Great insights, thanks! Another question, since you've gone through it:
Self-published ebook vs. real publisher doing physical books? E.g. when to go for what, what's ultimately better in your opinion, how much people still want physical books?
I also publish physical books myself. Margins are 4-5x higher than with publisher. For example: I make a €12 profit on a €20 physical book when self-publishing and €3 with a publisher.
I use a publisher for a book about houseplants because I thought this would sell for years and I'm not interested in doing marketing for all these years. Also, this specific publisher uses a 50/50 deal on profits (which still makes only €3,50 for a book with selling price of €17).
In the Netherlands there still is a very large number of people buying physical books. For example my book on airfare sold 6000 now, of which 4000 physical books and 2000 e-books.
Why e-books?
- increase your margin on books (can be almost 100%)
- no returns or storage / fulfilment agency needed
- easy to publish
Why physical books?
- people are owning something physical
- increases credibility ('this guy made a book')
- paper books are way cooler
Why self-publishing?
- increase margins
- autonomy
- if you have an audience, you MUST self-publish, otherwise you're only helping the publisher make money
Why use publisher?
- to get your books in book stores
- to do marketing (they don't, really, it sucks)
- to get help designing, editing, selling, promoting, pr
Sorry for the incoherent answer. This is all from the top of my head. Maybe I should write a self-published e-book on how to write and publish a book.
Great insights, thanks! Another question, since you've gone through it:
Self-published ebook vs. real publisher doing physical books? E.g. when to go for what, what's ultimately better in your opinion, how much people still want physical books?
I also publish physical books myself. Margins are 4-5x higher than with publisher. For example: I make a €12 profit on a €20 physical book when self-publishing and €3 with a publisher.
I use a publisher for a book about houseplants because I thought this would sell for years and I'm not interested in doing marketing for all these years. Also, this specific publisher uses a 50/50 deal on profits (which still makes only €3,50 for a book with selling price of €17).
In the Netherlands there still is a very large number of people buying physical books. For example my book on airfare sold 6000 now, of which 4000 physical books and 2000 e-books.
Why e-books?
- increase your margin on books (can be almost 100%)
- no returns or storage / fulfilment agency needed
- easy to publish
Why physical books?
- people are owning something physical
- increases credibility ('this guy made a book')
- paper books are way cooler
Why self-publishing?
- increase margins
- autonomy
- if you have an audience, you MUST self-publish, otherwise you're only helping the publisher make money
Why use publisher?
- to get your books in book stores
- to do marketing (they don't, really, it sucks)
- to get help designing, editing, selling, promoting, pr
Sorry for the incoherent answer. This is all from the top of my head. Maybe I should write a self-published e-book on how to write and publish a book.
Thank you, this is supremely helpful! 🙏 go for that new book ;)