Why People Self-Publish Books
- The author cannot find a traditional publisher after querying for a year or two.
- They author wants to maintain creative control. An example would be wanting to have control of the book cover design or launch date.
- The author is frugal. He/she does not want to use a custom publishing company because of the cost.
- The author wants to make more money per book sold and to have payment faster.
- The author has good self-esteem. He/she is not concerned about the stigma of self-publishing.
- Remember, self-publishing titles are showing up on best-seller lists.
- There are now some best-seller lists which include self-published books (USA Today and New York Times.
- The author uses the book to add authority to their business or ministry through back-table sales.
Self-Publishing Stats from Author Earnings
- Self-published indie authors are verifiably capturing at least 24% – 34% of all ebook sales in each of the five English-language markets (US, UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand); it’s not just a US-only phenomenon. When you also include the uncategorized authors, the vast majority of whom are also self-published, the true indie share in each market lies somewhere between 30% – 40%.
- Indies are competing particularly well in the Canadian and Australian ebook markets, nearly approaching the level of dominance they currently hold in the US.
- The Big Five (see https://jimmiekepler.com/2017/06/05/8340/ to learn more of who the big five are), on the other hand, are letting themselves progressively get squeezed out of nearly every English-Language ebook market. They make up only 38% of Canadian ebook purchases, and that’s the country where they are holding their ground best; in the US, the Big Five now account for barely 26% of all ebook sales.
- Amazon Imprints have made the most market headway in the US. Despite being single-retailer exclusive to Amazon Kindle, the dozen or so Amazon “house” publishing imprints between them account for 14% of all US ebook sales, 10% of all UK ebook sales, and 8% of Australian ebook sales. In Canada, the Amazon Imprint footprint is a much more modest 3% of all ebook sales, largely due to the substantial shares of the overall Candian ebook market held by Kobo (25%) and Apple (14%).
Source: http://authorearnings.com/report/february-2017/ – click the link to see the extreme detail on book sales.