Traditional Publishing vs. Self-publishing

Today there are many options for authors who want to get published. This article looks at two major types of publishing—traditional publishing and self-publishing—and the pros and cons of each.

In the traditional publishing process, an author completes a manuscript, writes a query or proposal, and submits it to a publishing house. An editor reads it, considers whether it is right for the house, and decides either to reject it (leaving the author free to offer it to another publisher), or to publish it. If the publishing house decides to publish the book, the house buys the rights from the writer and pays him or her an advance on royalties. The house puts up the money to design and package the book, prints as many copies of the book as it thinks will sell, markets the book, and finally distributes the finished book to the public.

With self-publishing, the process is a bit different. An author who decides to self-publish basically becomes the publisher. The author must provide the funds required to publish the book, as well as the camera-ready artwork. The author is responsible for marketing and distributing the book, filling orders, and running public relations campaigns. Previously, the author would have had to decide on how many copies of the book to print, as well, sometimes resulting in stacks of unsold books gathering dust in the garage! Fortunately, the Print on Demand (POD) technology now used by some self-publishing companies means that authors can have fewer copies printed – as many as they need, in fact.

Below are the three fundamental differences between traditional publishing and self-publishing:

Time: With traditional publishing, it can literally take years to publish a book. For one thing, an author may have to shop the manuscript to several publishing houses before it is picked up. If you figure that the bigger houses can take up to six months to work their way through the “slush pile” (the enormous amount of queries that land on editors’ desks) to get to your manuscript, and that you will likely have to try several different publishing houses before you get one to show interest… well, you do the math! That’s a lot of waiting. Then, if a house does decide to take your book, the actual process of producing the book takes at least another year. Admittedly, this applies mostly to fiction; non-fiction books that are topical and relevant to world events might be pushed through more quickly.

With self-publishing, depending on the self-publishing company, an author can literally have a finished book – hardcover or paperback or both – in his or her hands within six months. Of course, this is a business service, and authors have to pay for the service. Which brings us to…

Money: In brief, with self-publishing you pay (often thousands of dollars, depending on the self-publishing company you choose); with traditional publishing, you get paid (you might not get paid very much, though… or you might get a six-figure advance on your first novel). In traditional publishing, the publishing house, with its huge amount of resources, experience, knowledge and contacts, goes to bat for you because it believes in your book. In self-publishing, you have to pay for the design, pay for the editing, pay for the printing, pay for advertising, pay for the distribution, get your books into the stores and into people’s houses, all by yourself (it has been said that self-publishing works best for people who are good at self-marketing, so do bear that in mind). There is one major payoff for all that payout, though, which is…

Control: Often, an author’s joy at selling a manuscript turns to despair when an over-zealous editor at a publishing house rips that manuscript to unrecognizable shreds. Publishers might also refuse to publish a book because it is “too controversial,” it doesn’t fit the house’s list, or simply because it “won’t sell.” With self-publishing, the author has much greater control over the content of the book, its design and appearance, and where it’s marketed and distributed.

Having looked at the pros and cons of traditional publishing versus self-publishing, you’ll need to ask yourself some tough questions about what is best for you, your personality, and your manuscript. Do you want the ’third party recognition’ implied by traditional publishing, bearing in mind that self-publishing companies produce books for anyone who can pay them? Or is control over your work and quick turnaround important to you?

Hopefully you’re not more confused than ever. The good news is that tools like POD and the Internet, and online booksellers such as Amazon, are leveling the playing field between traditionally published and self-published books. Authors have a lot more options to get their work out there than they used to!

Good luck with whichever option you choose!