3 Reasons to Print and Sell Your Own Book

If you’re trying to figure out the best way to publish your book, you’re probably looking at three basic options. You can take the traditional route of finding an agent to get you a deal with a publisher, use a print on demand (POD) book publisher that will process orders for you, or you can print your books in bulk ahead of time and mail them yourself.

 All three options can work in different circumstances. However, there are many overlooked benefits to printing and mailing your own books. If you’re considering this option, here’s how it can benefit you.

1. It’s easier to use your books for marketing purposes

Many people choose to print hardcover books in bulk to use in marketing campaigns, like giving away a free book to each person who signs up for their email newsletter. Books also make great lead magnets once they gain traction. Giving away books is an excellent marketing tactic, but you need to control the package to make it work. You can only do this when you print your books yourself.

 For example, say you give away free books for email signups. A book alone doesn’t make a good “shock and awe” package. You can’t just mail the book in a plain box, which is what you’d get by using print on demand. To be effective, you need to create a package with an impressive presentation, as well as include other elements in the box, like promotional stickers, flyers, a business card, promo codes, or maybe a bookmark. A POD printer won’t include any of this for you, and you wouldn’t want to rely on them for that in the first place.

2. You’ll need to do your own marketing, regardless

Let’s say you get a traditional book publishing deal. You might not be aware that some publishers don’t promote the books they publish. Those who do only provide about six months of promotion, and then you’re on your own. In that period of time, they might be able to get your book into bookstores, which will be helpful for a time, but if you don’t maintain that and continue marketing elsewhere, your sales will drop off a cliff.

 In the end, no matter how you publish your book, unless you hire a marketing company, you’ll be fully responsible for marketing. If you want your book placed in a bookstore, you’ll have to negotiate that yourself. If you want to drive traffic to your website, you’ll need to create, run, and manage all of your ads. If you want to be found in the search engines naturally, you’ll be responsible for running a full search engine optimization (SEO) campaign. If you’re not already well versed in marketing, these tasks will be overwhelming and difficult, if not impossible.

 Unless your book is a hit from the start with a traditional publisher or gets picked up shortly after self-publication, you can expect to be on the hook for all marketing. When you have physical control of your books, you can bring them with you everywhere you go, hand them out as gifts in appropriate settings, and bring them to conferences where you might meet the right people to help you with promotion. If you choose a POD option, you can still order in bulk, but you will pay more and you’ll lose some creative control, which brings up the next point.

3. You don’t have to ask permission to reuse your content

Self-publication through a POD book publisher is not the same as getting your books printed in bulk. Most POD publishing contracts prohibit you from moving to another publisher. This agreement could be short-term, like 12 months, or it might be permanent. That means you can’t ever use another publisher.

 If a big-name publisher wants to pick up your book, they may not be able to get the rights to your book. If you want to change publishers or start selling it on your own, you won’t be able to do that, either. Your publisher may not even allow you to publish large pieces of your book on a blog. You still own the copyright but only retain full control when you print in bulk and bypass the publisher.

Start printing and selling your book today

The longer you wait to publish your book, the more sales you’ll lose. Get your book printed in bulk now so you can start making sales. You can always switch to an official publisher later.