Self-publishing vs traditional publishing: What’s better for you?

Clients often ask me, is what’s better, self-publishing or traditional publishing? While the answer does depend (somewhat) on your particular situation, I will say right up front that in almost all cases, self-publishing is the better approach.

Now this answer has changed – even in the last five years, but almost completely in the last 10. Where I used to recommend always reaching out to traditional publishers first, I simply don’t see this as the best option anymore (except in limited situations).

So, let’s talk about self-publishing vs traditional publishing. The differences, the pros and cons, why self-publishing is generally the better option and when you might choose traditional publishing instead.

Self-publishing vs traditional publishing: What’s better for you?

The difference between self-publishing and traditional

There are loads and loads of great articles on the differences between self-publishing and traditional publishing. So, I’m not going to dive too deep here. But to state it succinctly, the main difference between the two is that with self-publishing you own all the rights and royalties to your book. If you don’t, then it’s not self-published.

Of course, when people are talking about traditional publishing, they’re really referring to the process of going through an established publisher who will take on your book as well as cover the costs of editing, printing and distributing it. (And if you’re very, very lucky, or have previously published a best seller, marketing it.)

In exchange for that work, they’ll also take a percentage (generally the much larger percentage) of the book sales and will arrange for you to receive a percentage (known as royalties).

On the other hand, when you self-publish you are responsible for editing, printing, marketing and distributing your book. In exchange, you keep all the profit from selling your book.

Pros of traditional publishing

There are some benefits of the traditional publishing route.

1. It sometimes brings prestige. 10 years ago, I would have said that traditional publishing brought validation and prestige. It was a sign to the reader that someone was willing to invest in you and your book, and because of that it must be worth reading.
   
   On the other hand, self-publishing was a quick way to tell the world that your book wasn’t really worth picking up. People simply saw these as ‘vanity publications’. In today’s world, this is just not the case anymore. Self-published books are widely read, and widely accepted (and widely published, as more and more authors are taking this route).
   
2. You sometimes pay nothing. It used to be the case that all the publishing costs, including editing, marketing and distribution, were paid by the publisher. BUT this is not usually the case any longer. In fact, I recently worked with an author who had to pay her ‘traditional publisher’ over $40,000 of printing costs. And this was after jumping through all the hoops of writing a book proposal and getting accepted onto their books.
   
3. The publisher might take care of everything. In the ‘old days’ the publisher would take care of all the nitty gritty of your book publication. This would include printing, warehousing, distributing and even marketing. They’d also supply you with an editor and a proofreader, and help you get your book to online distributors like Amazon. Unfortunately, this is no longer always the case.
   
   The first thing to go is generally marketing. A publisher might get your book printed and out to some stores, but if they don’t see it as a real goer they simply won’t spend additional money marketing it. This is really up to you in almost all cases. They also might expect you to pay some initial printing and distribution costs as they did my author.
   
4. You will have access to more physical bookstores. Of all the benefits, this one remains the truest. Traditional publishers have a good distribution network and relationships with bookstores who will likely be more willing to stock the books they recommend.
   
   The thing is, does it really matter that much? How often do you buy books directly from a bookstore? How many physical bookstores do you know?
   
   I consider myself to be an old school bookstore lover. (I love spending a lost afternoon in Brisbane’s Archives Fine Books, and their vast collection of used books!) Yet, I can only think of five or six off the top of my head across all of Brisbane. And only one is convenient to me. Like most people I know, I get my books from the library, as an e-book or via an online bookseller. (Archives Fine Books is a notable exception!)

Cons of traditional publishing

There are also some cons of traditional publishing, which remain true.

1. It’s hard to get noticed. When you publish with a traditional publisher you first need to get their attention. That means approaching them directly or using a literary agent to do so for you. If you’re submitting a manuscript you really have one chance to get it right. And each publisher will have their own, quite stringent process before they’ll even consider looking at your work. And even if you meet every requirement there’s no guarantee.
   
   If you use a literary agent your manuscript will be considered ‘solicited’ – meaning it has the agent’s recommendation. Many publishing companies will only review solicited manuscripts so it’s worth doing some research on this topic before choosing a publishing house.  
   
2. It can take a long time. Sometimes a really long time. The author who paid $40,000 for her books to be printed also had to wait nearly a year for her book to be released. It simply takes a long time for a traditional publisher to move through the process.
   
3. You lose creative control. A traditional publisher will expect you to make edits in line with who they see as the target buyers of your book. Sometimes this is no big deal. But sometimes it might undermine your own vision for your book. For example, one author I worked with was asked to drop his ‘leadership angle’ and make the book applicable to everyone (literally, ‘everyone’).
   
4. You lose a lot of profit. Royalty rates in traditional publishing are of course lower than the profit you’ll receive when you self-publish. In Australia you should anticipate that your royalties will be around 10% of the recommended retail price of the book. The counter argument is that you may sell more books with a traditional publisher.
   
5. You cannot use the content again. When you publish with a traditional publisher they own all the rights to the book. So, you can’t use any of that content for workbooks, workshops, online or in any other forum.  

A bit about self-publishing

When it comes to self-publishing vs traditional publishing, self-publishing is no longer seen as the bastard of the publishing world. In fact, around 300 million self-published books are sold each year to a tune of about $1.25 billion USD. The idea of vanity publishing has frankly disappeared from the conversation. And readers are generally very accepting of self-published books, particularly in the business and nonfiction spaces.

Rather than relying on a publisher having agreed to print it as a sign of a book worth reading, readers today rely on reviews, word of mouth recommendations and marketing hype. We have Amazon to thank for this. Whether you like them or not, they revolutionised the self-publishing industry and cracked open opportunities for millions of authors to compete in what had been a closed book market.  

Pros of self-publishing

So, what are the pros of self-publishing?

1. You can publish your book, no matter what. Niche books, books by first time authors or other types of manuscripts that a publishing house might see as a risky investment can have their day in the sun. There’s no one to tell you no. You decide when your book is ready to meet your audience.
   
2. You can publish quickly. I’ve worked with an author who published a book within three months of beginning the writing process (she is a very experienced author). She wrote the book, I edited it and then she self-published it. And it’s been very successful. Another fiction writer that I worked with recently had his book published, once finished, within four weeks. And that was for printed books to arrive at his door.
   
3. You retain complete creative control. Your book stays aligned with your vision. While editing is a must, your editor won’t be looking to change your book to support the money-making strategy of another company or entity. They’ll simply be on board to help bring your book into its final glory.
   
4. Your book gets a longer shelf life. Traditionally published books tend to have a short shelf life in a bookstore. They’ll only stay as long as they’re selling well, which is typically only about 30 days. In the alternative, your self-published book is always available online.
   
5. You can use your content as you like. Because you own all the rights to your book you can use it for workbooks, online courses, workshops, social media, blogs or in any other forum. A traditional publisher will absolutely not allow that.
   
6. You can compile content you’ve already used. One great way to write a business book is to mine your podcast content or other articles or blogs you’ve written to use in chapters of your book. You can pull this content together, expand it, ensure it all works to support your premise and substantially add to your book.
   
   This is particularly good for people who are thought leaders in an industry. But you can’t do that with a traditional publisher. A traditional publisher will demand that any content you use has never been previously published anywhere else. This is true even if it’s your own thought leadership published on your own proprietary forums.

Cons of self-publishing

Of course, there are still some cons of self-publishing.

1. All the responsibility rests with you. You are responsible for sourcing an editor and a proofreader, for creating a final copy, for finding a publisher/typesetter, for organising a printer (though many self-publishers will do that for you), for building a website, for getting your book into online bookstores, for creating a mailing list, for all your marketing, for the printing costs and for distributing your books.
   
   That being said, many self-publishing companies take care of a good portion of this for a flat fee.
   
2. You will need to engage professional services. As mentioned above, you will likely need to engage a professional editor (or even ghostwriter), proofreader, typesetter, printer and perhaps even a PR and marketing specialist.
   
3. Bookstores will probably not stock your book. This is one con that remains generally true. However, I have an author client who simply walked into the local bookstores and asked them if they’d be interested in stocking her memoir on a consignment basis. And guess what, they were happy to. Of course, this will be more legwork and it won’t work for the big stores such as Dymocks.

Self-publishing vs traditional publishing – what’s right for you?

The tone of this article has probably already given it away, but for clarity’s sake, I’ll say it again. Almost all authors will have more success self-publishing. And the reason for this is because your book will actually be published.

You might have written the next great Australian novel, but the fact of the matter is that your chance of getting your work published by a traditional publisher is only 1 to 2%. On the other hand, your chance of getting your work published via the self-publishing route – 100%.

So, who should go to a traditional publisher?

• Authors who have already been published by a traditional publishing house.  
• Authors who are famous or well known.
• Authors with books that fit into an established genre, have mass commercial appeal and are written for a broad audience.

If you do meet these criteria, then a traditional publisher might just be right for you!

How can I help?

If you’re keen to publish your book this year, get in touch. I’m happy to help you with editing and proofreading and put you in touch with an excellent self-publishing company. And if you’re keen to work with a traditional publisher, I can help you prepare your submission for the best results. (If you just have more questions about self-publishing vs traditional publishing, happy to answer those too!)

This is the year you get your book published!