Questions re: Traditional Publishing vs Self-publishing

 

I belong to a number of online groups for writers. I enjoy people telling what the writing life means to them. But over the last few months, the comments have become variations on the same theme. A question like - I've just finished my first book, should I go for traditional publishing, or should I self publish?

I know what it means to be a beginner, and I have tried to provide answers in some cases. Unfortunatly, I sadly admit that I can be long-winded. Furthermore, my kind of answer, especially in the limitations of a twitter or facebook setting, probably ends up being more confusing than helpful. But the questioners keep showing up, many of them asking the same things. So I have decided to try giving my insights and responses to the questions of beginning writers here on this blog.

There are many important things a new author needs to consider when they first begin writing. 

First: You need time, money and, most of all patience 

In some ways, publishing can be analagous to remodeling a home. Some people and projects require the use of a general contractor to take charge.  Other people feel competent put in the time and energy to manage the details themselves, and need the control of engaging individual workers and making certain get exactly what they want. Your personality plays the biggest role in selecting which path you will do best in as far as publishing your manuscript.  

In modern traditional publishing, patience is not only a virtue, it’s an absolute necessity. Years can pass between the time you write THE END and when an acquiring editor agrees to buy the rights to publish your book.  Conversely, you may only need months to do it yourself and self-publish. The self-publishing path will cost you in money more than in time. 

Second: Your individual goals drive the decision

When you first start writing a manuscript, decide if your future plans include publication.  The sooner you make that decision, the sooner you can start looking into things like editing. Not everyone wants to publish. That’s absolutely OK. A member of my critique group is a fantastic writer, with zero desire to publish. Not even in a magazine. I love her writing, and a few years ago I tried to get her to consider publishing. No interest. Her goal is to have something that tells her history to her family when she is gone.
If you want to publish someday, start making decisions before you write THE END. If you are looking at traditional publishing, you can get an early start on researching agents and acquiring editors who are willing to take unagented submissions. If you decide to self-publish and want more than the pride of holding your book in your hands, and maybe seeing copies in the hands of your friends and family, the sooner you stargt learning more a out the realities of publishing the better. If you want to sell thousands of copies and eearn best-seller status while making a pile of money, start moving in that direction as soon as possible.

This includes an honest self-assessment on your comfort with marketing. While it is true that you have to market yourself and your book whether you pursue traditional or self-publishing, marketing is critical to any hope of making significant sales for a self-published book. People prefer buying books from authors they know, or at least feel they know. Celebrities, best-selling authors, authors with a major platform. That’s why you should begin your marketing work even before you finish your book.  

While many self published romance books and authors beat these numbers, the average self-published book sells 250 copies. The average self-published author earns $1,000 per year from their books. 33% of self-published authors make less than $500 per year. 90% of self-published books sell less than 100 copies.

Marketing yourself is crucial to helping you surpass those numbers. Use social media, your website, and any other means you have to build a group that will follow you. Over time, they will feel like they grow to know you, they will feel you are one of them. Then, months, even years later, when you have a completed book, you also have people who feel they know you and are therefore more likely to care about your book.

Third: Know your own personality

Are you ready to face rejection without feeling compleely dejected. Here are a few statistics accumulated a few years ago. 

Agents and acquiring editors reject around 90% of submissions. If you don’t accumulate a large number of rejections in your quest for traditional publication, you have either given up on getting an agent or being acquired by a traditional publisher - or you have the goddess Tyche in your corner (Greek goddess of fortune, chance,  and fate, much like the African goddess Oya who appears in my newest (and as yet unpublished) manuscript). In order to achieve you must be prepared to see a lot of nos first.

I hope I have managed to answer some issues aspiring authors may have, without making things more confusing. I would love to have you share any issues or alternate opinions in the comments. I too am eagefr to learn. For the record, I have traditionally published three books, and self-published two, so I have seen both worlds.