How To Be An Independent Publisher And Why You Should

Take control of your writing, and income, by becoming an independent publisher

For writers and authors, self-publishing is easy. Upload a Word manuscript to Amazon KDP or an aggregator, and you have a book for sale.

However, as easy as it is, your sales potential and income is heavily controlled by pages of terms and conditions that can change at any time.

As has been the case for many self-publishing authors, some changes to KPD Select and Kindle Unlimited have been detrimental. But once locked into Amazon’s exclusivity, there is nothing authors can do other than accept what Amazon decrees.

Even though the title of Indie Author has been adopted by many self-publishing authors, there is little by way of being truly independent.

The only way to do so is to become an independent publisher and take full control of your writing, income potential and start thinking beyond hard to get Kindle ebook sales.

Throw off the chains

Being controlled is the antithesis of being an independent publisher.  There are so many opportunities now for writers and authors to break free of the draconian and restrictive terms and conditions that are placed upon them by Amazon, Apple and Barnes and Noble among others.

All you need to do is let go of the misplaced belief that these companies are actively trying to help you. Their priority is making money for their shareholders, and not for you.

There is no reason to abandon ebook and book sales via these self-publishing services and retailers, but there is a good reason to take back control over your titles.

Removing your ebooks from KDP Select should be your first priority if you want to be an independent publisher, as Amazon’s exclusivity is so restrictive and offers very few benefits in return other than slashed royalties for KU page reads.

Your ebooks will still be available for sale on Amazon, of course, but you will have the freedom to offer your ebooks elsewhere, as well as fashion giveaways and promotions under your terms.

Taking your writing independence, and income potential further

Independent publishing opens the door to far more income potential than self-publishing. Why restrict your writing to ebook fiction when the opportunities to create a business from your writing abound?

All you need is a WordPress website, and you can start making money from your blog, journal, magazine or newspaper. Website hosting is now very cheap, with most reliable hosting services even offering one-click WordPress installation.

My host also offers free professional WordPress themes, free email lists and newsletter delivery, and up to 20 websites for my modest annual fee.

With a WordPress site, you can also easily add an e-commerce store to your site to sell your books and ebooks, or whatever product you might consider offering.

Whatever your interest or passion, there is money to be made from your writing skills if you start thinking like an independent publisher. If you need a hint list of ideas that you can write about, here is a long list of blog topic ideas that will surely get your interest underway.

The only mindset you need to change is that a blog is not a daily diary. A blog per se is publishing at its core as it provides the medium and platform to deliver valuable content to readers, and build an income earning independent publishing business.

Whether you choose health, lifestyle, fashion, writing skills, gardening, photography, cooking, gadget reviews or any other topic, you can start building a profitable, monetised platform.

However, the real key to successful blogging is to be passionate about what you write. Postach.io has an informative decision-making infographic, which details the process of creating a successful new blog.

How can you make money as an independent publisher?

There are almost as many ways to generate an income from publishing as there are topics. The quickest and easiest means is to use Google Adsense. While the income generated from Adsense relies heavily on website traffic, it is a simple way to see some dollars coming in the door in the early months of a new blog.

Other ways include affiliate marketing, selling advertising space, accepting paid content, and of course, selling your books and ebooks. If you need more ideas on how to make money from your site, this article lists the top ten strategies for making money from your site.

Whatever means you choose to earn money from your writing, the two most important ingredients are that you build a professional website and publish valuable and informative SEO rich content regularly that will attract and retain visitors and readers.

Diversify and prosper

Yes, you are an author and writer, but that doesn’t mean that you always need to be shackled by the rules and restrictions of others. You can create your own rules about how your writing is used to benefit you and your bank account.

If you are self-publishing, consider changing your thinking from being controlled, to being in control.

Get out of restrictive agreements that benefit others and not you. Take back control of the distribution of your ebook and book titles, and then build extra money making opportunities for your writing and independent publishing business.

There is nothing stopping you from writing another book, nor from starting a second or third monetised blog, starting an online newspaper or from making more money from your writing skills.

All you need to do is start thinking, and acting, like an independent publisher.