For my first book (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Learn-TypeScript-Building-Applications-understanding-ebook/dp/B081FB89BL" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/Learn-TypeScript-Building-Application...</a>), I have gone down the classic path. Overall, that experience was far from great. I suffered through the process, and it was painful towards the end, as more parties got involved, and often created more problems than they brought solutions. Of course your mileage may vary; I have no doubt that there are much better publishers out there.<p>I was forced to use specific tools/platforms to edit the content. Those tools were slow, buggy, didn't clearly show what was changed, etc. This was incredibly painful.<p>Obviously, one should not do it for the money. You can get quite a lot if you're lucky enough to be an outlier and write timeless content, but it's very unlikely. I personally went through the process as I was getting started with freelancing and wanted to boost my visibility. It served its purpose, but the opportunity cost was huge.<p>Once the book was released, my publisher didn't invest a whole lot in marketing the content. I did what I could on my end, which kept the sales going, but I felt left alone. Again, it depends on your publisher, and on their belief in your project; your mileage may vary there too...<p>For my new project (<a href="https://dev-concepts.dev" rel="nofollow">https://dev-concepts.dev</a>), I have decided to self-publish. Here are my reasons:<p>- Freedom
- Ownership
- Financial
- Responsibility<p>While self-publishing, I can write at my own pace, without external pressure (apart the one I put on myself). I can set my own rules, my own process, use tools of my choice, etc.<p>Importantly, I keep full ownership. Everything I write remains 100% mine, and I can repurpose anything I want to create new content (e.g., video courses, blog articles, etc). This is a key point for me! I also get to decide if I want to give away free copies of my book.<p>From a financial point of view, 100% of the benefits will be mine. This means that I can sell ~5x less copies and still make as much money. I also believe that self-published projects that have a solid copy and are marketed correctly have much a better chances to generate money.<p>The thing is of course that if you're alone, you're alone. Noone else is going to help, review the content, find technical reviewers, provide you a toolchain, fix typos, etc. Personally it doesn't bother me; I find that liberating and empowering!