I self-published my first book, The Crooked Road, in India a couple of months ago. By that virtue I have some authority to speak on the subject. I am not going to list the pros and cons of self vs traditional publishing – that is for you to figure out. Instead I will give you points to ponder before you embark on the journey. (Please note this is primarily concerning the eBook business but applies mostly to paperback as well)

There are millions of books self-published every month. Yes, it is true. With the ease of self-publishing nowadays, all walls have fallen and anyone with a laptop and internet connection can self-publish. What that means for you – You are just one of the million books which are published by indie authors worldwide.
As a corollary, most of these books are of different levels of maturity both in terms of writing as well as their content. Some of the books are downright rotten (in my opinion ;) )
EBook market in India is very nascent. Many readers do not understand why they should pay for an eBook as it is not a real thing - they cannot hold it in their hand. People think eBooks should be free because there is no printing costs involved.
Most readers prefer the paper version in India. They will talk about the thrill of opening a new book and smelling the papers. Scores of people have asked me if I would come with the paper back for The Crooked Road. Many of them were not amused when I said no. Many people are outraged to know that one can publish only an eBook and not the paperback.
If you self-publish you are only one who knows about it – meaning you are the marketing manager, promoter, publisher all rolled into one. No one else has an iota of interest in making the book successful other than yours. If you think Amazon/ any other publisher will work for you please be advised that there are a million other options, most of which are selling more than your book.
Marketing is hard especially for a first time author, who does not have a clue of the publishing industry. Since, the books are flooding the market, the readers are flooded with choices. Standing out from the crowd proves to be a difficult thing.
Most of the bloggers are flooded with requests to review eBooks. Mostly because it costs nothing to write an email and attach a copy of your latest book. Many bloggers have a policy to not review a book which is published only as an eBook. You will have a difficult time finding bloggers who will review your book on their blog – especially if you are a new author.
Most of the advice on self-publishing on internet concerns with books with international appeal. If your book is India-centric/ you use Hinglish in the book means very well that you will not sell well outside India. That means virtually all the advice on the internet to promote your book on Amazon is useless to you.
The section of readers in India which reads eBooks follows the genres which are in vogue in US. You will come to know of genres like Urban Fantasy, Paranormal science fiction, and most importantly Romance are the bestselling ones.
Readership picks up slowly, it takes time and lot of effort for a good book to be discovered. Serious readers always have a to-read list, your book will be one of the many books to be read. They may take their time, but be sure that if the product is good and they continuously hear good things about it, they will definitely read it. And if they like it, they will promote it as their own – this is how books used to sell traditionally.

This post is not meant to discourage any of the budding authors out there, but rather some thoughts which you should keep in mind before taking the leap of faith. Of course there are huge benefits of self-publishing, how one should choose the platform to publish, and most importantly how one should market their book in India, but those are for some other time.

What do you think about the self-publishing in India? Are you comfortable reading eBooks or prefer the paperback version. Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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