Print-on-demand technology has been a game-changer for the publishing industry, with companies like IngramSpark leveling the playing field between independent authors and traditional publishing houses. No longer does an aspiring author need to pitch to dozens of literary agents or sift through rejection letters from publishers or wait years for their manuscript to be whittled down just to appease the strict regulations of bookstore retail.

So why do we see so many disgruntled posts by authors who barely made a dent in their sales, debut or otherwise? What’s going on with the profit margins, with places like Amazon KDP offering such high percentages (60%-70%) but authors still barely making a few bucks?

And how does one get into bookstores without the backing of a major publisher?

The answer is simple, and one that draws a deep line between successful authors and frustrated writers: you have to run it like a business.

Self-publishing is just like self-employment: they run parallel to each other in their requirements and functions. You personally carry all the responsibilities involved with not just writing your novel, but also turning the manuscript into a high-quality book that sells. Traditional publishing, meanwhile, carries the benefits of traditional employment by covering all your expenses in exchange for compromised pay.

Decide if self-publishing is right for you

This is the first step to take before you take any others: ask yourself the tough questions to determine whether self-publishing is the best route for you to take with your manuscript. A few questions to ask yourself (and be 100% honest):

• Do I want full responsibility for my book’s success?
• Am I ready and willing to invest a considerable amount of money into establishing my business?
• Am I ready and willing to put myself “out there” on a consistent, potentially heavy, basis?
• Am I ready and willing to accept harsh criticism from complete strangers around the world?
• Am I an entrepreneur?

If any of your responses were “no”, it’s best to take a step back and do some more research into traditional publishing options. There’s nothing wrong with that, either — many successful authors make great money and enjoy comfortable careers working with a traditional house and literary agent.

But if your answers were mostly “yes”, you may be ready to embark on your journey towards successful self-publishing and, by relation, entrepreneurship.

Develop a plan for your book

During every consultation, even preliminary text messages before consultations, I asked every author the exact same question: “What are your publishing goals?”

Only one author ever gave me a response other than, “I don’t know.”

A traditional business plan is usually for the benefit of obtaining overhead funding for a startup business. In the case of self-publishing, a business plan for your book not only organizes your goals and ambitions, but also establishes an achievable timeline, sorts out the necessary stages you’ll most likely need to outsource, and establishes a budget.

This will also help determine your book’s estimated pricing, the sales volume required to earn a return on your initial investments, and monthly-to-annual projections of needed sales that will then help direct your overall marketing plan.

Oh, and that one author who did have established publishing goals? She’s doing great on websites and in bookstores like Barnes and Noble!

Invest in product development

This is where things get tricky: if your publishing goals involve retail placement, book awards, and other high-level accomplishments, you must invest in the editorial aspects required to create the book.

Think of your book like any other product: you do need to market the concept and benefits to a wide audience, but you also need the product itself to live up to the hype. You can, technically, publish your book for free via Amazon KDP, design your own covers, typeset and format your text, etc. But without extensive experience under your belt, the ability to mimic professional, traditional publishing requires outsourcing these skills to people who specialize in each area: developmental editing, line editing, copy editing, typography, cover design, and proofreading (to name the basics).

Keep in mind: you get what you pay for. Editing services should cost a few thousand dollars; design services typically range in the $800-$1200 range per service when geared towards bookstore retail. The specifications are strict and require more than just basic formatting, so you are paying for their time as much as the results.

You’ll also want to invest in email marketing, a website, and anything you can utilize to market yourself in a way that sets you apart as a polished professional dedicated to your career as a published author.

Establish a solid marketing plan

Speaking of marketing, this is one factor that used to be a major differentiating factor between traditional and self-publishing — but times have changed! While traditional publishers still provide that extra boost of credibility and connections to people and places like Hollywood (and that Netflix deal we all suddenly want, thanks to Shadow & Bone), both houses and literary agents now require authors to heavily self-promote with a well-established marketing plan even before submitting the manuscript.

If you’ve taken the time to establish a business plan overall for your publishing goals, the marketing plan will fall into place rather seamlessly. When you know your intended audience, your own personal mission (i.e. why write what you write?), and your publishing calendar, formulating a marketing plan will only require fitting these pieces together across multiple platforms.

Email lists are great, but social media is better. Pro tip: Instagram has quickly become the platform of choice for authors and publishing companies alike, based on its combination of visual graphics and artistic typography used in posts and stories.

Utilize consumer feedback

Remember that successful author who came in with a plan and now has sales generating through Barnes and Noble’s website?

Her first negative review came from a reader who was seemingly upset at the lack of explicit content. What this indicated was nothing about the story or the author or anything that could be taken personally — rather, it let us know that maybe listing the novel under “Romance” gave potential readers the wrong impression of its content.

Is the story a romance between two people? Absolutely. Does it contain any explicit language or erotic content? Not a word.

There are readers who will gripe just for the sake of griping, and others who will praise a book they haven’t actually read yet. The reviews you truly want to pay attention to are the ones that point out specific details, especially when those details are repeated again and again. During initial market research, one anonymous self-published author shared how they felt confident they could skip hiring a professional editor and just rely on self-editing. The unanimous public feedback they received after publishing was the “obvious lack” of professional editing, which not only hurt their future sales for that book but dealt a blow to their reputation as an author.

It doesn’t always have to be negative feedback or reviews, either. Pay attention to the praise and appreciation to gauge what worked well so you can do it again. Is the cover stunning? Keep that designer on call! Are readers in love with the style of narrative? Keep it up in your other novels! Not receiving any feedback at all? Take another look at your marketing strategy and find the gaps so you can fill them and generate awareness, grow your audience, and increase your revenue.

Final Thoughts

Whenever you earn a certain amount of revenue from book sales, you are then required to report those earnings as income during tax season. Check with your local regulations and consult with a tax professional to determine what you need to set in place to ensure compliance and avoid any unnecessary stress when it’s time to file. The more successful you are as an author, the higher your sales, and eventually, you may find yourself generating a full-time income that will need the same amount of careful bookkeeping as if you were running your own company.