Best Self-Publishing Company for Bloggers
This post is sponsored by Lulu.
Blogging in today’s world means so much more than just hitting publish on a blog post in WordPress. Self-publishing is becoming an increasingly popular way for bloggers to expand their content’s reach. Explore the possibilities of reaching more audiences, creating more revenue, and establishing authority in your niche with the best self-publishing company to help you make it happen!
What is self-publishing?
Self-publishing means publishing media – usually written – at your own cost without the use of a traditional literary agent. When you self-publish, you choose the distributor and printer or producing company and source your own service providers (such as editors, illustrators, photographers, etc.). Or, you could go the complete DIY route!
Self-publishing can include physical products or digital products. Books, journals, ebooks, magazines – you name it! To borrow Walt Disney’s iconic phrase, “If you can dream it, you can do it.”
This absolutely applies to self-publishing!
What are the advantages compared to traditional publishing?
To compare the advantages of self-publishing, here’s a quick summary of traditional publishing:
- In traditional publishing, ideas are pitched to a literary agent (or vice versa) and then go through a process of being accepted or revised.
- The agent vouches for the author’s work, assists with contract negotiation, and then the publishing company employs their teams to do any number of tasks including editing, designing, illustrating, etc. The publishing house produces the work and partners with third-party distributors.
- As the author, you then earn royalties from your publications, and the publisher and distributors also receive a portion of the proceeds.
On the flip side, self-publishing has some significant advantages for bloggers and content creators, such as:
- You are in control of every aspect from the ideas to the design to the ultimate production.
- You don’t have to split the profits with anyone unless you choose to hire out for other services.
- You don’t have to go through the lengthy process of finding an agent to represent you or wait to be accepted from a potential list.
- You can benefit from customer transactions by collecting the information they provide through purchases. This allows you to keep a touchpoint for connection and communication about the product and even future content!
What are the disadvantages compared to traditional publishing?
Compared to the traditional route, self-publishing is not a complete walk in the park. As with most startup projects, there are learning curves if you’re not already familiar with the publishing industry standards and guidelines.
Some obstacles you might encounter are:
- Less access to marketing research to test out potential ideas for your publication
- Less marketing visibility without the channels for promotion (website, social media, email marketing) provided through traditional publishing companies
- Fronting the cost yourself and the risks associated with the investment
- Less access to support and guidance from established industry experts
Reasons for bloggers to publish
No matter the route taken, there are plenty of reasons WHY bloggers should add “published author” to their bios!
Through publishing content off-site, bloggers can:
- Establish authority for their brand
- Incorporate an additional stream of income and potentially fund other business initiatives
- Provide more valuable content and resources for their audience
- Get their content into the hands (or devices) of an even broader audience
- Achieve a dream or personal goal!
What types of things might bloggers self-publish?
Did you know self-publishing is not limited to just books? Maybe your content fits a different category than traditional chapter books. Check out the many types of products a blogger can create through self-publishing processes!
- Consumable products like journals, calendars, or workbooks
- Photography or picture books
- How-to guides
- Cookbooks
- Memoirs
- Short stories, novels, or poetry
- Magazines
Literally anything you can dream up is on the table! Bloggers can also produce any of these product types in both physical and digital copies to cater to even more customers. As a blogger, you are already serving a target audience within your niche which gives you the potential to produce exactly what that audience needs or wants!
How can a blogger get started with self-publishing?
Are the ideas flowing yet? Let’s get started!
1. First, decide what you will create
Traditionally bound books, ebooks, or consumable paper products? Consider what content you might already have created that highlights your expertise and authority on your chosen topic. What format fits that content best?
2. Make a plan
Just like starting your blog, you will need to map out the time and resources to outline the project and take continuing actionable steps. Block off time and get it done! Don’t leave those ideas without a place to go.
3. Find a company to use for self-publishing
Take some time to research companies and evaluate what they can offer you in terms of pricing, customer support, and software or product options. Pick one and familiarize yourself with the user experience. (Hint: we’ve got a great recommendation coming up!)
4. Understand the technical aspects
Writing and producing a book or other product includes much more than just typing the words in a document. Research what skills or tools are needed to write, design and format pages and covers, and include graphics, photos, or illustrations.
5. Create your content
Spend time looking at where your blog already provides value to readers – can you repurpose or repackage what you have already created? Or, take your blog ideas to a whole new level with this new avenue for creating. This might be the most exciting part, but be sure to faithfully plan out the time and space to create – not just when inspiration hits.
6. Revise and edit
It will be much easier (and cheaper!) to go through many rounds of revising and editing prior to publishing than it will to correct them later on. Here’s where you might consider outsourcing or bringing in additional eyes to help you check your work and offer feedback.
7. Publish
Now you’re ready to order and add “author” to your tagline! Once you have the product available, you can then market and launch your work however you choose, whether through sales or freebie offers. Don’t forget to celebrate your achievement!
These are typical steps in the self-publishing process, however, this will all be dependent on which company you use. Each company will have specific requirements and recommendations.
Lastly, even with self-publishing, you will likely find steps along the way in which you will need additional help or a different skill set. That’s okay! There are plenty of ways to bring in other service providers or tools to help you complete the process without the need to switch to a traditional publisher.
What is the best self-publishing company for bloggers?
We’ve already done some research to help you out! Check out Lulu.com, your one-stop shop for taking your idea all the way to completion! Lulu is a company with a mission of empowering content creators and giving them the tools and assistance they need to get their products into the world!
Lulu has a wide range of product options to choose from, plus they offer fantastic support along the way. You can easily use their pricing calculators to plan ahead, and they also offer print-on-demand services to keep costs and risks reduced as you get started. And, Lulu offers seamless integration to sell your products easily through WordPress plugins directly through your blog!
To learn more about Lulu and the self-publishing industry, listen to our podcast episode with Matt Briel, Lulu’s Vice President of Marketing and Communications. You’ll leave the episode feeling inspired and equipped with so many key takeaways for your business!
We love to hear from aspiring and established bloggers! Learn more about blogging support through our programs here or connect with us on Instagram at @sparkmediaconcepts