Self-Publishing or Publishing Services: Which is Best for You?

Writing your solo book or contributing a chapter to a multi-author book, is a perfect strategy to gain instant authority in your niche. It also creates the opportunity to generate more prosperity in your business.

Writing is the first stage, publishing the second stage and marketing your book the third stage.

I’ve had so many conversations with experienced and first-time authors wanting to have their books published. Many of them were still writing at the time and proactively looking for a publisher.

Some of them gasp at the investment, others smile as if it’s the greatest bargain they’ve received. Some come to pick my brain so that they can try to do it themselves.

And some of them work with us and have an amazing experience. We love our clients!

The thing is, it’s important to know what’s out there when you have written your book and it’s ready for the next part of the journey to be polished, dressed up and launched on Amazon.

So, don’t be shy to explore, you might be surprised - you are free to choose!

Time and Money

The choice between self-publishing and using professional publishing services mostly comes down to time and money.

If you have money available to pay for professional publishing services and you don’t have the time to do it yourself, then you’ll choose to have it done for you.

Or, even if you have the time, but you’d rather work on your next book than figure out the best practices of publishing, you’ll choose publishing services.

And if you don’t have the money to pay for professional publishing services, then you’ll have to find your way on KDP.

Why Professional Publishing Services?

Thousands of books are published on Amazon every day, and readers are spoiled for choice in every genre possible.

If you don’t have a quality product, then your book won’t sell.

Having invested your valuable time into writing your book, it doesn’t make sense to skimp on giving it the best chance to sell more copies than to your friends and family.

You want to do your book justice by giving it the best treatment so that it shines and you are proud to have your name on it, even years after it has been published.

What every book needs to be a high-quality book:

Professional Editing

Have you ever read a book that has not been edited well? It stands out. Besides typos, the structure of the book is not up to par. It’s obvious that he book has not been edited properly.

I have also heard stories of authors who paid a high fee for editing, only to wonder if there was any editing done, because the book still has typos, grammar and structure errors, like a garden having weeds everywhere.

At Soul Purpose Publishing, we have a fantastic editor who is also a ghost writer and a coach, having the knowledge and skills to bring the best out in your book. Our solo authors work directly with our editor, so that everyone is happy with the end result.

Professional Formatting

After editing, formatting is the next step to ensure that your book is a pleasure to read in any format.

It must be aesthetically pleasing, and the style of fonts, font sizes, headings, subheadings, spacing, images, links, etc., must be uniform throughout the book.

Our formatter at Soul Purpose Publishing has an eye for creating beautiful books that you’ll love. As an author, you approve the formatting of the ebook and paperback before it’s uploaded onto Amazon.

Cover Design

When readers browse on Amazon for a book to buy, they see the list of thumbnails and they are looking for a book thumbnail that is pleasing and where the title and subtitle are clear and easy to read.

If the cover of your book is not eye-catching and the title and subtitle are not easy to read, the reader continues to scroll.

At Soul Purpose Publishing, we have the privilege of working with one of the best cover designers who is intuitive to what the author wants, and her joy is giving you a cover that you love.

Uploading the Book

Uploading the book onto Amazon into the correct categories and adding the best keywords is crucial to the success of the book.

A few years ago, a book could have up to ten categories, but that has radically reduced to only three categories. Amazon changed the number of categories because authors would upload their books into false categories for their books to achieve bestselling status.

That’s why I personally upload our clients’ books and I take great care to choose the best categories and keywords so that their books are easily found when searched for.

Potential Pitfalls

I’ve been approached by disillusioned authors who were cheated by publishers who published the authors’ books under their own names on Amazon.

This meant that the publisher now had the rights to the author’s book and could receive royalties from Amazon.

Traditional publishers do this because they operate differently from indie publishers. Traditional publishers have their authors’ books printed on a large scale and store them in warehouses for distribution.

An indie publisher does not have the marketing budget to do that. Well, I don’t. And if the indie publisher does not have the marketing budget, it means they hold the author’s book hostage.

So make very sure how the publisher that you decide to work with is going to publish your book.

At Soul Purpose Publishing, I publish the author’s book under their Author’s Page and they receive their royalties directly from Amazon.

Also, make sure that you are acknowledged and have the right to approve decisions that are made at every stage of the publishing process of your book.

Work with Soul Purpose Publishing

At Soul Purpose Publishing, we are an intimate team that gives personal attention to our clients and supports them to make the most of their books. Our values are to inspire and empower the hearts and minds of writers/authors and readers alike.

Learn more about our Publishing Services and feel free to book a free consultation.