Considering Publishing a Book? Why Self-Publishing Is Better

Many people who are amazing writers never move forward with publishing their work because they think that getting a book published is too difficult or expensive. But in today's technological society, self-publishing is becoming more and more prevalent as a way to not only get published works into the world, but to also save money and help the environment, as well.

Publishing a book can be extremely detrimental to the environment. The amount of resources consumed - such as paper, water, and other minerals - generates a large carbon footprint, burning fossil fuels while releasing more CO2 into the environment. Using e-readers and electronically reading books is more environmentally friendly in general, but there is an offset cost to the environment that makes it a close race between the two.

But when it comes to publishing a book, utilizing self-publishing resources instead of turning to a large, expensive publication company can be helpful for the environment in many ways, as well. When you consider the amount of paper alone used in the mass publication of a book, this is a no-brainer. Add in things like shipping and distribution costs, the resources used for running book printing machines, and the possibility that printed copies may sit on shelves until they make it to a landfill, then choosing to self-publish your book is the obvious choice.

Choose Your Format

When self-publishing a book, you can choose which type of format you want your book to be released in. So instead of focusing on print books and all of the resources consumed there, you can opt for your book to be present in ebook or audiobook format only. Considering the huge number of people who opt for audiobooks over print books these days, using these formats is still a very viable way to get your book out into the world.

Print on Demand

Part of the publishing process for traditional paper books includes distributing copies, but studies have shown that on average at least 30% of published books are never purchased. This means 30% of the consumption of materials and processes used to print a book is never even used and only goes straight to the dump (or hopefully recycling). Many self-publishing services allow for books to be printed on demand, which means that when a consumer pays for a copy of your book, the book is printed and sent to them directly, instead of being pre-printed and waiting to be purchased (or not).

Choose Your Resources

If you are publishing yourself and going through the writing process mostly on your own, then you have the option of choosing the resources that are necessary for your work. For example, you can focus on only using recycled paper and materials not only for your finished work but also for all of the materials necessary on the path to your finished work. You can use recycled notebooks for writing, recycled paper for printing copies, and even recycle all of that again when you are finished with the process.

Tie Your Marketing to a Cause

In the publishing world, there is a thing known as "cause marketing," in which your book is promoted as being tied to a certain cause and a portion of the proceeds from the book sales will be donated to that cause. This is not only a brilliant way to get your book advertised, but it can also help with a great non-profit of your choice at the same time. 

While you are in the marketing portion of your book publishing, you can also consider sending advanced promotional copies of your book via e-print instead of actual paper-printed copies. Some people even prefer this way to read, as they can take it anywhere, it's always available, and the print can be made larger. Another idea that ties in with this is to give away copies of your book in audiobook or e-print format instead of print copies. You can double the appeal of your publication to readers who are environmentally conscious.

Books and other print publications have never been considered environmentally friendly means of media. However, choosing to publish your book on your own and taking a few extra steps to learn about the options can make it easy for you to negate more of your impact on our environmental world.