Technology has Changed Self Publishing Forever, But Are Nigerian Writers Taking Advantage of it?

A lot has changed in the world over the last few years. Technology has transformed businesses and disrupted the way we do things forever. Book publishing is one area that has changed phenomenally over the last decade.

With the internet becoming more omnipresent and technological devices becoming extremely powerful, self-publishing has emerged as a powerful new area of book publishing.

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Self-publishing allows authors get their books to market quickly and easily. Over the years, platforms like Amazon and Wattpad have emerged to allow writers get their books to the right audience easily. And if they get enough traction, it also allows them to enjoy their profits in peace and create a brand for themselves.

So these had me thinking, is self-publishing a good fit for Nigeria? How would it help Nigerian writers?

What is Self-Publishing?

In regular or traditional publishing, the publisher handles all of these and pays the writer a percentage of the revenue. But self-publishing offers a completely different experience.

Simply put, self-publishing is the sort of publishing where the writer handles all aspects and requirements of publishing a book. In other words, the writer handles the design, price, marketing and distribution of a book. As a result, the writer alone gets to keep all the profits from the published work.

EXCITING NEWS! My debut novel, HOLLY BANKS FULL OF ANGST, a story about fitting in, letting go, and challenging the status quo, will be published by Lake Union/Amazon Publishing. Immense gratitude to Alicia Clancy @Alicia_Clancy and the amazing Joelle Delbourgo @JLDelbourgo. pic.twitter.com/Eze93PD5Hx

— Julie Valerie 😊 Let’s share smiley faces. (@Julie_Valerie) November 14, 2018

With self-publishing, writers can avoid all the headaches that come with traditional publishing. For instance, writers get more creative control over their work, and won’t ever have to worry about the slow editorial process of traditional publishing.

Will Self-Publishing be Successful in Nigeria?

Self-publishing looks like an interesting trend but it isn’t exactly new to Nigerians.

Nigerians have embraced self-publishing for an extremely long time. For more than 20 years , Nigerian authors have self-published everything from how to make money, to tutorials on recharge card business. For example, Akin Alabi, owner of Nairabet sold books on how to make bets online long before he founded the betting site.

But these, books are severely under quality, both visually and in terms of their content. To be fair, poor quality of self-published books is a global issue.

A US based Nigerian Pastor,Man of God,Writer of Best Selling Book on Amazon,former Aide to former Nigerian President,was constructively engaged with pertinent questions,he became furious and decided to blocked me from following him.Tell him,I won’t be asking him questions again😎

— Nuel (@emmanuelnnana) December 26, 2017

My brother's published his 1st poetry collection- available on Amazon 🙂 #poetry #writers #nigerian #nigerianpoetry pic.twitter.com/zMbZ1cFu9K

— The Vegan Nigerian (@VeganNigerian) December 31, 2015

However, the new self-publishing market offers far more opportunities for Nigerian writers. But it also demands higher quality from writers.

With international book publishing platforms like Amazon in existence today, Nigerian writers can quickly package their books and push it out online. The existence of several design platforms from Canva to Adobe Spark, ensure that writers can get cool designs for the books to attract more readers.

Also today, the digitization of international book market allows Nigerian writers to price their books like foreign writers. They could also price their books in dollar rather than naira and benefit greatly from the exchange rates.

And with the power of social media, popular Nigerian self-published writers can go on to command more fame online, which in turn leads to more book purchases, and so on.

Likewise, online advertising is extremely cheaper and more impactful than traditional advertising mediums. When your book is all set, running targeted ads on Facebook, Instagram and Google could help send you and your book to stardom quicker than you’d expect.

So why not give self-publishing a try? Or you have? Why not take cue from what was shared above to make your books garner widespread appeal.