Taylor Swift’s decision to self-publish has shone a spotlight on self-publishing in Australia – as the industry continues to gain legitimacy among debut and established authors.
By Dr Erin O’Dwyer and Linda McSweeny
You’ve written a book. Congratulations. You’re one of an estimated 6,000 Australian authors whose writing is book bound. The next question to ask yourself is, will you approach a traditional publisher or go down the self-publishing route?
Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift’s announcement in October that she would self-publish her new book, The Official Eras Tour Book, and distribute it exclusively through Target, shone a spotlight on self-publishing. Swift’s rationale – that she would be able to retain creative control and maximise revenue – is the same one that motivates many lesser-known authors.
Independent publishing with full creative control
At least one third of Australian authors have self-published a book during their career, and self-publishing is most popular among fiction authors.
In September 2024, Australian novelist Rebecca Aveen chose self-publishing for her first book, Animal Listeners – a young adult novel set at a coastal boarding school near the bush. It tells the story of a tween who finds magic and adventure in her affinity with animals.
Aveen, who now lives in the United States, used much of her savings to fund her book’s production across the globe – employing sensitivity readers in Australia and New Zealand, copy editors and proofreaders in Australia, and cover designers in the Ukraine.
“I’m glad I did it. I feel like I wouldn’t have had as much control over the final outcome of the book without it,” Aveen says.
Despite the non-stop race to meet her book launch date – a self-imposed deadline – and a bout of illness at an inopportune time during production, Aveen says self-publishing was the right choice for the control it gave her.
A lifelong learner, Aveen spent months studying biology and animal behaviour at university in preparation for writing the book. She then undertook an editing and book pitching course.
Paying to attend a pitching event with literary agents helped equip Aveen with the extra knowledge to pursue self-publishing; it encouraged her and highlighted the fact she wanted control, mainly to determine her own word count and genre.
Agents advised Aveen to cut her work to a length of between 55,000 and 80,000 words. Her original draft was around 210,000 words and she had already reduced it by 60,000 words.
“And I just thought no, I don’t want to,” Aveen said, who published her book at a length of around 150,000 words. She also wanted to categorise her book as one for teens and adults, not tweens.
Self-publishing popular among genre fiction authors
The 2022 National Survey of Australian Book Authors reveals self-publishing is most popular among genre fiction authors, with almost two-fifths of genre fiction authors adopting this model.
Author and Cour de Lion publisher Keith Stevenson concurs with Aveen as to the value of author control.
Stevenson’s first science fiction novel was published as an e-book by a mainstream publisher. For his next trilogy, he chose to self-publish, primarily to speed up publication timelines and build on his readership in his own way.
Stevenson joined the Alliance of Independent Authors and uses Ingram Spark, a publishing platform run by a global book distributor. He now helps others with self-publishing, and offers e-book and print book production services. He recommends authors also seek the help of experienced editors early in the process, to ensure their book is as impactful and polished as possible. He recommends FEN – the Freelance Editors Network – a group of Australian-based editors who provide appraisal, developmental editing, structural editing, and copyediting and proofreading services.
“If you want to self-publish, you need to ask yourself a question about what you want – it might be that you want a book to give to your friends and family and say, ‘look at this, I’ve written a book’,” Stevenson says.
“But if you actually want to be recognised as an author and try to get people who you don’t know to read your book – and maybe to buy your book – you need to look at getting some help to publish.”
Stevenson says there are a few tricky elements to self-publishing in Australia, especially if it’s your first time. And it does cost money but it’s about knowing your limits.
“You don’t really know what’s going to work until you try. I didn’t spend anything I couldn’t afford to lose.”
What is self-publishing?
Self-publishing means publishing your independent writing at your own expense, without help from traditional publishers. Self-publishing allows authors to retain creative control, manage distribution, and receive a larger share of the profits.
There are many steps along the way and an abundance of how-to information online.
What are the disadvantages of traditional publishing?
Traditional publishing can be restrictive and difficult for debut authors to crack. Creative control may be more limited – for example authors have to negotiate with publishers over the book cover, title, and any edits. Most significantly, authors earn lower royalties, around 10% of sales, due to the publisher’s substantial share in exchange for handling production, distribution, and marketing. The process itself can be slow, taking months or years for a book to reach shelves.
The upside of self-publishing: you control the process and the timing, retain full creative control, and retain full copyright and sales returns.
The downside of self-publishing: you miss out on the kudos that comes with signing with a publishing house, and the wraparound service offered by the house including editing, design, production, sales, distribution and marketing.
How to self-publish a book in Australia
Even though it’s called ‘self-publishing’ and it is possible to self-publish directly online to Amazon, it’s best to bring in a small team of experts to help you navigate the process.
You’ll need to engage a copy editor/proofreader, a cover designer and a typesetter or e-book production specialist. You’ll also need to create and execute a marketing plan.
How much does it cost to self-publish in Australia?
The cost varies. Michael Hanrahan, Founder and Managing Director of Publish Central, says theoretically you can self-publish for free by uploading a Word file to Amazon or Ingram Spark, design a book cover with the help of AI and ask a wordsmith friend to edit.
“But what I can guarantee you is you are not going to get a book to the same standards as like a major publisher if you do it for free,” Hanrahan says.
Most self-publishing authors spend between $10,000-$20,000. It all depends on “your plan, your goals and your outcomes”, Hanrahan says.
“We find the biggest mistake in terms of investment is people getting it mismatched. It’s not about how much you spend; it’s about spending the right amount for what you’re trying to do.”
Is it better to self-publish or publish traditionally?
Hanrahan says both self-publishing and traditional publishing have advantages and disadvantages:
“Some self-publishing people you talk to just bash traditional publishing and say ‘oh they keep all your rights and they’re gatekeepers’ and all this rubbish. I think for some authors, traditional publishing is the better option. And for some authors, self-publishing is the better option. It’s about finding the right path for you and your book.”
Hanrahan hears two main reasons for self-publishing – it’s quicker (by about 18 months) and it gives the author more control. Digital technology has also bolstered self-publishing in recent years.
“It’s come a long way (and) a lot of that is to do with the digital technology. Printing is a lot better than it used to be; the design processes are a lot more affordable. It’s a much more realistic option than it maybe was 10-15 years ago.”
Is it profitable to self-publish?
Hanrahan says success looks different for every project.
“We have some authors who come to us and they may have a family history book. For books like that, literally getting it published is success. They want to print 100 copies and give it to their family and friends. They’re not interested in sales or promotion. It’s just to physically have a book in their hands,” Hanrahan says.
“Some authors are interested in sales. We have a few authors who sell a few hundred books a month, which is very good for a self-publisher. That’s their main goal.
“But most of the authors that we work with – businesses and entrepreneurial authors – the success of the project is building their profile or promoting their business. It’s not about book sales. We’ve had authors on TV lately, getting podcast interviews, invited to speak at conferences. The book’s basically a marketing and promotional tool. So that’s success for those authors.”
