Ask the Geek: Should I use a publisher or self-publish my ebook?

Have a question for Ask The Geek? Send it to me.

Dear Ask The Geek,

Bugging you with another quick question you’re an expert on – a small ebook publisher contacted me wanting to contract me for a short 30-page ebook. I could probably hammer something out, but then it got me to thinking, because he actually wants me to sign a contract that gives me 8% royalty. So if I’m going to go to the trouble to write an ebook, why should I go through a publisher? How much royalty percentage do you make off your ebook on Amazon?

Signed, 
Publishing with myself

Dear Publishing with myself, 

Video response! I walk you through some of the reasons I think going with a publisher could be beneficial with regards to promotion, formatting, and credibility; why I think most authors can do ebook formatting themselves (or pay someone to do it for you), and then more on royalties themselves and what you need to consider when working with a publisher instead of doing it all yourself (and having complete control over pricing, royalties statistics, and content revisions).  Then I spend a few minutes talking about Amazon’s royalty structure and if 8% sounds like a good deal. Click through to the article to see the video if it doesn’t appear below.

Related to self-publishing on When I Have Time:

• My Amazon Author Page
• How to publish an ebook with Amazon Kindle in 7 steps
• Ask the Geek: How do I prepare my blog content to publish as an ebook?

Sara Rosso (aka WHT’s In-House Geek)