The Publishing Predicament
Are there consequences for the wrong choice?
Welcome or welcome back! Series two, episode three of A Writer’s Life! If you’d like to hear me read this, then click here: (Music by FASSounds and Music_For_Videos from Pixabay.)
4 minute read
Happy spring everyone! Bunnies, chocolate eggs, daffodils, and nature bursting into action. Will you be bursting into action? Time to take a peak from the blanket you’ve been hiding under and see what’s waiting for you out there in the world.
Speaking of blankets, can you believe we had snow here in England a couple of weeks ago? I mean, come on. Who muddled with nature’s notifications and messed up the calendar? But it is England so weather wise anything goes!
Anyway enough of being so British and talking about the weather, let’s get back on task. As promised we’re going to dip a toe in the ocean of the publishing world.
You’ve put all the pieces together, proofread until you thought your eyes would melt and publishing is the next checkpoint on your journey. Great! Awesome! Go you! But you’re at a crossroads now. How do you get that long-awaited idea of a book into your actual trembling with excitement hands?
Two routes that you can take: traditional publishing or self-publishing. And like everything there are pros and cons. Your decision will be based on what it is you want, where you are now and where you want to be. Consider:
Do you have rainy day (back to the weather again) money to invest in publishing your book?
Do you have the resources needed to edit your book, format it for print, print it, design a front cover and market it?
How soon do you want your book in your hand?
Do you have visions of your book on the shelves of Waterstones and Barnes and Noble?
Is receiving a decent percentage of the royalties important to you?
Do you have the time and patience to learn new skills to get your book completed and out there?
Are you confident in finding a literary agent to help secure a publishing deal? Do you have a query letter ready to go?
Have you explored the different options for self-publishing?
Do you have a community to help you?
Do you have anyone to help you?
Woah I’m firing questions at you like a quizmaster. Move over Bamber Gascoigne. Okay, let’s sum up the advantages and disadvantages of both. Bear in mind though that depending on your position and viewpoint a disadvantage could be reframed to an advantage and vice versa.
Traditional publishing:
Advantages
Wider distribution, marketing and publicity
Access to the experts: design artists, editors, proofreaders
Recognition of being with a publisher
Connections to industry experts, wider networking
Less upfront costs and potentially an advance payment
Disadvantages
You don’t own all the rights
Your vision may not align with the publisher's vision
Not as much creative freedom
You will still have to market and publicise yourself
You will receive a lower percentage of the royalties (15-20% as opposed to 65 - 70% for example)
Self-publishing:
Advantages
Complete creative control
A higher percentage of royalties
Don’t need an agent or publisher
Can publish faster
Own all of the rights
Launch on your own timeline
Disadvantages
Limited distribution
Need to self-finance (note here: you spend as much as you decide to. I spent money on courses to learn about the process. Outside of this, the only additional cost was buying the Procreate app so I could have more options when designing a front cover)
Less access to experts to assist in the design, editing etc.
All falls on you unless you gather a team to support (I wrote in community at Writers’ Hour and learnt from others in London Writers’ Salon)
If you’re new here, you may not know that I self-published my first book Warrior Wisdom Sun in March 2022. I took the self-publishing route because I didn’t fancy the idea of someone else owning all of the rights and me only receiving 15% of the royalties. I also didn’t want to wait and work for years trying to write a query letter, find an agent, write a book proposal and secure a publisher. I did explore various self-publishing routes and chose Amazon KDP over IngramSpark and Lulu because:
it had a larger royalty return
option to print on demand
option to purchase author copies so that I could potentially take my book and sell it elsewhere (if you buy your own ISBN and don’t use one from Amazon)
easy to share a link with others to purchase
it was right for me at the time
I wonder, what will it be for you? Consider what you want your author experience to look like and what resources you currently have to put into it. Need someone to chew the cud over with? Hit me up for one of my micro office hours and let’s chat. Click here - I’d love to meet you. But if you’re feeling shy, leave a comment or hit reply.
See you in April when I’ll be sharing an author interview with you! So excited for you to get to know one of my authorly friends! Until then, here’s a poem for you!
The thing about dreams Is they change Sometimes you want this Other times that You achieve your dreams They end And then you fall flat You watch your dream Crash and burn But remember They all have their turn When we dream as we sleep There is fluidity And the dreams They seep One into the other No beginning or end Lines blurred Memories muffled So we have to pretend Hold the dream gently No grasping Caress it smooth It can’t be contained And needs space to move To evolve, mutate, transform Is the norm To change Rearrange And become a different form.
Music by Lexin_Music from Pixabay
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