Choosing the Right Path for Your Novel: Self-Publishing vs Traditional Publishing

Nobody can answer this question for you. This is a very personal decision that depends on your values, skills, and budget.

Traditional Publishing

Great question. Traditional publishing involves finding a reputable publisher who is interested in your book and pays you royalties and possibly an advance on royalties. Additionally, a literary agent can help you secure a publishing contract in exchange for a percentage of the royalties. An agent is crucial for getting attention and selling your manuscript to publishers. They can also provide valuable feedback on shaping the manuscript into a more attractive form for publishers, especially if they are involved earlier in the project. Even in the later stages, they can critique the book and suggest improvements.

For my first few books, I followed the traditional route. However, these days, I prefer to self-publish through Amazon KDP, primarily due to better royalties. With a traditional publisher, royalties typically amount to about 7% of the list price of the book, and even if you’re exceptionally lucky, you might get an advance on royalties, often without earning it back. Amazon KDP, on the other hand, offers a much higher royalty rate, allowing you to earn more money if your book becomes popular. Plus, you can self-publish with Amazon KDP without spending anything upfront if you know what you're doing. Amazon also offers à la carte services such as cover design for a fee, allowing you a lot more control over the book’s design and pricing.

Self-Publishing

Here is the simple step-by-step process to publish a book:

After self-publishing 200 books, I put together the most important steps into my FREE self-publishing secrets checklist, which has helped thousands of authors. It might be able to help you as well. Following these steps carefully can lead to a successful publication.

Publicity and Marketing

No matter which route you choose, publicity is key. If you go the traditional route, the publisher will not do much to promote your book unless it takes off on its own. For my first book, I had to arrange all of the book signings myself since it wasn’t in the contract. It's always a good idea to tap into local bookstores and ask if they want signed books from you. They often cannot return unsold books to the publisher, so they need to place them on their shelves to sell them. In turn, they might place your book in a more prominent position, increasing awareness.

Traditional publishers often send out review copies to their network of journalists, but that’s usually it. If they have a relevant marketing channel, like a specialized genre catalog, they might use it, but that’s rare. Since I was already doing most of the publicity and delivering camera-ready copy to the publisher, the publisher didn’t add much value.

If you choose to self-publish, you have the freedom to control your marketing and publicity efforts. You can leverage social media, book promotions, and other marketing tools to ensure your book gets the attention it deserves.

Whether you choose traditional or self-publishing, the key is to understand the pros and cons of each route and make an informed decision based on your goals and resources.