Patti Larsen says she makes more profit from her books by self-publishing than by traditional publishing houses. (Patti Larsen)

Island author Patti Larsen says both her sales and earnings have increased through self-publishing.

Larsen has launched 23 books in the last year through her account on Amazon.

She says that compares to one or two new books a year working with a traditional publisher.

"Those are businesses that have multiple authors that they're publishing so they have a large list it's more people that they're dealing with. Whereas in my case with Patti Larsen Books, my publishing company, I'm only publishing myself," she said. "So when my editor comes back, when my proofer comes back, when my cover design is done, I don't have to wait. I can go ahead and publish."

Larsen said her sales have also sky-rocketed from around 15 books to hundreds now that she's selling them herself.

She said about 95 per cent of her sales are e-books.

She also said she doesn't earn as much when she sells books through a traditional publisher.

“You get maybe 10 per cent of the profit. They keep everything else and you're restricted as to how many books you can put out. There might be a non-compete clause so you can't actually publish with another company at the same time,” Larsen said.

“There's a lot of restrictions, compared to someone like me who makes 70 per cent per sale and has 100 per cent control.”

Still, Larsen believes an author has to be business-oriented to self-publish successfully, and must maintain quality through a good team of editors, proof readers and cover designers.