Yes, you can self-publish. But should you?

by Stephanie Morrill

Stephanie writes young adult contemporary novels and is the creator of GoTeenWriters.com. Her novels include The Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt series (Revell) and the newly released The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet (Playlist). You can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and check out samples of her work on her author website.

When Jill and I wrote Go Teen Writers: How to Turn Your First Draft into a Published Book, we stated that the question we were asked the most is, "How do I get published?"

Easily the question we're asked the second most is, "What do you think about self-publishing? Should I do it?"

And like with the first question, there's no one correct answer. And, honestly, with how rapidly the industry is changing (my agent refers to this climate in publishing as "the wild west") how I answer this question about self-publishing has changed in the last year or two, and will likely continue to change.

I completely get why self-publishing appeals to new writers. When I was a teen, had self-publishing been what it is today, I likely would have done it. And I would have regretted it, because I wasn't yet a good writer, and I was too naive to know that. Jill Williamson says the same thing, that she was so impatient, she would have, and that she's glad she didn't.

We advise you to not self publish if:

1. You've never to been a writer's conference, or if no one outside of your circle of family or friends has ever looked at your work. 

Because even if your mom is an English major and will proofread for you, she's still your mom.

Editors don't just catch typos, nor do they want to take over your story and make it their own. A good editor takes what you've written and enhances it. That beautiful symbol you've woven throughout the book? They find more ways to draw it out. They'll point out a plot line that you could improve, or a character who you could build upon.

Editors are people who know what makes a story work, and how to fix parts that you might not even realize are broken. They also know how a story fits in the market place and they'll know if your idea has already been done. Don't make the mistake of underestimating how valuable it is to work with a professional editor.

2. You're doing it in hopes of making yourself more appealing to agents and publishers.

These days, according to the agents I've talked to about this, it doesn't really hurt to have self-published, but it doesn't help either unless you have good sales numbers. I asked Amanda Luedeke with MacGregor Literary if she could be more specific with me about what sales numbers she considers "good" for a self-published book. Here were her thoughts:

If it's a print version, we like to see 5,000 copies sold in the first year. If it's digital, then it depends on price point and market. In the general market, they look for sales in the tens or hundreds of thousands if the price point is under $2.99 or so. In the Christian market, they can be impressed with less, but they still want a figure in the tens of thousands for a lower price point. Higher ebook price points can be treated more similarly to print rules.

3. If you hope to someday be traditionally published.

Self-publishing, when done right, takes a lot of time. You're researching which company to go with, formatting your book correctly for ebooks and for print, finding a cover artist and an editor, and, and, and. It's a long list. And then the book releases, and you move on to marketing.

That's a lot of time NOT writing. If your goal is to be traditionally published, we feel it's better to spend your time pursuing that with your whole heart, at least for a period of time. Grow as a writer, attend a couple conferences, take classes, join a critique group, pitch to agents and editors, and see what happens. This requires a lot of patience, but Jill and I see it work for writers all the time.

Now, this process usually takes a couple years, but I've never heard a word of regret from a single writer who worked hard to break in and finally did. I've never heard them say that they wish they hadn't waited, that they had just published the novel five years ago when they first wrote it.

When self-publishing might be a good option for you:

1. If you have no interest in traditional publishing. 

You've written this book and you want to hold it in your hand. You don't care about money or a career or anything like that, just this book.

2. You have a way to sell your product. 

Jill and I chose to self-publish the Go Teen Writers book, but it was after we had both spent several years blogging about teen writing issues, working with teen writers on-line, and teaching writing for teens in person. We also both have been to about a dozen conferences between the two of us, we're traditionally published in fiction, and our agents thought it was a good idea. We knew we had enough of a platform to make the project worthwhile. And even with all that, it's a slow build and the money part takes time.

3. You've pursued traditional publishing for about five years now, and still nothing is happening.

If you've been writing, rewriting, querying, conferencing, writing, rewriting, querying, conferencing, paying for a book doctor/editor, writing, and rewriting for the last five or so years and still can't get any traction, then it might be time to consider self-publishing.

We know that waiting can stink. Both of us had our days of wondering, is this ever going to happen for me? Am I doing all this waiting for nothing? And it's especially tough when the people around you don't understand how long it takes to write a novel or all the quirky details involved in getting it traditionally published. We know it's hard.

We also know what The Call feels like, the scary rush of the first book signing, and the joy of an email from a reader who randomly bought your book in a bookstore. We know it was worth the wait.