Self-Publishing From Someone Who Has Done It 113 Times

I have self-published 113+ books. Not hypothetically. Not as a case study. I have been through the KDP dashboard, the ACX interface, the CreateSpace system before it merged into KDP, and every formatting headache, pricing decision, and promotional gamble that comes with putting your own work into the world.

Self-publishing changed my life. After 33 years as a computer professional and senior manager, 20 of those at Trader Joe’s, I left to pursue writing full-time. My first book, Safe Computing is Like Safe Sex, went up in June 2015. A few months later I published Real World Survival. Early in 2016, Focus on LinkedIn hit the top 100 of all Kindle books after a targeted promotion that sold 1,000 copies in 24 hours and earned BookBub acceptance the same day.

That was not luck. It was strategy built through experience. Here is what I have learned.

The Freedom Is Real

Self-publishing removes every gatekeeper between you and your reader. For more, see publishing types. No agent decides whether your book is marketable. For more, see your book works in any country. No publisher determines your release date. No editorial committee tells you to cut the chapter that matters most to you.

I have published books because I believed in the market, like Focus on LinkedIn. I have also published books because I wanted to say something, regardless of sales potential. That freedom does not exist in traditional publishing, where every decision filters through commercial viability.

For fiction writers, this matters even more. Genre-blending work, experimental structures, niche subgenres, and stories that do not fit neatly into a marketing category all have a home in self-publishing. The market decides whether readers want it, not a committee.

What Actually Works on KDP

A professional cover that matches genre expectations. This is non-negotiable. Your cover is a thumbnail in a scroll of other thumbnails. If it does not signal the right genre instantly at that size, nobody clicks.

A strong Amazon description that sells the book, not summarizes it. The description is a sales page. Treat it like one.

Reviews. Enough of them to establish credibility. When Focus on LinkedIn had 15 reviews, BookBub rejected me. After I sent out 1,200 free copies and collected 60 to 70 reviews, the same book was accepted. Reviews are social proof, and social proof drives purchasing decisions.

Correct categories and keywords. Amazon’s category system determines where your book appears. Picking the wrong categories buries your book. Picking narrow categories where you can rank gives you bestseller tags that build momentum.

Back matter that works. Every book should include links to your other books, your mailing list, and your website. The reader who finishes your book and turns to the back is your warmest lead. Give them somewhere to go.

What Does Not Work

Publishing and hoping. Putting a book on KDP without a launch plan produces almost nothing. The platform is not a bookstore where people browse. It is a search engine. If nobody knows your book exists, nobody finds it.

Cheap covers. I learned this the hard way. My early covers were budget work, and the books did not sell. The same books with professional covers started moving. The cover investment pays for itself.

Skipping editing. Self-published books already fight a perception problem. A manuscript full of errors confirms every stereotype about self-publishing. Professional editing is not optional.

Paying for expensive marketing packages from publishing services. Here’s a real example: making a living self-publishing. For more on identity and self-publishing, see Richard’s interview with Urmi Hossain. These companies charge thousands for automated promotions that produce negligible results. The marketing is your responsibility.

The Money

Self-publishing pays higher royalties per unit than traditional publishing. KDP pays 70% on ebooks priced between $2.99 and $9.99. Traditional publishing pays authors roughly 10 to 15% of the cover price, and that is after the agent takes their cut.

The tradeoff is that you handle everything: editing, cover design, formatting, distribution, and marketing. These cost money upfront. A professionally produced self-published book typically requires $3,000 to $7,000 in production costs before you sell a single copy. That investment is real, and anyone who tells you self-publishing is free is not counting the work that makes a book worth reading.

The math works if you treat it as a business. Price strategically, invest in quality, build a backlist, and market consistently. It does not work if you publish one book and wait for royalties to appear.

Self-Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing

Traditional publishing gives you an advance, a team (editor, cover designer, marketing support), and distribution into bookstores. In exchange, you give up creative control, most of your royalties, and your timeline. The process from manuscript to bookshelf typically takes 18 to 24 months.

Self-publishing gives you full control, higher per-unit royalties, and speed. In exchange, you fund production yourself, handle your own marketing, and accept that bookstore distribution is difficult without a traditional publisher.

Neither path is universally better. The right choice depends on your goals, your budget, and how much control matters to you. I chose self-publishing because I wanted to write what I wanted, publish on my schedule, and keep the majority of every sale. That tradeoff has worked for 113+ books.

For a complete guide to building a self-publishing career, including pricing strategy, platform selection, and long-term business planning, see Make a Living as a Self-Published Author. For marketing strategy after your book is live, see the Book Promotion Course and the Author Platform Handbook.

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