One of the most common questions I get as a book coach is “What’s the difference between Traditional and Self Publishing… and which one is right for me?”
The following is adapted from my forthcoming book Book Writing for Busy People. Pre-order your copy today.
Traditional Publishing
The excitement of landing a book deal! The prestige! The street cred!
Traditionally publishing a book is quite the feat. After all, this means that someone believes in your message and delivery so much, that they’re willing to put their money behind it. It is exciting, but it’s not for everyone. In fact, depending on your reason for writing, it may not be for you at all.
The main reason? From the moment you hand in your completed manuscript, you’ll be waiting 9 months to more than a year to see your book in print and hopefully in bookstores. If you’re looking to be the next great novelist, you probably don’t mind waiting. However, if you are writing a book to sell in the back of the room, establish your expertise in a field so you can get speaking engagements, give to your clients to help them with a specific issue, etc., you probably don’t want to wait until your next Dilbert calendar to hold those books in your hand.
But Sheryl, I don’t want to do my own marketing. A publishing company will take care of all of that for me!
Yes, they will. Of course only under one of two conditions:
1) You are Stephen King, James Patterson, Dave Ramsey, or Seth Godin. (You can feel free to insert your own uber-famous author here.)
2) Your books are being delivered on the back of a unicorn that sneezes rainbows during allergy season.
I’m not saying that traditional publishing is a bad thing, by any means. In fact, having the support of a professional editor and cover designer, along with people who know the business, can be a very good thing. You won’t be laying out any money up front, and you may get a small advance, but don’t sign the papers for that house on Maui just yet. Of course, the publisher will want to recoup that money plus some, so don’t be expecting to see a large cut of the sales from your book.
The other challenge is that you give up a great deal of artistic control. Yes, it’s great to have the editor and designer paid for by the publishing company. But, they are taking an investment risk on you, so they’ll have final say over your cover and the changes that get made to your book.
Self Publishing
Let’s take a look at self-publishing now. I’m going to go into more detail here because this is what I’ve done with my own books and with my client’s books. If you are looking to have a finished product in hand as quickly as possible, this is your route. You have complete control over the process and can have a box of books waiting for you in just a few days.
Nothing in life is perfect (except for sloths) so what are the drawbacks to self-publishing?
The biggest drawback is the upfront cost. Remember that publisher that was footing the bill for your editor, cover designer, printing, etc.? Yeah, they’re not there anymore. This is all you. I’ll say this again later, but it deserves to be mentioned more than once. Please don’t create a finished product that looks like it was self-published. Hire a good editor. Hire a good cover designer. No matter which route you go, you want the most professional finished product possible. This is going to cost some money. I’d love to tell you that you can just write a book and then publish without any financial outlay, but it’s just not true. Be prepared to spend a few hundred to over a thousand dollars throughout the process.
Here is a handy-dandy, at-a-glance chart to help you weigh your options.
Neither type of publishing is right for everyone. If you have any questions about the best route for your situation, I’m happy to answer any questions. Contact me at sheryl@sherylgreenspeaks.com.
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