Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing on Amazon

Publishing on Amazon sounds wonderful doesn’t it? Amazon has been a fast growing platform for self-publishers. While it is mostly with e-books, they have paperback books and now even hardcover available for self-published books. There is no long wait for agent’s to get back to you on your query letters, then no long period waiting for the traditional publisher after that. Though there are indeed some downfalls to going it alone in self-publishing on Amazon. Here is a list of the pros and cons I found in Self-Publishing on Amazon.

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Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing with Amazon

Lets start off with some of the pros. Better to start on the good than the bad, right? So here we go:

Pros:

• It is incredibly easy. Almost too easy. Once you’ve created an account and filled in some forms, creating your story is as easy as a few clicks. Formatting your story is actually far easier than I originally thought with the program they offer. Finishing the details with cover, description, and other things won’t even take you more than ten minutes before you submit it for review and soon your story is open for the world.

• It is cheap: no publisher costs or printing fees. This is great if it is your first book and you don’t want to spend a lot of money without first being sure you have a chance with your writing.

• You control everything: The cover, the formatting, the description, etc. It is all up to you! The creative freedom of making your cover, doing the format, and other such things is all left to you.

• You get 70% of earnings, which compared to the average 25% in traditional publishing is excellent. So not only can you get away with spending very little on this, but you stand to possibly make a fair mint on your story as well.

Cons:

• You are your whole team. Be ready to market like your life depends on it, because you are competing with many others who found this to be the easy route. Promotions, marketing, and having a following is a must if you want to get off the ground and do well at launch. Any money you earn you’ll want to turn around and put back into the story to make sure it continues to succeed.

• If you enroll your story into KDP select for Kindle Unlimited Plans, they demand exclusive rights to your book. Meaning you cannot publish elsewhere.

• No guidance. Make sure you do plenty of research before you begin, because you are on your own. Again, you are the whole publishing company at this point. Unless you have writer friends who are willing to help, or know people to hire, this will be very research heavy for you.

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All things considered, if you’re looking for an easy way to make cash, this is not going to be it. Self-Publishing on Amazon might not cost that much, but it requires a lot of work.

If you’re a new writer looking to make a big break before trying traditional publishing, and you are willing to put in the work and hours to make your dreams come true, I recommend you try self-publishing on Amazon.

I believe this is a great way to have something to show off your work if you later want to go with a traditional publisher. Even if you don’t get too much of a following like many best-selling authors, it is still something for the portfolio or resume for future use. Be sure to update your bio to Author now too! Even if you don’t feel like it, you’re officially an author now!

If you are seriously considering continuing to self-publish with Amazon, consider checking out my article on Pre-Publishing Plan to help your launch become a huge success.