Traditional

I’m not published. I can just give you some articles:

https://letterpile.com/writing/How-Hard-Is-It-To-Get-Published-In-The-Real-World/

Start Here: How to Get Your Book Published

The Truth About Publishing

I don’t think anyone on here has traditionally published, so I may as well go ahead and say something. First off, you don’t need a literary agent, but from what I understand it is normally very helpful to have one. Also, it is generally accepted that you won’t be able to get with any sort of large publisher until you have already done well with at least one book. If you’ve accumulated a large platform prior to publishing though, I assume this would be different. If you do plan to traditionally publish, one thing you really need to be careful about is your rights. When you write a book, you own all the rights to it, but when you sign a book contract, publishers often take away many of your rights. These can include things like the right to publish overseas, create an audiobook, or even the right to have the final decision in your book’s editing. You never want to be kept from having the final decision on your book’s editing.

All this said, the one thing anyone planning to traditional publish has to consider is, if you already have to have a platform anyway, why go ahead and share 2/3+ of your profit with a publisher? After all, you can just as easily sell your platform a self-published book and keep the profits to yourself.

To get a good publisher, generally you need to first get a good literary agent, which means learning how to write a great query letter, along with a great book. Generally-speaking, if you’re a skilled writer, publishers and literary agents will want to publish/represent you, but there is an element of luck to it. If you’re looking for good blogs to research, Steve Laube, Rachelle Gardener, and Nathan Bransford (archives for him since he’s no longer a literary agent) are all good resources. QueryShark is also really good, but also has a fair bit of language, so be warned. Trad publishers do give you a much less percentage of the cut, but then you also have the advantage of external validation, being saved from finding your own cover artists/editors, getting an advance, and putting your books into book stores.

I also did a three-part video series several years back for an old website I helped to run on this topic, so you may find helpful info there as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnaqCOrrzXs

This topic came up the other night at supper, and I was able to talk about it fairly intelligently, which shows I’ve learned something from being here :). But my parents are of the generation before self-publishing became a viable option — to them, “self-publishing” equals “vanity press”. Which is a pity, because I’m considering self-publishing some of my fantasy stories eventually. Any of you passionate folk have ideas about how to explain how things have changed?

@northerner Ah, yes. Well, here’s some ideas.
1. You can point out some highly successful self-published book. I’m thinking of The Martian, but there are others. Just do a google search.
2. Point out how traditional publishing has changed. They now expect you to essentially sell most of your books for them.
3. Point out how self-publishing has changed. 1. Self-published print books are just as quality as traditionally published print books. 2. Few people care anymore whether a book is traditionally published or self-published and often they’ll never even have to know. Ebooks are now a huge part of the market, an area in which traditional publishers aren’t normally very involved but in which self-publishers can easily generate sales if they know what they are doing.
4. With self-publishing you have control of your book. Nobody can put an awful cover on your story and ignore your protests. Nobody can change your text even if you don’t want them to. Note: there are traditional publishers that let you keep your rights, but most don’t from what I understand.
5. A self-published author can do anything a traditional publisher can do. They can get into bookstores. They can sell internationally. They can create audiobook versions of their story. The only real advantage of a traditional publisher is that they can probably get you into more physical book stores and with less hassle on your part.
6. Royalties for a self-published book are about 7x that of a traditionally published book.
7. Traditional publishing is complicated. You probably need to get an agent and work through a legal contract and then wait several months (or more) before your book is accepted anywhere.

@theliterarycrusader good betas and editors are essential. I’ve started too many self-published stories that could be good if only they weren’t produced prematurely.

@daeus, what about the concern that self-published authours can’t make any money?

@northerner Well, to start with, I haven’t made money doing it any way because I haven’t published, but there are a few clear facts. First of all, a lot of traditionally published authors don’t make money either. Second, with so much more of the profits you actually keep, it’s easier to make money self-publishing. Third, there are a lot of successful self-publishers. Fourth, most self-publishers fail because they really don’t know what they’re doing. The ease of self-publishing means they can neglect their research. Fifth, I suspect another big reason authors fail is just giving up. Think about it. We procrastinate on marketing, why won’t we procrastinate on marketing? It can be tempting to give up on a book at times, and I imagine it’s just the same publishing. And the thing is nobody can stop you from giving up. You just can’t do it. Don’t do it. Don’t.