Just in case you haven’t noticed, this blog often features posts in favour of self-publishing – the opportunities it can bring, why it’s a positive thing, tips for getting involved in it and so on. I’m passionate about it and believe that the industry is a great thing for writers.

However, are there any downsides to independent publishing? The pros of getting involved in it are well-known and quite easy to list: you can publish what you want, when you want; you choose how you publish (e-books, print on demand); you get to keep more of the money; you can learn more about the business as a whole. And on and on.

Yet just as there is with any other industry, there are a couple of things that are not entirely as rosy, and it’s definitely worth being aware of the ‘cons’ of independent publishing before getting involved in it. These cons definitely shouldn’t put you off, because self-publishing can be a great thing and no matter what you do you always have to weigh up the positives and negatives, but being aware of them can give you a more rounded view of what it’s like to be in the business.

Distribution

Distribution can be harder with self-publishing. Of course, it’s easy to get your book on Amazon and sell it as an e-book and also sell it in print form through print on demand services, but getting it into chain bookshops can be a challenge. If you’ve always dreamed of having your book in every Waterstone’s in the country, you might be disappointed. Still, there are plenty of alternative options available these days, and as more and more people buy their books online, this is arguably much less of an issue than it was even just a few years ago.

Assumptions

Even though plenty of readers are more than willing to read self-published books and don’t discriminate against them in any way, some still make certain assumptions about them. For instance, you’re probably aware that indie publishing has a bit of a reputation for being not as good as traditionally published books. Undeniably, there are some not-too-brilliant self-published books out there, and it’s unfortunate that these are often taken as representative of the whole industry – especially when there are some proper gems out there. Attitudes are changing and readers are becoming more aware of the virtues of many independently published books, but it’s still an issue we have to deal with.

Workload

There’s also no getting away from the fact that independent publishing generally has a bigger workload for you than traditional publishing. You have to do everything yourself, or put in the time (and money) to find the right people to do certain tasks for you. You have to essentially manage your own business. You might or might not see this as a downside to independent publishing – some people like the ‘business’ bit more than others – but it’s worth seeing everything as a learning opportunity. Certain things might be time-consuming and a bit daunting when undertaking them on your own, especially when you’re new to the business and don’t have many contacts, but they’ll all help to increase your skills in the long term. It can be tricky fitting everything in, and the time it means you have to spend away from the real business of writing is probably the most challenging thing, but more and more it’s something authors are having to deal with.

In many ways, we probably shouldn’t call these issues ‘cons’ at all. They could be a burden – but if you are able to think creatively and see them as things to master rather than things that could defeat you, it starts to make them seem much more manageable. Plenty of authors now have successful independent publishing careers, and while there will always be challenges involved with the industry, the process of overcoming them and finding exciting new ways of doing things is arguably one of the best things about the business.

What do you think?