The Pros And Cons Of Traditional Publishing vs. Self-Publishing
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ส.ค. 2024
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Full notes on this at:
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and also in my free ebook, Successful Self-Publishing (also in print):
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I go through:
- What is traditional publishing
- Pros of trad pub including kudos, validation, prestige; easier print distribution, established team to work with, no upfront costs and (hopefully) a decent advance, some marketing help, potential for critical acclaim and literary prizes
- Cons of trad pub include: slow process, loss of creative control, potentially prohibitive contract clauses, less marketing help than expected, lower royalty rates
I recommend Kristine Kathryn Rusch's book on contracts: Closing the Deal on your Terms - amzn.to/2CRwsff
- Self-publishing vs being an independent author
- Pros of self-publishing: creative control, speed to market, higher royalty rates, empowerment, global sales in any format and any market, niche books can reach a market, can use it to get attention of trad pub if you have success
- Cons of self-publishing: you need to learn new skills and find a professional team to work with, you need an upfront budget for a quality product, validation has to come from readers and income, not the industry, harder to get into physical bookstores and literary prizes.
Remember, you can be a hybrid author and choose which publishing route per project and per market e.g. keep World English rights for ebook, but license paperback, audiobook or foreign rights.
I am presently in my MA in English and Creative Writing program. In this term our class is working on publishing and your video and article, “Pros and Cons of Traditional Publishing vs Self-Publishing,” was assigned and found it quite informative. Brava and thank you!
Thanks - it is a really old video now so I hope you also reassessed based on the current market :)
Honestly, I've wanted to be traditionally published for years but in the recent months, with my third novel publication coming closer and closer, I've been leaning more and more towards self-publishing. My success is determined 100% by me and I get to make all the decisions. I've loved my journey of self-publishing so far and can't wait to do it all again for a third novel!
You can still do both - just decide per project what would work best!
Joanna! Wow, thank you so much for all this vital information and giving it for free! It solidified my decision to self publish. I’ll be diving into some of your other information you so graciously have made available. Thank you again!
Yet another very insightful video. Thank you so much!😁Traditional publishing sounds much better than it is in reality. There is a lot of waiting involved, too much waiting. Of course, if you're on top of the publisher's priority list, this might be the best way to go. Otherwise, you most likely get lost somewhere, and they will give their money and marketing time to the current bestsellers. That's why indie publishing for me is definitely the way to go.
We should erase the term "self publish" and stick with "indie publishing." It just sounds better. And more professional too. Thanks for the video!!! : )
I agree - but generally those 'outside' of indie don't understand the term until they are 'inside' :)
That would erase the stigma. Trad publishers would hate that. Trad published authors too.
Subbed!! Great point about the decline in the brick and mortor physical copies for traditional publishing.
This was so informative. Thank you!
So helpful! I’m writing a book on dating tips for young men. Gonna self-publish first then potentially seek hybrid based on how well it does. Thanks for the help!
Great advice. Just what I needed!
Very informative! Thank you.
Fantastic information- especially for those who haven’t yet published and don’t know where to start! Thanks for helping us sort it all out.
Glad it was useful :)
I really enjoyed this video; it is very precise and to the point. I am a Indie-Author of two books currently on Amazon; It's Time to Heal & Completion, due to writing a third book in 2019. It seems that whatever decision you make is down to the Aspiring Author, and what they can afford and how much they are willing to see their book succeed. Hybrid Authors are also a good way of obtaining publicity, but the main goal is to do your research and choose what option is best for you. Thanks very much for sharing this!
Im going to reach out to publishing companies but most likely self publish.
I am about to finish a childrens book of about 1000 words and am looking over options. I've worked with a really good editor and am happy with the outcome. After seeing your video I am slowly moving towards self-publishing but my first question is how do i find a good designer for my story picture book?
You can find recommended cover designers here: www.thecreativepenn.com/bookcoverdesign
Thanks Joanna, that's the extra insight I needed. I appreciate you taking the time.
No worries :)
I love how well-balanced this video is and how you don't sugarcoat anything. What I found is that most authors recognize the benefits of being independent, but a lot of them just can't or won't do everything else other than writing and marketing. Sure, they need to do marketing even when they work with a publisher, but it's a lot easier than contracting cover artists, people to format, editors, proofreaders, etc. I also see a lot of hybrid authors and I think that's a nice middle ground if you want to test everything out and see what style suits you best.
Glad you found it balanced - there are definitely pros and cons either way and personality & willingness to learn new things has a lot to do with success as an independent
Totally agree! I love the control I get. I also love how it allows me access to stats. The part I hated most about being with a publisher was the fact I could not check results as often as I wanted (sales, reads, etc). Kind of made it hard to try and experiment. It was also hard to feed my need to keep refreshing the KDP/Bookreport pages :D
Hello Joanna. We believe you're a top source for credible and honest information that indie authors can take action upon. I'm the Social Media Director of Dartfrog books. I noticed the other day that our Director of Bookstore Relations, Marina Aris, took a picture with you at the ALLi booth at the London Book Fair. Very cool. I'm posting this video on our FB/Twitter feeds:)
Thank you for this video--and your website! So informative and accessible for newbies!
Neither of my local bookshops - London NW6 - will handle Amazon books. 🤥
That's why you use Ingram Spark to publish print books wide :) www.thecreativepenn.com/how-to-self-publish-a-print-book/
What a super, exuberant personality. Almost done with my first book and looking for this information. Thank you for real-life info!
Glad it helped :)
Joanna -- great information and as always, timely and well-received! While it isn't easy, you are proof that it is possible and anticipate all the angles for us. Thank you!
It's definitely do-able :)
Hello Joanna, Great thank you for sharing. It demystified publishing for me. I agree that indie sounds more professional. You are an answer to prayer. Will you update as you go? Wow so much you have to love it. Loving it.
Glad you like the phrase "independent author" as a more professional option than "self-publishing" :) Have fun!
I'm indie ALL the way!!!! It is just slow going when you have to meticulously learn each aspect of writing, publishing, and marketing. Oh, well, I am hoping that after I get the first five or six published, the process will go faster. Great show! :-)
The process of publishing is very fast once you get your workflow sorted and the professionals you use in place. The writing and marketing is the stuff that takes time!
Ugh, As someone new to this my head is spinning. I just want to share my story and hope to make enough for a '57 Chevy Nomad. Been told going the traditional is very hard to do, yet I may not have the resources or time to go the other route. Thanks for the information though
Finish the book first and think about publishing later :)
@@thecreativepenn Oops, My story IS basically done. I have those Publishing places telling me not to try an literary agent ( give us your money) but there is no way I can do all the marketing. I understand going with an agent would take time. LOL I have 3 years into now-- Thanks SO Much for your reply
Hi Joanna, great video! Thank you so much! Can you please do an episode on foreign rights and how to sell internationally? We’d appreciate it! 💜
Here you go: www.thecreativepenn.com/2016/03/07/how-authors-sell-publishing-rights/
Hi Joanna, thanks for this helpful breakdown. You mentioned how many traditionally published authors don't earn out their advance, and it's usually only $5k-10k. Do you have any stats or data on what percentage this is, compared to the average payout that indie authors make? You also mentioned some indie authors that have become bestsellers. Similar question: do you have any stats on bestsellers that were indie published? Thank you.
I don't have that data. No one does - especially as Amazon doesn't release their data. It's also country specific. But look at www.AuthorEarnings.com for specifically US based, Amazon specific income.
In terms of bestsellers that started out indie published - well-known examples include 50 Shades of Grey and The Martian, but there are a lot of them :)
The trouble with 'how well do indy authors do' stats, is that anyone can self publish, so you're looking at averages for the whole range of abilities. If you are an excellent author, your sales will not correlate with those figures at all.
Hi Joanna, Lisa here, although you may know me as L.E.Vera on Twitter :) I love your content as usual - and it is through your podcast and your TH-cam videos that I feel more inclined to be an independent author (though I'm definitely open to doing a traditional route too :P). But that is of course when I actually start writing a book ;)
get writing!
Great video, nice info.Tell me this, are advances in publishing the same as in music? If so, then it's just a loan correct? Meaning, I will have to pay it back. Doesn't that make me an employee of the publishing company, even though it's my work they are making money from? One would think it would be/should be, more of a partnership. I think I'll keep creative control.
Advances are actually "advances against royalties" but you don't have to pay it back - unless you renege on the terms of your contract. The contract is everything! so just watch what you sign
EXCELLENT!
Thank you!..
xo~A
Some writers are making good money on Steemit.
Yes, see the interview with David Kadavy - th-cam.com/video/n_vktSjS5eo/w-d-xo.html
Good info, but if you're selling on Mars, wouldn't you need Universal rights, not just World? ;)
Jon in BC, Canada
absolutely - but maybe just Mars rights as you wouldn't want to sell universal for such a small territory!
I can beleive you make six figures, because your dropping one of your books for each scentence. I need to be more like you.
You have to be able to market books as well as write them if you want to be successful as an author. You get to choose your definition of success, though.
Well worth watching! You have been warned!!! 💔