If you market your book successfully, you are likely to make more money if you self publish. Trade publishing contracts offer royalties of between 5 and 15 per cent. With self-publishing you can earn up to 80 percent of the cover price of your book. Of course, you will have to pay for promotion and many of the other areas traditionally handled by publishers, but you should still net a bigger profit at the end of the day. A high profit margin will also help if you want to go the trade route later, as you will be able to show how much money they can make from your book (and perhaps negotiate a larger royalty). Trade printing can be quite costly, while self publishing allows you to print smaller runs at a relatively lower cost, thanks to modern printing technology.
