Self vs Traditional Publishing Options Pros and Cons

Mar 19, 2021

Let’s dive deeper into the differences of traditional and self-publishing.

Traditional publishing refers to contacting agents and having your book accepted by a publisher. This is a long and slow process often filled with rejections. But, there is an upside. You get:

  • prestige
  • fast distribution
  • ready made team of professional
  • no upfront costs
  • possible advance against royalties
  • potential to become a known author

Then there’s the downside:

  • a slow process
  • loss of control
  • lower royalties than self-publishing
  • no marketing help
  • contracts with detrimental clauses for the author

Self-publishing is the do-it-yourself version of book publishing. The pros are pretty exciting:

  • creative control over all aspects
  • faster to market
  • higher royalties
  • global market opportunities
  • niche books reach their audience

The cons are worth considering for newbie authors:

  • vetting a professional team
  • a stigma remains (but it’s fading) around self-publishing
  • financial burden is on the author
  • bookstore distribution is difficult

I look to a blog post from Joanna Penn to explain the finer details, Pros and Cons of Traditional Publishing vs Self-Publishing. She details the many differences with great accuracy. Worth reading for clarification on traditional and self-publishing.

Self-publishing is the easier path and can lead to a traditional publishing opportunity if the author is extremely pro-active in marketing and sets up a well-planned author platform.

Crash Course in Self-Publishing

Mar 15, 2021

Many authors come to me confused about book publishing. They may have done some research, participated in a few Facebook groups, talked with other authors and yet they don’t know exactly what steps to take to publish their book. They suffer from TMI (too much information).

Authors invariably state “I’m looking for an agent…” revealing grand dreams of a big-5 publishing company contract and launching their book to New York Times bestseller status. I admire their moxie but first-timers rarely see these dreams come true. If not traditional publishing then what?

Jane Friedman’s blog has countless articles about self-publishing. Her article, Start Here: How to Self-Publish Your Book is a great place to get the information authors need to get started. She answers a multitude of self-publishing questions and defines, traditional, self-publishing and hybrid publishing among many other relevant topics.

Personally, I’m a huge fan of self-publishing. Authors maintain control over every aspect of the book production process. The one thing I tell authors on a budget (and who isn’t these days?) is they control their cashflow. They can vet vendors and decide how much they want to pay and when they want to pay it. Unlike a hybrid publishing company that expects money upfront.

Read Jane’s blog. You won’t regret it.