There is a new crop of authors who no longer rely on traditional publishers to market their books. These authors are usually successful and some of them, the really hardworking ones, are making more money than traditionally published authors. There are also others who know little about the self-publishing world and these authors are still convinced that traditional publishing is the way to go. The following are some things that authors, especially unpublished and traditionally published, should know.

Self-publishing isn’t difficult

Every person inherently has a lazy bone and that is why many authors think of self-publishing as difficult. It is easy to publish a print book without the help of traditional publishers. It is even easier to publish digital copies of books. There are many places where self-publishers can go to get their books printed including vanity publishers, print-on-demand publishers, etc. Once you have made several copies of your book, you can now approach bookstores and request them to sell your book.

Digital copies sell more

One of the things that self-published authors should know in this digital age is that they should start by selling their books online. Print books must not be completely neglected, but they should be an author’s secondary focus. People with books that don’t have graphical content should try selling their books in digital format and see how it goes. They can later produce print copies to increase sales.

Quality of self-published books is good

It is difficult to talk about the quality of content churned out by self-publishing companies. Quality of books is a different issue altogether. By sampling several print-on-demand books from various publishers, most people would agree that the books are quite good. Although it is hard to find a publisher who will make a fancy matte cover for a book you order, you will still find that the book rather feels like traditionally published books.

Everybody is doing it

One of the biggest advantages of self-publishing is also just at home in the disadvantages list. Self-publishing is so easy and this means that virtually every indie author out there is doing it. Although there are many authors who have decided to become self-published, the industry now has many sub par authors flooding the market with poorly written and produced books. Although such content does not directly compete with high quality books written by established authors, it does flood the market and make it difficult to find the books written by good authors.

The odds are stacked against you

Although it is now very easy to self-publish a book, the statistics are still bleak for any author that wants to self-publish and become successful at it. On average, a print copy of a self-published book sells between 100 and 150 copies. This figure is miniscule compared to that of traditionally published authors.

Niche books perform best

Books that have well-defined topics and genres are more likely to sell well than general books that don’t target any specific group of people. If an author focuses on a particular audience, he will have an easier time selling the book. For instance, religious books do very well regardless of whether they are well written or not.