The Number of Self-Published Titles Cracked 1 Million in 2017

According to Publishers Weekly, the number of self-published titles cracked 1 million in 2017.  That’s rather astounding. I would halfway like to know how each of those books reads.

One of the downsides of the growth of self-publishing is a decline in the quality and readability of books, as self-published books often are not edited, copyedited, or professionally proofread. Hence, it becomes more and more important for readers to pay attention to who is publishing that book you are thinking of buying. See a major publisher’s name on there, chances are pretty good it will be a good book. See CreateSpace on there? Buyer beware. See a weird name you’ve never heard of, Google it and see if they are a “real” publisher or if the author just made up a name to list instead of CreateSpace.

That’s not to say all self-published books are bad. They aren’t. But if you consider over 1,000,000 were published in the last year, the odds of finding a bad one are likely greater than finding a good one.

At Author Coach, we work with authors to take them through a very traditional publishing process. We always encourage an outside developmental editor and copy editor review the manuscript, and a professional proofreader review it. And, of course, you need professional service providers for cover design and typesetting. Yes, the technology to self-publish easily is out there. But the time and labor to give any book the attention needed will always require a hands-on approach and far more money than most authors realize.

If you would like to read the full PW article, you can find it here.