Why I Am Publishing Traditionally

Traditional Publishing versus Independent Publishing. This is a hot topic among the author world, with several touting their way is the best. In reality, each way is totally valid, depending on what each author wants out of their book, the publishing process, and more.

I also want to be clear that even though I am going traditionally, there’s nothing wrong with going indie if it works better for you! There’s this stigma among certain groups that traditionally published people look down on indie published people (which I barely see at all anymore) and I want to be clear I’m just giving my reasons for going traditionally and to help someone who’s maybe on the fence see things from this perspective (especially since I came across a very hurtful post by an indie author inferring the only reason someone would possibly want to traditionally publish would be to have the shallow goal of being a NYT bestseller and win millions of awards, and if you want to reach and inspire readers, go indie! But it did show their ignorance on the subject, honestly, if they couldn’t think of any other reason to offer for going traditionally.)

Today’s post is going to be on why I personally am aiming to be traditionally published and not independently, and it will list the actual statistics, not just percentages. And since everyone seems to focus on the 100% of royalties vs. 10% of royalties fact in the indie/traditional routes, I will be explaining both of those and why if money is your goal, you should actually try traditional publishing before indie, despite the royalty percentages. The reason is this simple thing called sales.

First, a quick explanation as to what independent and traditional publishing means.

Independent or “Indie” publishing is also known as Self-Publishing–but most indie published authors refer to it as independent since “self publishing” was the old name that used to have the reputation for being “cheap” and “unprofessional”. I will use the term Indie publishing out of respect for this, and because many indie published books are just as good or better as their traditionally published counterparts.

Traditional publishing is when one sends their book to a publishing house to print, sell, and distribute, often with the help of literary agents.

Now. Some facts (pros and cons) about each type of publishing.

Traditional Publishing Facts

• You don’t have to spend a dime on your work if you don’t want to.
• Landing a book deal is rare, and can take years to land an agent, much less a book deal.
• You have higher exposure to the public.
• The traditional publishing process is generally slow–it can take years between the deal signing for the book to come out.
• You are paid advance royalties for your book.
• You share the royalties from the book with your agent and the publisher, taking home around 10% for yourself.
• A team of professionals edit, proofread, and design your book, and another team helps with marketing and promotion.
• You have little control over the process. Since the publisher is taking all the risk, they get the final say on everything. Most seek to make the author happy, but at the end, the choice is theirs–unless you decide you no longer want your book published.
• The expected income from a book is generally overestimated by the author. Typically, the average book don’t make up the advance, and therefore don’t pay more.
• The average traditionally published book sells around 3,000 copies in its lifetime.

Independent Publishing Facts

• Anyone can do it. Your end product can look professional while still buying printed books cheaply without having to buy in bulk.
• Anyone can do it. The market is stuffed with thousands of indie books being published every day.
• You determine the timeline, thus allowing as little or much time as you want to pass before releasing books.
• You control the editing process.
• You have control over the cover and interior design.
• You set the price.
• Everything falls to you, from the marketing to page numbers, to fulfilling orders. If you don’t do it, it doesn’t get done.
• Lower exposure and visibility. Self published books rarely make it into physical bookstores.
• After expenses, the profit is 100% yours.
• You pay for everything.
• Self-publishing predators promise a lot but deliver little. Do research, ask questions, and get recommendations before going with anyone.
• The average self-published book sells around 250 copies in its lifetime.

Reasons Why I Am Going Traditionally

#1: Money

Lately, I have seen several independently published authors who have given their reasons for going indie over traditionally, mostly citing that indie publishing makes more money, as you get 100% of the profits. They claim indie publishing makes more money in light of this percentage—but does it? I’ve never seen anyone give the cold, hard statistics–for either traditionally publishing or independent publishing–to really give authors the full picture of what the true pros and cons to each really, truly, are, especially from a monetary standpoint.

Jerry Jenkins has a really good saying. Why paid to be printed (which is what indie authors are paying for) when you can be paid to be published?

My dream is to someday become an author who can solely support myself by selling my books. While percentage-wise, Indie publishing earns more profits than traditionally publishing (earning 100% of royalties vs typically only 10% for traditionally published authors), in the long run, is it really monetarily worth it? Let’s do the math.

Most everyone I’ve heard in both circles advise indie authors to get a professional editor for their book. If I was going indie, I would 100% be doing this. An editor for a 80,000 word manuscript can cost anywhere from 800-4,000 dollars. Let’s go with the middle amount of 1,600 dollars. Now this is just the editing side of the cost, it’s not adding in the price of printing the books (for physical copies) or if any other items are needed, such as hiring a cover designer, artist, or website marketer.

If we put the average self-publishing sales at 250 books sold, and set the price the highest for a typical indie published ebook (so we won’t have to calculate physical printing pricing) at six dollars, that gives us a total revenue of 1,500 dollars. That doesn’t even cover the editing costs, and there is a loss rather than a profit.

I’m not trying to bash independent publishing here, just extrapolating out the logical conclusion and the reason I’m not going indie.

With traditional publishing, there is no monetary risk for the author. The monetary risk is all on the publisher. The advance for a first time traditionally published author can be as small as 1,000 dollars–but that’s still 1,000 more dollars than the author had before. The traditionally published author also has more exposure, therefore typically sells more books.

It seems the average price of a traditionally published paperback is around 10 dollars. It can be a little more or a little less depending on the style and authorship, but we’ll go with this number for the math. If we go with the average number of 3,000 books sold for 10 dollars (making a total profit of 30,000 dollars) and the author receives ten percent of the royalties after paying back their 1,000 dollar advance, they receive a total of 2,000 dollars in royalties, and still retain the 1,000 dollar advance, for a grand total of 3,000 dollars. Yeah, maybe not enough to make an immediate career switch out of, but it’s 3,000 more dollars than one started with. And if the advance is higher, such as a 5,000 or 10,000 dollar advance, one really made a good deal, especially if their book only sells the average 3,000 copies.

There are independently published authors who make it big, just as there are traditionally published authors who make it big. And those indie published authors obviously probably make more money based on the royalties than a typical traditionally published author. But I’d like to go with the logical, safer financially side of things with my longterm goal of someday making a career out of my writing.

#2: Priorities

I love writing. It’s my dream, my passion, and I believe, my God-given purpose.

Subsequently, I want to spend a lot of (most) of my time writing. Not marketing. Distributing. Printing and shipping out. Designing. Pricing.

I understand why many people want to be in control of these elements. This is one of the major reasons I hear from people who choose independent publishing over traditional. Which I totally, 100% get and respect.

In fact, there is one area I do wish traditional publishers allowed their authors to do if they chose, and that’s cover design. Back before I knew traditional publishers picked out their own covers, I had concepts and ideas in mind for my own stories’s covers. And if these stories are ever actually published, I will totally tell the publisher and designing team my concept for the covers. I’ve heard that generally speaking, the designers will listen to the author’s input. They want to keep them happy, after all. But of course, since they’re paying for things, they get the “final say”.

I put final say in quotes because there is always a caveat. If an author really hates the cover design, and really wants out, typically there are always exit clauses and one party can offer to terminate the agreement. One doesn’t have to get published if they don’t want to.

But I totally get why traditional publishing houses don’t give the author the final say in these details. After all, they hire professional marketers who know what sells and (typically) want your book to sell and succeed beyond their wildest dreams. After all, they’re taking a financial risk with your book, and want a pay-off. Therefore, the team will be working on a cover and design that they believe will most attract sales. (One does need to remember that limited resources will cause levels of marketing to differ depending on the book. Some teams may not be able to give the marketing a book really needs to succeed due to limited resources. But most try to help the book and author to the best of their abilities.)

This is not to say that traditionally published authors will only have to sit back and write more books. No, a certain level of marketing and promoting is required from the author if they want to succeed. But, unlike with independent publishing, it’s not all on them. And, the author doesn’t have to deal with formatting, designing, pricing, distributing, printing, or shipping.

And as I’ve grown more accustomed to the “rules” of the publishing world, I’ve stopped imagining perfect covers for my book. In fact, with my newest work-in-progress, I don’t even really have a concept. A vibe, maybe, to match the story itself, but not an image or concept I’d want to be used. After all, I don’t want to get attached to a concept just for it not to be used and to devastate me.

#3 Marketing and Visibility

Some people enjoy marketing. Some people already have huge platforms on which to promote their book. Some people have a desire to be in control of every aspect of their book’s journey–all of which are great.

However, that’s not me. I’m growing my platforms and social media presence, for sure! I’m doing what I know to do to help with the eventual marketing of my book. But frankly, I’d enjoy help along the marketing process–without having to pay for it out of pocket.

Not only do traditional publishers have some sort of marketing team to help, they also have a better chance at reaching more consumers.

Traditional publishers often have greater media reach, with the ability to get their books reviewed by major publications. They also have a greater distribution reach, which means their books has a greater chance of being placed in a brick and mortar bookstore. And many literary prizes are only open to traditionally published authors, which can bring more exposure to them.

That’s not to say indie published authors can’t get or don’t have exposure–it just means they have to work a whole lot harder for it (unless they’re a well-known figure with a large platform). And I’d rather spend more time on my next book than marketing so much.

What About…

These are some questions I’ve heard unsure writers ask about traditionally publishing versus independent publishing–or things which I’ve heard independent authors try to answer (incorrectly) about traditionally publishing.

• Speed?

Yes, traditional publishing is definitely so much slower than self publishing. Not only are you not guaranteed a publishing deal, it’s hard enough to land an agent. This process can take months or years, not to mention possibly multiple projects.

But I’m willing to wait. To work as hard as I can, on multiple projects, if necessary, to land a publishing deal. Because that’s how dedicated I am to the task. I can go through the process if necessary, and look back one of these days when I’m published and see how I grew and changed throughout, both through writing and querying (I can already see tons of mistakes I made when I first started querying a couple of years ago!) And the better I get, the more chance I have of finding that perfect agent and landing that deal.

If someone prefers to self publish because it’s quicker, that’s great. If someone doesn’t have the patience to wait for years, that’s also fine. I’m just perfectly content to wait and continue honing my craft until I find that breakthrough I know is coming!

• Isn’t Traditional Publishing Based on Trends? (aka Does Your Idea Have to be Trendy to Succeed in Traditional Publishing?)

No. I’ll say it louder for the people in the back. No. Your story does not have to “be trendy” in order to succeed in getting a traditional publishing deal.

Think about it logically. At the time of my writing this, a very “trendy” topic is this new subgenre known as Romantasy. Romance and fantasy mixed. If trends were what got people book deals no other stories but romantasy would be selling right now.

Trends come and go so quickly. A little over ten years ago, the trends may have been dystopian fiction. A trend until recently in the historical fiction realm was World-War two settings. If trends were all there were to the publishing industry, no other stories would be getting published. And yet they are.

What is important for getting a book deal? A strong concept. Quality writing. A good understanding of the market. Being passionate about your story and idea.

How do trends form? Well, somebody’s got to write a book which is “not yet trendy” to set the trend, right? If only trendy books were getting deals, there would be no new trends being set.

Sometimes, the market does play a part in whether a story can get published or not. For example, now it might be a little hard to attempt to get a World War Two story published, unless it has a unique concept, because the market is flooded with them. Trends change.

However, trends can also return. Above, I mentioned about the trend of dystopian. It disappeared for awhile after the market was flooded with them. But now, it’s returning. I’m seeing more and more agents asking for dystopian. So if someone wrote a World War Two story now, maybe in a few years, the market will be ready for another World War Two story, whether it’s a trend or not.

But, that’s not to say trends don’t help authors get traditional deals. They both do and don’t. Obviously trends make it easier for agents and publishers to place the story. It’s a business after all, and they have to make money too. However, the risk is, what if someone’s already written something very similar to your trendy story and it’s just gotten published before you? Then, your trendy story may be rejected solely for being “too similar to” another trendy book.

The bottom line is, I write what I’m passionate about. If it has all the important elements for getting a book deal, someday it will be snatched up–maybe when the genre of my story becomes trendy, or maybe when it’s not. Or better yet, maybe I’ll be the one to start a new trend!

• Won’t Agents/Editors Try to Change the Core of Your Story?

I’ve heard a few people worry about this when they think about traditionally publishing, especially with Christian authors. But multiple sources, including an agented friend of mine, all say the same thing. Most agents (and therefore editors) will take on your work because they love it and want to champion it.

Agents earn money on commission. Meaning they’re not going to want to take on a book that needs a ton of work, editing, and time. Especially when they see a book whose very core “needs changed” in their eyes. If the agent does not resound with the core of your story, they will pass on it. That simple. I presume editors are the same way–and if there is an exception where someone wants you to remove something from your book, as the owner to the rights of that book, you have the right to say no and withdraw from the deal. There’s always that opportunity until the book is published and you are paid. Which, obviously if the publisher wants changes, the book will not be at that place yet in the process.

So I’m not worried, as a Christian author, that someone will try to change the core of my story. If they do, then I’ll just withdraw my story from consideration. But most professionals shouldn’t do this, since they usually love and want to champion your story as is (concept and core-wise).

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These are my reasons for aiming for getting Traditionally Published.

There is totally nothing wrong with going with independent publishing–many people I know who have great stories are going independently, and that’s great. They’ve found a circle of people who help support their books, some awesome marketing strategies, and sell copies of their books! I’ve read a few of them, and they are really good! Some even were so good, I thought they might’ve gotten a traditional publishing deal out of it, had they wanted.

I just have different publishing goals and desires–and to me, Jerry Jenkins’s question, “why pay to be published when you can be paid to be published?” makes a whole lot of sense for me in my goals.

What about you? Are you a writer? Do you know what route you want to go through? If you’re not a writer, what sort of books do you usually read, indie or traditionally published? Which do you enjoy more, and why? Let me know in the comments below! God Bless! ~ Kay Adelin