What is Self Publishing, Really? — The Eritail Show, S1E4

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King Benson dives into the internet hype around self-publishing in this new episode of The Eritail Show. King’s no-holds-barred talking style is more pronounced in this fast-paced minimalist show where he busts some authors’ bubbles on what it means to be a truly self-published author. Watch out if you’re a self-published author! It may be one of your bubbles that gets burst in this bubble-bursting author show!

TRANSCRIPT

[Transcript]

Intro…

Hello, hello, good morning! This is King Benson, host of The Eritail Show. It’s been full six months since our last studio broadcast. For those of you who have been wondering what we’ve been up to these days, we have some new amazing stuff to share with you, so hold it right there, as that’s what we’ll be doing for the rest of this year 2024.

This is going to be an exciting program because self publishing is the subject of today’s show. There is a lot of bad rap online about the correct way to publish a book. After all this time, nobody appears to be surprised that self publishing is still more or less a mysterious word for most people.

In the social media groups I’ve been, there are self-published authors who call themselves hybrid publishers. These same authors complain that another group of self-published authors are vanity publishers. I can usually tell where a self-published author got their education from, when they are spurting out words like vanity publisher, hybrid publisher, traditional publisher. All these authors live in lo-lo land, always assuming and waiting to be told what to do.

In the publishing world of today and tomorrow, there will still be only two kinds of authors; dependent authors and independent authors. Self-publishing will be defined in two words: freedom and control. The key to freedom is control and the purpose of control is freedom.

If you don’t want to hear about freedom and control because you like to be told what to do, I have some bad news for you, so tune out because this is not your program. But if you enjoy being free and in control, and you love your independence, I have good news for you. In this program, I will be busting some myths and exposing some lies about this word called self-publishing. So stay tuned!

The battle cry of most dependent authors I meet is, “Self-publishing is free!” The minute you mention that you’ve found a publishing plan for X amount of money, suddenly all these dependent authors come out of their hiding places, all of them chanting, “Self-publishing is free! Self-publishing is free! Self-publishing is free!” Of course, self-publishing is free when you are a dependent self-publisher! But freedom is not free; that’s why you pay for it. And the price for freedom is self-improvement.

Authors, like everyone else, are products of our school system that trains people to repeat what they’re told. It’s criminal what they do in school. The school system robs our children of the ability to think for themselves. As products of the school system, our kids are taught to abandon their originality, to forgo independent thinking and to conform to their environment.

What is vanity publishing? What is the origin and etymology of the word? These dependent authors just regurgitate what they read or hear without giving thought to it. What ‘vanity publishing’ means to them is that if you sell publishing services, you’re a vanity publisher. The offensive is the act of selling, which is not only stupid to me but also the reason they can’t transform from caterpillars into butterflies. So much have changed out here, folks. If you’re clingy and waiting to be told what to do, then you are going to get stepped on like the worm that you are.

To develop from dependence to independence, you need to know the real definition of words. Not the rubbish you learn on social media. The problem with getting your advice from social media is that those people are just as lost as you are. That’s why they joined the group in the first place. All you achieve is make them feel more intelligent when you ask for their help. And they will happily tell you what to do if you’re stupid enough to ask for their advice. Too many authors run into self-publishing based on the opinions of idiots. On The Eritail Show my job is to give you facts, and not opinions. I’m not out here to judge you. And you do not want my opinions anyway. Why? Because I’m an idiot just like you.

There is a big mismatch between what dependent authors think self-publishing means, and what self-publishing actually means in terms of independent publishing. The language is also different as each speaks a different language. Once you hear someone mention Kindle Countdown Deal, Kindle Unlimited, KDP Select, or Amazon Ads, just know you’re listening to a dependent author.

Many authors think Amazon revolutionised the publishing industry. In reality, the only thing that changed is the technology. The basic principles remain the same. So uploading your book on Amazon gives you no advantage. Technology will not cover for you if you don’t know what you are doing. You have to invest in your education, and I don’t mean going back to school. Consider this: the school system has not changed at all in the last 500 years. So any knowledge you gain in school is, at best, obsolete.

In 2014, everybody wanted to self-publish a book. The formula for publishing success was quite simple: craft a great story, design a beautiful cover, upload to KDP, share your Amazon links, and let Amazon do the rest. The authors who are following that formula today are the ones who are falling behind rapidly because they can’t change. They only know how to do what they are told.

Are you feeling stuck because nobody has told you to move on? Get this: there was a party here awhile ago, and now it is over. Either you have moved on or you’re getting left behind. The choice is yours.

I remember 2021 was the year when I made my decision to move on. Making that decision was the easy part. It’s not an easy journey to move from total dependence to complete independence. Over the years I was making the necessary mental, spiritual and physical shift without realising it. Then one day, it hit me in the gut and I realised that this is where I had to be and what I had to do. Today, I run into many authors who think they’re independent just because their book is on sale at Amazon.

Oh but I am a self-published author! No, you are not. My book is on Amazon! And so what? But I self-published my book! No, you did not! Stop calling yourself an independent author. You’re a KDP author. And you don’t have a book; you have a manuscript.

I saw a post on Facebook the other day where one author was lamenting her lack of book sales at Amazon and asking for help. Then there was this KDP author who replied her, and her advice was: send all your traffic to Amazon; the algorithms will notice and improve your visibility. I could not ignore that. But that’s what you get, sadly, when you are looking for someone to tell you what to do. You must invest in yourself because you first have to be competent on your own before you can make the kind of impact that will transform your world.

The truth is, you cannot separate dependence from incompetence. The two go together, like a nail on your fingertip. If you’re wondering what’s wrong with that idea, my answer is that you might as well get a job at Amazon. That makes you an Amazon employee, but at least you will have a salary each month to show off for your loyalty. And you are better off that way because you won’t survive in the world of publishing, business or investing if you choose any form of dependence over total independence.

You don’t have to be the smartest person to be independent. What’s the No.1 trait of independence? Originality! Originality is a sign of independence. You could be a genius, but you won’t know if you are working for a company that’s run by a flock of chickens. And what can you do to get your point across without doing something drastic?

I can remember in my secondary school, there were two very smart boys and one girl in my class; and we all thought they will go on to change the world. One went to a college of education, one went to a state uni, the other went to a federal uni, all great schools, but we never heard from them again. So how come they were the smart ones in class, and I was the class idiot, yet today I’m the one who’s here and they are not?

Just like my classmates, most authors went to school but they never learned to be original. They learned to master other people’s books, rules, and subjects, but they never learned to create their own brand. Most editors are authors who can rewrite other people’s work and expression perfectly but they can’t compose their own style of art. The hallmark of originality lies in rejecting the default and exploring whether a better option exists. The question I always ask is, “Isn’t there a better way to accomplish this?”

Talking about rejecting the default, my newest book, titled Own Your Book Press, is a perfect example of this. Own Your Book Press is a story of how I found a sustainable lasting solution to my book print-on-demand needs, all because I was not content with the default print-on-demand solutions out there. To some authors, printing through KDP is good enough. While to others, printing through a commercial printer is good enough. But to me, good enough is simply not good enough.

Do you remember the nursery rhyme that goes: Good, better, best, I shall never rest, until my good is better, and my better is best. How I uncovered the techniques I shared in Own Your Book Press will remain a novelty to people who wait to be told what to do. Unless they first read my book. For most people that read the book, it’s the first time they are exposed to such ideas. It’s like being born again. This is the effort of one man who was not content with good enough. I saw the good too, like everyone else, but I also desired better. The most crucial part was that I believed I could do better. I believed I could profit better. What always comes first is the belief, and that’s triggered by the level of confidence you have in yourself.

I’ve saved the best for the last. If you don’t believe that Own Your Book Press will transform your publishing business, I challenge you to read this book. Go on, call my bluff if you dare. The only bluff will be you letting your opportunity pass on. The best place to find the book is our website. Just visit ownyourbookpress.com and you can purchase the book in any popular format. I recommend downloading the PDF version if you want to be able to print it out in large print and full color. You’ll learn why control is the secret of profitability and you’ll understand why the more control you have over any aspect of your business, the more profitable your business will be.

Eritail Publishing is currently rebranding our public services. We have removed most of our paid services from the Eritail website and we are focusing more on the educational impact that we are making. I have been doing what I want for a while now. It’s time to focus on what God wants. The most important service we can render is not what we want; it’s what God wants us to do.

So what does God want you to do? I believe that God wants me to teach. So we are adding more programs to The Eritail Show and relaunching our website. Our shop will still exist, but it will carry only our stories and media. Our service page is being migrated over to ownyourbookpress.com. When the migration is complete, then ownyourbookpress.com will be our primary website for all our publishing tools and services.

I will be hosting a new program every Friday on The Eritail Show called Na-So-E-Be and taglinned Y-e-be-like-dat. The language I will be speaking in is Nigerian Pidgin English because charity begins at home. Na-So-E-Be will explore a variety of topics, from business to investing to spirituality to politics. There will be a Q&A at the end of every episode and you will have the chance to send me your own questions. I know that it’s going to be an exciting program and I am looking forward to it.

Mark your calendar so you don’t forget. It’s every Friday night, all African time. Join me next Friday. Simply tune in to The Eritail Show to catch me live on Na-So-E-Be and Y-e-be-like-dat because I will lay it all for you, as e dey hot. The recordings will be archived on our website at www.eritail.com. That’s spelled E-R-I-T-A-I-L dot com. Thanks guys, and see you next time on The Eritail Show.

Outro…