# Self Publishing vs Traditional Publishing



## Tan (Nov 2, 2013)

I don't know how often this gets asked but what are the pros and cons for both options?


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## sunaynaprasad (Nov 3, 2013)

Traditional Publishingros: More exposure, more options to bookstores and awards. Cons: The publisher owns the rights to your book's production (cover, size and even title), takes 18 to 24 months to publish on average, they can reject authors.
Self publishing: Pros: You have total control over how you want your book to look, It can take a few months or less to publish, anyone can do it. Cons: Your book won't be available in book stores, you have to do all the marketing and it can be very difficult, and some reviewers won't review self published books.


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## Morkonan (Nov 3, 2013)

Tan said:


> I don't know how often this gets asked but what are the pros and cons for both options?



Self-Publishing's only limits are your own pocketbook. As a result, most of what gets self-published is complete crap written by people who have enough to pay to have it put together in a presentable format.

Traditional Publishing means that you have to write to a minimum standard, which may be difficult, but you receive recognition and professional credentials, should you make it through the selection process. It's also more likely that though you get less of a percentage of the profits from the work, you're likely going to get more gross proceeds, as your work will be guaranteed to be, at the very least, not complete crap.


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## HasShah1 (Nov 6, 2013)

I find that self-publsihed authors put just as much effort into the writing as their published peers, but it may not be as polished (with agents, editors, etc.).  I also find self-published authors need to put in more work for a lot more things not just related to marketing but also analysis surrounding their books.  I think that separates those authors who are actually making money self-publishing.


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## movieman (Nov 7, 2013)

sunaynaprasad said:


> Your book won't be available in book stores



That's not so true any more. Now anyone can upload their book to Createspace and make it available for book store sales; of course that doesn't mean any book stores will order it, but until recently there was no easy way for self-published authors to even have their books available to order with an appropriate discount and returns policy. Certainly no way to do it without spending money up front.


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## spartan928 (Nov 7, 2013)

The number one reason people develop awareness of a new book is word of mouth. Personal recommendations. Yes, traditional publishing can start the buzz engine much quicker and on a larger scale than self-publishing. But we all know trad publishing is extremely hard to break into. So do both. The greatest advantage of self-publishing is control. But in the wrong hands control is a debilitating handicap. Selling books is a business, and assuming a writer's product is actually good and read-worthy, an author becomes the CEO of My Awesome Book, Inc the day they self-publish. 

Generating the word of mouth needed to get people to open their wallets takes a lot of business savvy, time, talent and drive that most people don't have. It boils down to this; self-publishing is easier than baking a cake. But that doesn't mean you have what it takes to run a bakery. If you can hustle, work hard, and learn the business of publishing, sales and marketing you might get a few more people to buy your sweet tasty cake than yourself, friends and relatives.


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## mstyle (Nov 22, 2013)

I think one of the key elements to remember with regard to publishing is the resources and weight that a publishing house will have over most people who choose to self-publish. It is getting better however, with the full use and optimization of social media channels (there are way too many to list here) you can reach a far larger audience and potential readership than you have ever been able to.


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## movieman (Nov 23, 2013)

mstyle said:


> I think one of the key elements to remember with regard to publishing is the resources and weight that a publishing house will have over most people who choose to self-publish.



You also need to remember that they won't throw those resources and weight at a first novel from an unknown writer to whom they're only paying a $5,000 advance.

They can make a few novels into best-sellers through marketing, but they can't afford to do it for many. The biggest reason to pursue trade publishing is to get your novel into book stores more easily than if you self-publish.


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## Marc (Nov 23, 2013)

movieman said:


> You also need to remember that they won't throw those resources and weight at a first novel from an unknown writer to whom they're only paying a $5,000 advance.
> 
> They can make a few novels into best-sellers through marketing, but they can't afford to do it for many. The biggest reason to pursue trade publishing is to get your novel into book stores more easily than if you self-publish.



Some trade publishers are starting new authors out as ebook-only as a kind of trial balloon (this is my opinion). Allow me to relate my experience with a big trade publisher called Random House. I'm about as unknown as unknown gets yet I was able to get a 3 E-book contract offer for my crime novels. This new contract model may have been covered in a different thread, so I won't go into detail. If not, I'll be happy to share the details. Anyway, if my e-books do well, RH has the option of creating a print edition, but here's the catch: the cost of producing the print edition comes out of  my royalties. I'm hoping they will utilize their resources to market the first e-book earnestly. I mean, why not? The cost of putting that e-book on-line is miniscule. They might as well divert the savings to promotion. I think that makes sense, but what do I know?


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## movieman (Nov 23, 2013)

Marc said:


> I'm hoping they will utilize their resources to market the first e-book earnestly. I mean, why not?



How do you think they're going to market that e-book?

One of the best uses of marketing money in print publishing is buying special display status for a book in book stores. You can't do that for an e-book on Amazon. Print ads cost thousands of dollars and you can't click on a link to buy the book so you've probably forgotten about it by the time you are at a computer; they're mostly used to tell fans of established authors that the author has a new book out. Web ads are cheaper, but not terribly effective. The specialized e-book ad sites are better, but generally require that the book is already successful before they'll let you place an ad. They can put it on their web site, but few readers spend time at publisher web sites.

Throwing money at marketing a book makes little sense if they didn't believe in it enough to produce a print version. To me, that seems more like a 'let's chuck a lot of ebooks out there and see what sells' strategy, which makes a lot of sense for a publisher, but less for an author.


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## Marc (Nov 23, 2013)

movieman said:


> How do you think they're going to market that e-book?
> 
> Throwing money at marketing a book makes little sense if they didn't believe in it enough to produce a print version. To me, that seems more like a 'let's chuck a lot of ebooks out there and see what sells' strategy, which makes a lot of sense for a publisher, but less for an author.



Well, they have a department called Digital Relations & Strategy, and they sent me a questionnaire asking about local media that might take an interest in the book. The book does have a local flavor (Chicago) so that's one way to generate initial interest in the book. They also have a network of sales-related people who (hopefully) get orders based on advanced copies and pre-publishing reviews etc... There's a whole world of big corporate marketing I know nothing about and how that will play out regarding my book I can only guess.

Big corporate publishing houses don't like to take chances. I think they see an e-book from an unknown writer having minimal downside risk (in not making money) than a print edition from the same person. The goal is to generate a buzz when the book comes out, from there word-of-mouth should take over. Ultimately, the book must be good to sell, regardless of the marketing.


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## John_O (Nov 24, 2013)

If you have a specific market to sell to, self-pub might not be a bad idea. The thing with Traditional Publishing is good books can still get rejected. How many times have we heard of a book being turned down many times and when finally published turns out to be a best seller, or at least very successful. I know it is very hard if not impossible to sign with one of the big publishing houses if unknown. I'm working on two books now, one is my personal involvement with animal rescue and the other I just started, is going to be an encyclopedia type book listing animal groups, which will include all type of groups ie rights, rescue and welfare from A -Z. I belong to a large undeground network of animal people numbering in the thousands. We faithfully support one another. For this reason self-pub is tempting! But I still plan on trying traditional Publishing first, but there may come a time I might just seriously look into self publishing!


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## spartan928 (Nov 24, 2013)

Marc said:


> Big corporate publishing houses don't like to take chances. I think they see an e-book from an unknown writer having minimal downside risk (in not making money) than a print edition from the same person. The goal is to generate a buzz when the book comes out, from there word-of-mouth should take over. Ultimately, the book must be good to sell, regardless of the marketing.



I work in the warehousing industry and I spent two straight months this summer assisting in closing down 2 large distribution centers for one of the big 6. They disposed of thousands upon thousands of books. Right into the garbage. Countless titles they didn't even know they had. Printing, warehousing and distributing books is incredibly expensive and I saw first hand the measures the biggies are going to in order to maintain profitability.

In my non-professional opinion, I think you hit on a very real trend. That is, publishers will use ebooks as a way of gauging interest because it is so low risk relative to print books. In fact, I feel publishers (the larger ones anyway), are steering clear of committing expensive resources to print books for only but the sure sellers.


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