What Will Make You More Money? Self-Publishing Vs. Using A Publishing Company

F*ck waiting around for a Publisher!

Yes, I said it! The age-old tradition of typing up a book on a vintage typewriter then taking it to some fancy big company is just that…OLD!

These days if you want to be a famous actor or musician you can do that yourself on Youtube or Instagram. And it is the same thing with publishing your own book.

All it takes is a bit of research (we have some great How-To posts on it here) as well as watching some Youtube videos, and voila! You have made a book!

But why am I pushing that this route is so much better than the traditional publisher?

• Well, for starters, there’s no waiting around
  • You write your book
  • You can format it yourself through tutorials
  • You can edit it with Grammarly or find a reasonably priced online editor (we recommend Rafaela – she did our book and was AMAZING)
  • Then you can upload it through Amazon KDP or any other self-publishing site ASAP
  • Then, start earning money!

Money Money Money…Is that why you are writing your own book?

To be honest, for most people it probably isn’t. I know it wasn’t for us.

We just wanted to make a Children’s Picture Book about Christmas that would represent our biracial son and show him different colors and types of Santa’s all over the world.

We called it My Santa, Your Santa and I honestly was just happy that we would be able to make a physical copy for ourselves.

It only cost $3.65 to print from Amazon KDP, and we could cherish it forever. Maybe even sell a few copies to friends and family.

I did not expect that it would take off and make us approximately $2500/month!!!

Amazon KDP has some of the best royalty schemes too!! With each book giving you 40-60% of the profit!

Not to mention that you can also create extra income using an Amazon Affiliate Link with it (more info about that here).

What if we had gone the Traditional Publisher Route?

Well, it would have taken a lot longer to get our book up off the ground.

It took us 3 months to self-publish our own book. Whereas if you decide to pitch your idea to a traditional publisher, be it a big or small company, it could take years before they say yes to your manuscript (if they ever even read it amongst the thousands of others they get).

Or they might not even accept it at all unless you have a representative.

Even if you are that one in a thousand-person who does get chosen, you then have to wait around for them to edit, format, illustrate, and market your book.

And as for the money, well typically a newly signed author is only making 10-12% commission (much less than the 60% with KDP)!

But you do usually get an advance fee that could be anywhere from $2000-$10,000 (although if you are new your more likely to be at the lower end of that scale).

So all in all, it’s a slim chance, with an even slimmer chance of earning much money if you go try to follow the traditional path.

So, if you are interested in doing it yourself, whether it’s a book you’re passionate about writing, a book for your child, or a book about your business, I recommend self-publishing.

Don’t forget to check out some of our other posts about how to market your own book and promote it on Social Media!