So, you’ve decided to publish! Congratulations! But it’s easier said than done. There are a million questions that that decision opens up: what’s the difference between traditional publishing and indie publishing? What are the best self-publishing services? Should you go traditional? How much should all of this cost?
Well, the truth is that there aren’t too many concrete answers. The easiest routes aren’t all bad, and neither are the hardest routes. In this article, I’ll do my best to point you in the right direction, but this is a HUGE question: one you should spend a long, long time considering. So, without further ado, let’s dive into the industry!
Traditional Publishing Services
Traditional publishing is hard. That’s the long and short of it. But it’s not too hard that it’s an unachievable goal. In fact, when most people think of publishing a book, they usually think of going through a traditional publisher! Think Random House, Harper Collins, Simon and Schuster. The big kids. Million dollar advances, international book tours, movie adaptations, the works! If you want to be rich, you have to go through a traditional publisher.
But the truth is, you probably won’t be famous. It’s fun to dream, but in reality, we can’t all be millionaires. Of the millions of books that get published each year, not too many end up on the New York Times Bestseller List. So, how does it all work? How can you get your foot in the door?
First, you’ll need an agent. Reedsy keeps a decent list, so you’ll probably want to start there. Depending on submission guidelines, you can expect to send your agent a query letter, a novel synopsis, and somewhere around the first five pages of your manuscript. Funnily enough, I offer editorial services for all these materials, hint hint. You can expect to send out dozens, if not hundreds of these letters. No joke, it can take months. But once you find a decent agent, you can count on them to carry you to success. That is, assuming publishers want your manuscript, because sometimes, they just won’t. Expect to wait several years. In a few upcoming posts, I’ll go over the process of looking for a good agent, because there are a lot of scams out there! Long story short: you don’t want to pay anybody up-front. That’s basically robbery.
The pros of traditional publishing include the fact that you don’t have to pay anything. That’s gold right there. Combine that with the serious possibility of an up-front ten-thousand dollar advance, and even the best self-publishing services seem to pale in comparison. But then, it’s entirely possible that you might not make any more than that initial advance. Most authors don’t. That doesn’t mean the book isn’t selling well, there’s some fancy math going on behind the scenes, but the long and short of it is that you’re most likely going to sit where you are. In traditional publishing you pay with your time, and you pay for the potential for something to go right.
Even if you stick to indie publishing, which is essentially traditional publishing-lite, you’re up to the whims of fate. The trouble with leaving the marketing up to the publisher is that it’s not you who’s marketing it. And the trouble with leaving editing up to a publisher is that you lose so much control. And all that time you spend looking for a publisher can seriously bite. So maybe there’s an easier way…
The Best Self-Publishing Services
I’m a little biased, I know, but I’ve always preferred self-publishing. In fact, I’m self-publishing myself. A couple decades ago, people looked down on self-publishers, seeing them as this scourge of people who “couldn’t make it in the real world” but who wanted to “get rich quick” anyway.
Well, that attitude has changed. With the merger of many traditional publishing houses into mega-conglomerates, a lot of the competition for manuscripts has disappeared. This means you get lower advances, less control, and longer wait times. It’s not a great combination. On top of that, publishers have begun to make themselves a lot more exclusive and selective. And let’s not forget their historical tendency toward conservatism—just go into your local Barnes and Noble, and you’ll see what I’m talking about. While LGBT acceptance in the West is at an all-time high, you’d be surprised how much you have to fight to push a novel with a heavy queer focus through the biggest publishing houses.
So there is an argument for self-publishing. But there are also a lot of scams out there. There are a gajillion websites out there touting how some guy became a millionaire after self-publishing, “And in this exclusive web course, we’ll show you the secrets of how he did it!” It’s the worst. And people fall for it in droves, because there’s this bizarre idea out there that writing a book is a great way to make money.
It’s not.
And self-publishing will hammer in that fact, because in order to self-publish, you have to spend money. Not terribly fun for a get-rich-quick scheme, huh? But it does have its advantages. If you want to put a book out there these days, you just need an editor and a book cover artist. Expect to pay a thousand bucks or so for the former and a couple hundred for the latter. That’s basically it. Amazon Kindle awaits.
Traditional publishing takes time. Self-publishing doesn’t. When your book is ready, you can publish with essentially zero effort. Just format your manuscript correctly, and you’re off to the races.
Beyond that, you can pay for a couple ads here and there, spend some time on Twitter or Goodreads, and you’re basically set. It’s honestly really easy. If you’re looking for other services beyond Amazon, that’s fine; just remember that Amazon, while scummy as heck, makes up around eighty percent of the self-publishing market, and it gives authors a genuinely unmatched seventy percent royalty for ebook sales, and it offers free paperback publishing services. Unfortunately, it’s your best shot. If you’re looking for other options, however, I’ve written a whole article on the subject.
TL;DR
If you want the faint possibility of becoming famous, go traditional. If you want to make a bit of money on the side, self-publish. There are a lot of little nuances here and there, but ultimately, the choice most easily comes down to time and money. If you don’t have money, self-publishing might not be for you. If you don’t have time, traditional publishing is a no-go. I hope this has been helpful, and if you’re ever looking for advice, my DMs are always open!
