Self-Publishing Now More Like Traditional Publishing

Publishing Perspectives - June 10, 2015

Steve Bohme of Nielsen

With £58 million in sales and 5% of the UK book market in 2014, self-publishing has gone mainstream and is gaining further acceptance with readers, says Nielsen.

By Roger Tagholm

In the UK, self-published books, both digital and print, accounted for 5% of the total market in 2014, according to Nielsen Book, amounting to some £58 million of book spend and some 17 million units. Self-published titles represented 5% of all books sold – print and digital – and 15% of all ebooks. The sector grew 16% in the first quarter of 2015 and has leapt 77% since 2012. Everyone knows self-publishing is growing, but there is nothing like hard data to bring it home.

The figures were presented by Nielsen Book’s UK Research Director Steve Bohme at the inaugural Summer Digital Book Party, held at The Free Word, the “international centre for literature, literacy and free expression” in London last week. Jointly hosted by the editorial services company, The Literary Consultancy (TLC), and the industry advice and networking body Byte the Book, it was attended by self-published authors, writers wondering which route to take, teachers of creative writing, and industry professionals and providers of editorial services.
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