Publishing: Self or Traditional?

If you surveyed a group of authors ten years ago, I’d wager that most, if not all, would never have even contemplated self-publishing their works. Legitimate authors published with traditional publishing houses . . . or not at all. Self-publishing was for those whose writing couldn’t otherwise get them published. There was a stigma (maybe even a little “stink”) that hung like a dark gray cloud over self-publishing. Thankfully, over the last several years, that cloud is beginning to lift and, in some ways, now even has a bit of a silver lining.

Yes, traditional publishing still carries with it the prestige of having a publishing house validate your writing (no small matter in the mind of this writer), and it carries some other very appealing benefits as well. There’s the editor, the copyeditor, the proofreader, the cover designer, the interior book designer, the marketing team—all working together to make your book the best it can be. On the flip side though, there are some negatives to consider. Two big ones are timing and control.

Timing: It can be a very long time between signing a contract with a publishing house and seeing your book in the hands of a reader. Not only is there a lot of work to be done, but your book, whatever its subject, will need to fit nicely into the house’s publishing calendar. Unfortunately, there may not always be a place for your book in their current publishing lineup. That could mean more of a delay than you’d like. Are you willing to wait a year, maybe two? Something to seriously think about.

Control: While, at first glance, having all those employees of the publishing house working on your book sounds like a dream come true, coming to agreement on the changes that make your book the best it can be might not be so easy. There may be some frustrating compromises on your part that will need to happen. How much are you willing to let someone else change what you spent months (or likely even years) pouring yourself into? Control is a tough one.

So, what about self-publishing? Well, there’s some good and some bad (just like traditional publishing). Let’s talk first about the good. Two big ones are—you guessed it—timing and control!

Timing: Timing is pretty easy to understand. Since you’re going to be doing all the work, the time it takes to get your book into the reader’s hand is up to you.

Control: Everything is under your control! The finished product will look and read exactly as you decide it will.

Another upside to self-publishing in recent years is that a lot of really good writers are choosing this path to publishing. As more excellent books are self-published, the stigma will continue to fade away. There’s the silver lining.

So what’s the bad? Look closely at the descriptions of self-publishing’s timing and control above. What do you read between the lines? You’re going to be doing the editing and the copyediting and the proofreading and the cover design and the interior design and, oh no, the marketing of your book. If you’re not, then you’re going to be paying someone else to do it for you, requiring research, decisions about whom to hire, and what could be a hefty budget. The success of your finished product, the one you’ve written your heart and soul into for months or years, hinges directly on every decision you make. Talk about pressure!

Then there’s one more downside to self-publishing that hasn’t changed at all in the last ten years. There are still people self-publishing books who really shouldn’t. And with self-publishing becoming more mainstream, there are a lot more of those kinds of books out there than there used to be.

What to do? Self-publishing or traditional publishing. Stay tuned….