Self-publishing is still quite uncommon in the field of academics and for some, the term self-publishing seems more like a substandard publishing process that only cheap authors do. On the contrary, self-publishing is a perfect platform for all kinds of professionals who want to share their ideas and work, promote their businesses, and of course, make a profit.

With the advent of technologies such as print-on-demand media, it has become a lot easier to make any book you want and put it up for sale. Self-publishing equally provides complete creative control over your content, marketing and even pricing—unlike with traditional publishing.

Unlike other similar platforms, Agorapublishing.com is a great option for academicians who want to self-publish high quality and mass marketable academic books in Ottawa. Here are the top five reasons why Professors choose to self-publish their books with Agora Publishing:

1. Better control

The self-publishing industry is expanding into academics and now, professors can get their work published to the world exactly how they pictured it, without having to compromise quality or make any major alteration to their research.

Traditional academic publishing mandates authors to go through a rigorous verification process and at some point, remove certain content from their book or academic paper. This typically implies that there would be an alteration to the original vision for your work by the publishing house or committee to better suit their own priorities and agenda. Usually, it also means that you’ll be equally forfeiting some of your content rights.

However, with Agora Publishing, professors are now able to reach audiences on their own terms, bypassing the usual publishing cycle involving agents, pitches, multiple revisions, editing for marketers, and book tours. It grants them an opportunity to share all they have to say with readers who are willing to listen. With traditional publishing, you’re not allowed to do that, no matter how insightful or prominent a professor may be.

2. Reach a wider audience

Self-published professors own all the rights to their works, which means that they can set the book up for sale in any country, through any channel, at any price and in any format (print, eBook, or audio). They hold the deciding power as to where and when to sell the book, how they want to promote it, and as a result, can reach a global audience.

According to Dr. Fabio Rojas, an associate professor of sociology at Indianan University, self-publishing his book, Grad Skool Rulz: Everything You Need to Know about Academia from Admissions to Tenure, allowed him to reach a wider audience than traditional scholar publishing.

“Anybody in the world who has a cell phone, a desktop – they can read this for three bucks or less. And I’ll give it to you for free if you’re financially strapped,” he said in a report. “This doesn’t replace my normal academic publishing, but what it does is it reaches a new audience.”

This is something a traditional academic publishing house won’t offer as they are quite rigid and may not know your target audience the way you do.

3. Quick to set-up

With traditional scholarly publishing, your work may take up to four years or more before it is published, said Steffen Bohm, a management and sustainability professor at the University of Essex.

On the other hand, self-publishing with Agora Publishing ensures that your project is released to the public as quickly as possible, so you can proceed to your next academic work. Once all the final touches have been put in place on your project, it can be instantly uploaded to a self-publishing site, choose where you want it to sell, and within days or weeks, it will be available for purchase.

4. Save cost

Professors are choosing to self-publish their work as it is a much cheaper option. Unlike traditional publishers who charge an expensive fee, using a self-publishing website means you will only have to pay a small fee for each book.

However, if you use a print-on-demand publishing company, you are charged for each copy, but no large print runs. Self-publishing allows professors to save money to be used for other academic research rather than spending on retailers and wholesalers.

5. Better royalties

Academic books are rarely bestsellers, but once a book becomes a requirement for a university course, it can be quite profitable.

A traditional publishing company would only pay you a little percentage of your book earnings and this can be very discouraging.

“You do all the work, and the returns are very low,” said Martin Weller, a professor at the Open University. “You sign away a ridiculous amount of rights – the form includes future TV rights, merchandising, etc., but you take all the risks … if someone sues because of the book’s content it is your liability.”

Self-publishing allows professors to own a much larger percentage of their book earnings than traditional publishing.