Should You Self-Publish Your Book? Authors Ushasi Sen Basu & Febin John James Tell Us

Posted: July 17, 2017

Why is the self-publishing market booming and what should you know about it? Get the word on it from authors Ushasi Sen Basu and Febin John James.

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” – Maya Angelou

Aspiring writers across the world grapple with the dilemma of whether they are good enough to write a book. What should they write about? Untold stories from their life? Unique experiences? Observations? The desire to share knowledge?

Once a writer has answered these questions, however, comes the next hurdle. Finding a publisher who will accept their book. How do publishers decide which books to publish?

The task of filtering through hundreds of manuscripts to find a good story is far from easy and being a human process, often leads to surprising results. Many good writers get ignored and face rejections, the most famous example being JK Rowling. Thus, the most obvious solution: self-publishing

Why should you self-publish your book?

Don’t let rejects from publishers prevent you for releasing your book.  With self-publishing now a reality, it’s possible to do it on your own. Not only does it give you much more control over the script and marketing of your book, it also speeds up your process of hitting the market as you bypass all the steps of approaching a publisher and the many steps from that to finally seeing your book in stores. On the flip side – it’s a lot of hard work on your side, since you are responsible for everything.

How should you go about self-publishing your book?

Experts share some simple advice for writers thinking of opting for the self-publishing option:

  • Once your manuscript is ready, ask your peers to read it and get feedback, making changes, if necessary.
  • If you’ve decided to completely forego the option of publishing houses, you could contact self publishing agencies, but you run the risk of losing control with this option.
  • Look-up independent self-publishing platforms like Amazon, Notion Process etc and set the ball in motion.
  • Once your book is ready to hit the market, you should invest in marketing. Tap into your network on social media to promote your book.

What else should you know as an aspiring writer?

Authors who have self-published their books have some tips to share with debutant writers:

  • Maintain a blog to develop the habit of writing and build an audience. It’s also an excellent way to get early feedback on your writing.
  • Follow your heart and write about something you’re passionate about.  A story told from the heart is sure to make people sit up and take notice.
  • Finally, remember that publishing is no longer just about the print format. Explore other media – e-books, audio books, video books, transmedia publication is the next big wave.

To know more about self-publishing, watch this episode of The PS Show, with Ushasi Sen Basu, author of a fiction, Kathputli, and Febin John James author of Cloud Is a Piece of Cake.

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