Comments on: Traditional vs. Self-Publishing—Which One is Best for You?

By: Virginia Anderson

Virginia Anderson — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 13:02:33 +0000

One thing not mentioned in this excellent article is that traditionally published books have a short shelf life. It has been a while since I traditionally published, but my memory is that your book stayed “on sale” for only about six weeks. That definitely did not include being on the shelves in any major book stores–that perk went only to what the publishers considered their hottest titles. After your book becomes yesterday’s news, the publisher holds on to the rights for much, much longer, dead time to the author unless one of those coveted paperback (or OMG movie deals!) ensues. Finally, you, the author, have to invoke the “out=of-print” clause that had better be in your contract to reclaim your rights–and then you have to self-publish anyway or the book is dead. Obviously this does not apply to some major breakout bestseller, but writers in general are ill-advised to assume that their book will be the next one of those. In contrast, as the article points out in passing, a self-published book can live as long as you want it to, can be revised, re-covered, re-everythinged, and marketed with as much energy and creativity as you care to invest. Oh, and unless you are one of those superstars, you will doing all your own marketing anyway. A huge advance might make the difference. If you can make them pay you big money in advance, maybe you can end up on the shelves longer with their marketing behind you. Otherwise, you’re on their timetable and subject to their discretion about how your book gets sold.

By: Colleen

Colleen — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 06:58:48 +0000

In reply to Mari. Thanks for your thoughts, Mari. Yes there are many models of publishing out there. I imagine it all depends on the publisher and the contract, but in all three of my cases (traditional pub), the publisher had the last word on the cover. If I hated it they'd definitely take that into consideration, as they wanted me to be happy, but they always had the last word. With a true traditional publisher, even the smaller ones, you don't pay for editing, design, distribution, etc. There are some services available today that will provide these services for a fee and then publish the book and give you higher royalties, but that is a different type of service or publisher, sometimes called a hybrid or vanity publisher. I've found your thoughts on royalties to be about right, though I think you can audit the sales if you wanted to.

By: Colleen

Colleen — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 06:47:48 +0000

In reply to Mindy Alyse Weiss. Thanks so much, Mindy! :O)

By: Mindy Alyse Weiss

Mindy Alyse Weiss — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 04:41:16 +0000

This is the best list showing pros of both traditional and self-publishing that I’ve seen. Thanks for sharing your wisdom, Colleen. And congrats on all 6 of your books!

By: Mari

Mari — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 00:04:59 +0000

I don’t know if it’s the same in every country, but where I live, the authors that use a big publishing house get just the 10% of the earnings. And they never get to audit the sales, so they never know if they’re getting a fair share.
I’m an editorial designer, and I’ve worked in a small publishing house and as a free-lancer and every design I’ve made is always approved by the author (the book, the cover and sometimes even the promotional pieces), I’ve always worked closely with the author and the editor, but the author has the last word. Although I’m not privy to the contractual part of the business it’s my understanding that the author pays for the service (design, edition and distribution, all of that or some of them), but I think their shares of the profits it’s higher than with a big publishing house. It’s an intermediate type of publishing between self-publishing and a big publishing house contract.

By: Colleen

Colleen — Thu, 07 Jul 2022 18:26:16 +0000

In reply to Jennifer Lane. Thanks so much, Jennifer! Kind of you to say. :O)

By: Colleen

Colleen — Thu, 07 Jul 2022 18:26:01 +0000

In reply to Jan Sikes. Thanks, Jan! Yes, self-publishing can be expensive for sure, particularly if you're committed to a quality (well-edited) project. And the marketing is allllll up to us! (ha ha) Thanks for reading. :O)

By: Colleen

Colleen — Thu, 07 Jul 2022 18:24:58 +0000

In reply to BECCA PUGLISI. Thanks, Becca! Yes, it's been an interesting journey for sure! :O)

By: BECCA PUGLISI

BECCA PUGLISI — Thu, 07 Jul 2022 13:38:55 +0000

Thanks for sharing your insight here, Colleen. It’s so nice to get information on this topic from someone who’s seen both sides :).

By: Jan Sikes

Jan Sikes — Thu, 07 Jul 2022 12:46:39 +0000

You did a great job in breaking down this dilemma, Colleen. I’ve done both as well. I’ve self-published lots more than I’ve traditionally published. But I sought a traditional publisher for the simple reason that I was broke. I had no more money to invest in self-publishing. I can easily say I’ve never recouped my original investment, which ran around $2,000 per book. And that isn’t counting what I’ve spent on marketing. I think the bottom line is that it is up to the author and their wants and needs. Great article!

By: Jennifer Lane

Jennifer Lane — Thu, 07 Jul 2022 12:11:38 +0000

Helpful post, thank you! Congratulations on your sixth book.