the market which helps in attracting the audience of the book.
4. Print distribution is tough to crack
One of the biggest hindrances self publishing authors face is cracking up with traditional bookshop owners to display their work. As these bookshop owners have to tie up with renowned publishers and they display their books with exclusive offers. But with self publishing authors the risk of sales is very high. So it becomes difficult to make space for such authors.
There are many major drawbacks in self publishing that is why self publishing authors fail to deliver especially in terms of sales. Sale is the biggest force for a book to get published. So, just to minimize the risk most of the authors tie with publishing houses to get their work done. But few authors do take the other route and self publish their work despite knowing that the chances to succeed are like a droplet of water in an ocean.
