Books, Publishers and Readers
Self-Publishing
How platforms let authors publish without traditional publishers, the trade-offs in royalties, quality and marketing, and India's self-publishing boom.
Authors can now publish without traditional publishers.
How it works
- Platforms like Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing and Indian services like Notion Press let authors publish e-books and print-on-demand books.
- Authors control price, cover and content.
Royalties
Self-published e-books can earn authors 35 to 70 percent royalties on Kindle, far above traditional rates.
Trade-offs
- Marketing: authors must promote themselves.
- Quality: editing and design are the author’s responsibility.
- Distribution to bookstores is harder.
- Signalling: traditional publishing signals quality to readers.
Vanity publishing
Some services charge authors large fees with little marketing support, called vanity publishing; authors should be careful.
Success stories
Some self-published authors built large readerships, especially in romance, thrillers and self-help, and some later signed traditional deals.
Print-on-demand
Print-on-demand prints copies only when ordered, avoiding unsold stock.
An engineer writes a thriller and publishes it on Kindle. By pricing low and promoting on social media, she sells thousands of copies and earns 70 percent royalties.
Authors must handle marketing and quality themselves.
- Platforms let authors publish directly.
- Self-published e-book royalties can reach 70 percent.
- Authors bear marketing and quality costs.
- Beware vanity publishing fees.
No recording for this one yet - EconReader can read it aloud for you.