Last week we looked at the different aspects of publishing traditionally. Now it’s self-publishing’s turn to get put under the microscope.

As I mentioned previously, self-publishing has always existed, but it wasn’t until the advent of the eBook that it really started to become a lucrative option for writers. Prior to the eReader revolution, self-publishing meant two things:

a) You weren’t good enough to be published traditionally.

b) Your savings account would dwindle significantly, and your garage would soon be filled with unsold books collecting dust for eternity.

Neither of those things really apply now that sites like Amazon, Smashwords, and others have made self-publishing a much more viable option. True, there will still be some financial burden on the author, but it’s nowhere near what it was. And yes, you’ll still run into the stigma of self-published equaling lesser quality, but that’s mostly an attitude held by other writers and members of the publishing industry. Readers don’t care about the publishing house logo on your book’s spine. They only care whether it’s an enjoyable read. With a professional presentation, it is possible to turn a self-published title into a #1 bestseller. E.L. James’s Fifty Shades Trilogy was self-published prior to its current version, and look at the success it’s now earned. It might not be the shining example of literary greatness, but no one can argue with those sales numbers. So it can happen. If you’re willing to work.

Work is the key word here, because if you choose this route, you will have to work. Hard. Unlike publishing traditionally, you won’t have a team of experts backing your venture into published-land. So you’ll have to be your own editor, marketing department, publicist, salesman and master distributor– all while still being a writer. Sounds daunting, doesn’t it? You can outsource some of it, like editing and cover design, to freelance contractors specializing in those fields, but the task of finding readers will ultimately fall on you.

There a million different ways to go about gaining the exposure necessary. Author branding, blog tours, social media campaigns, community involvement with other writers/readers, contests/giveaways, the list is seemingly endless for the marketing savvy indie author. But all of it basically comes down to one thing– networking. Networking is important for both modes of publication, but it’s inextricably tied to a self-published author’s livelihood. Word-of-mouth recommendations can mean the difference between success and failure in the self-published world. Thousands of titles are published on Amazon every day, not to mention the thousands that join the market from other sources. So it’s not enough to simply put your work out there with a kiss and a wave and hope it will get found. Aside from your friends and family, no one will ever know you even published a book if you don’t bring it to their attention.

Welcome to the crux of self-publishing– without exposure to potential readers you won’t get any sales, and without any sales, well, you better not quit that day job.

But no worries; you’ve got this. You’ve created your master plan, you’ve got a secret MBA in marketing, you’re a networking genius. You’ll have no problem reaching the droves of fans who don’t realize they’ve been waiting for your book. Right? Not exactly. Even if the stars align and you become an instant eBook success, an indie demigod, guess what? You’ve only managed to reach 25% of the reader market. That’s right, according to several sites, eBooks, while growing significantly in popularity, still only equal about 25% of all book sales. There’s still 75% of the market that doesn’t know you exist, that prefers holding a real book to reading one on a screen, and who will likely never purchase your baby. Frustrating, no?

There are POD (Print-on-demand) sites like Lulu.com or Createspace.com that allow self-published authors the ability to print their titles in physical form without requiring the quantities that would mean boxes stored in your garage. But I’ve heard mixed things about their quality. And oddly, while readers have few qualms taking chances on self-published eBooks, they seem a little more hesitant to shell out their precious paychecks for a self-published paperback. Oh, and good luck getting anywhere but the indie bookstore down the street that loves to support local authors to stock your book. Because, well, see point “a” above. Self-published books are still judged under the stigma that they must be poorer quality than traditionally published works. The public knows, even if they don’t consciously realize it, that traditional publishing consists of a quality control system that prevents drivel from making an appearance on their bookshelves (yes, the definition of drivel is subjective, but you get my point). Most instantly think that a self-published work must have been rejected by the publishing houses, otherwise, it wouldn’t be self-published. Therefore, it must suck. Logical, yes? But also false.

More and more authors, both new and established, are turning to self-publishing despite the smaller audience numbers. Why? For the royalties.

This, my friends, is one of the main reasons that self-publishing is so attractive. If you remember from last week, the royalty rate for traditionally published books is piddly. By comparison, self-publishing rates look like a gold mine. They differ depending on the site you’re using, but in general, they seem to average anywhere from 20-70%. That’s a lot heftier portion per sale than the measly 8-10% you’d get from traditional publishing. Then there’s the difference in time to publication. Remember that 2-3 year delay between finishing your book and having it available for sale that plagues traditionally published authors? It’s nonexistent with self-publishing. You only have to invest maybe a couple months from the time you finish your final draft to making your work available for readers everywhere to enjoy. Which translates to as much as a 3 year head start on generating sales instead of waiting, penniless, watching that sad little advance disappear to the three bills it’ll cover while you wait for your traditional publisher to finish running your book through production. And there are no contracts. You are entirely the master of your own destiny. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal, doesn’t it? More money, more control, it’s a writer’s dream life come true!

Of course, it all depends entirely on the ability to drum up sales. Which we’ve already established is significantly more difficult this way. Aside from the strategies listed above for gaining exposure, a lot of successful indie authors get around this hurdle with one simple feat– being prolific. Often, self-published authors will churn out as many as 3-4 titles a year as opposed to the 1-2 you’d see from a traditionally published author. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, but when you look at some of the self-published authors that are wildly popular, (Amanda Hocking comes to mind here), you’ll see that they’ve already amassed more titles than most of the high profile names in traditional publishing have over a lifetime. For a slower writer like myself, the fact that success seems to go hand in hand with being prolific is a major downside to self-publishing, and one that may factor heavily into my final decision.

These are just a few of the pros and cons. Every writer’s experience/success will vary depending on the multitude of factors involved. No one can tell you which publication method is correct for your work; you’ll have to figure that out for yourself. If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, an aversion to giving up control, and a prolific imagination, self-publishing could well be for you. If everything I’ve listed here, (aside from the money part– everyone loves money, except maybe that baby in the Capital One ads), has left you feeling ill and frozen with trepidation, then you’re probably better off trying for traditional methods. Self-publishing definitely isn’t for the faint of heart. Are you willing to put in the effort? I’m not sure I am.

Next Week on Nightwolf’s Corner: The Traditional vs. Self-Publish Debate, Part Three: Summary & Helpful Links

Ah, yes. This is a subject that any potential writer must eventually face. As someone who has longed dreamed of publishing a novel, (not just a few short stories), and someone prone to finding ways to procrastinate that I can pass off as a justifiable use of my writing time, (*cough* researching publishing *cough*), I chose to start the process early, wasting countless hours perusing site after site over the past month. It became apparent within the first page of Google results that finding a clear cut answer was like swimming through a sea of information praying to find solid land before the sharks find you. And since that information is scattered all over the internet like Easter eggs of brightly colored advice from dubious sources and contradictory facts, I decided to try and spare a few others from enduring the hours and hours of research by summarizing what I’ve found and conveniently posting it here. Get ready for a parade of what-if’s and maybe’s, because even after a month of research, a plethora of blog posts arguing for or against each mode of distribution, and countless nights spinning my wheels trying to reach a decision, the sad truth is, I still don’t have the answer. Maybe that’s because there isn’t one. There really is no right or wrong strategy when it comes to publishing, and every writer has to make the decision for themselves.

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to lay out the facts on each mode of publication in the hopes of helping you make an informed decision regarding your own work. And hopefully, decide on my own strategy in the process. Nothing makes you assimilate knowledge faster than having to explain it to someone else. At the end of this series, I’ll provide you with links to all the blogs, articles and websites I’ve found most helpful and a handy bullet list of the pros and cons for each method. So feel free to wait for Part Three if you’re not interested in the longer version of the details. I promise not to be offended. Much.

Traditional Publishing

Every writer, from the second they put fingers to keyboard, or pencil to paper, dreams of seeing their work on the shelves of their favorite bookstore, of being #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list, of gaining instant recognition and fame that will make the likes of J.K Rowling, Stephenie Meyer, Suzanne Collins and E.L. James look like nobodies. And that dream subconsciously goes hand in hand with traditional publishing. It’s an ingrained assumption that when it comes time to release our masterpiece, we will automatically have to run the gambit of finding a publisher. Because that’s the way books have always been published. Until recently. True, there have always been self-published titles, but they were instantly given the stigma of being lesser quality, literary pariahs who couldn’t cut it the traditional way. And to be fair, most of them probably were/are.

Because of self-publishing’s tarnished reputation, traditional publishing earned the misguided designation of being glamorous by comparison. Writers everywhere, (myself included, until recently) naively believe that a writing career consists of writing a spectacular novel, submitting it to an editor, making a few revisions as needed, and then sitting back and waiting for success to rain down. They think that the publishing house takes care of the rest and they’ll get to spend the majority of their career holed up in an office somewhere writing while the royalty checks pour in. The reality couldn’t be further from this vision.

Let’s face it, we can’t all be the superstar authors listed above. If we were, then they wouldn’t be superstars, would they? So let’s be realistic for a moment and look at what publishing traditionally means for the rest of us. As a debut author (which I’m going to use as an example because I’m one and all my research has been with an eye for my own pending career, and, well, I’m just selfish like that) the numbers are especially bleak. From time to publication, to advances and royalty rates, to contractual obligations, the traditional publishing industry actually seems stacked against new authors.

The first hurdle is to get past the dreaded gatekeepers– the agents, editors, contract lawyers, etc., all blocking your path to success like bouncers at an elite nightclub. Once you’ve finished your novel, edited and revised the heck out of it, and generally polished it into the shining diamond you knew it would be, you basically get to play the waiting game. First, you need an agent. The larger publishing houses rarely accept unsolicited submissions, and once again, those are the people we’re all aiming for, whether we admit it or not. Some of the smaller publishing houses will accept manuscripts directly from the author, but we’re going to stick to the big boys for this discussion. So that means agents.

This is an unspoken requirement of going the traditional route, and the beginning of the submission process. You have to query them just like you would if you were magically granted access to the publishers themselves. Which means that it’s going to take time to get a response. Lots of time. Don’t be surprised if you spend a year or more in this stage of the game. If and when you’re lucky enough to land an agent, congratulations, you just signed over 15% of your profits. That’s fair, though, right? Agents are going to do the majority of the leg-work for you, and should be compensated for cashing in on their connections to the all important editors, otherwise known as Gatekeepers Round Two.

For that 15% commission, your agent will shop your manuscript around in the hopes of finding an interested editor. Sound familiar? Yep, you essentially pay someone else to do the exact same thing you did with the agent. Which means you’re waiting. Again. Let’s be optimistic and say that your fabulous agent (because I really do respect these lovely creatures advocating on behalf of their authors, despite my snide tone) manages to secure an editor’s interest within a year. It’s now two years after you actually finished the book and you haven’t seen a cent of profit yet.

But the waiting’s not over. Now you get to go through the round of revisions the editor will want, the contract negotiations, etc. (Make sure you scour that contract for any potential clauses that basically ask you to sign over your soul and grant the publisher exclusive rights to everything you ever write forevermore. I hear those are becoming quite popular and can be sneakily embedded in the fine print. Personally, I don’t want to have to ask permission to post a blog post. Do you?) All before you get paid. And it will likely be another year to year and a half before your book even hits shelves.

According to all the various sites I’ve visited, the average advance for a debut novel is in the neighborhood of $5000. Not too shabby, right? But the kicker is, it will be broken up into two, maybe three, chunks. One upon signing the contract, one upon acceptance of the final draft, and possibly one upon publication. Factor in that 15% commission you promised your agent and you’re looking at 3 payments of $1400 each, spread over the course of maybe 2 years. So you’re essentially making $175 a month. I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t even cover my car payment.

And it gets worse. According to these same sites, which I’ll provide links to later, only about 10-15% of authors actually earn out their advances. The other 85-90% will never see another dime from their Great American Novel. Depressed yet? There’s one more thing– should you fail to earn out your advance, you’re basically done. It will be darn near impossible to publish anything else under your own name again.

Oh, and did I mention that as a debut author, the marketing budget allotted by the publishing house will be next to nothing? So the burden for ensuring you earn out that advance falls primarily on you. Can we say pressure much?

If you do succeed in the impossible and earn more than your advance, the royalty rates are incredibly small. This is a negotiable point, so I’ve seen various figures, but it’s usually in the 8-10% range depending on the method the book was published, i.e. Hardcover, Trade Paperback, Mass Market Paperback, etc. And, as if all this weren’t depressing enough, you essentially get to sign over complete control of your baby for the privilege. That vision of handing over a manuscript and sitting back while the publishing house takes care of everything pretty much only applies here. They will dictate everything from the cover design, which you may or may not have input on, down to the title. That perfect name you agonized over and have come to associate with as an integral part of your work’s identity? Yeah, it’s nothing more than a working title if you go the traditional publishing route.

Sounds like fun, no? But it’s not all bad. There is definitely something to be said for having a team of experts helping you get your work to the people who really matter– the readers. And while you do give up a lot of control, that’s not always a bad thing. The publishing houses are professionals with an awful lot of experience in producing, marketing and distributing books. Would having them on your side really be that bad? After all, they want you to succeed too. They’ve invested their time and money into your book, and would really prefer that investment turn into profit. Publishing and writing is a business despite what the illusion says. Can we really fault publishing houses for treating it as such? Does pursuing the highest profit margin really make them the villains here? Producing books is an expensive endeavor, and those costs have to be paid somehow. How better than through the book’s sales?

Publishers also hold the exclusive key to distribution via conventional means. Most booksellers are reluctant to stock self-published titles. So if you want to see your baby on the shelves of Barnes & Noble, traditional publishing’s the way to go. Ebooks are rapidly gaining popularity, but they’re still only about 25% of the market. The other 75% of sales are still readers who prefer actually holding a physical book to reading one on a screen. And that’s definitely something to keep in mind. Are you alright with limiting your potential sales to such a small portion of the market if you choose to self-publish?

And, of course, there’s also the prestige that comes with publishing traditionally. You get bragging rights; you made the cut when so many others don’t. Your book will automatically be deemed quality. Reviewers will be easier to find and you’ll get to experience your dream of walking into bookstores and seeing your name on their shelves, of being able to hold a physical, beautifully bound copy of your work in your hands, and of being able to do book signings for droves of adoring fans. In this way, the stigma of self-publishing works in your favor. But is that worth the cost of traditionally publishing? Only you can decide what’s important to your career, profit margins, or glory? Preferably both, but neither method of publication can ever guarantee that.

Next Week on Nightwolf’s Corner: The Traditional vs. Self-Publish Debate, Part Two: Self-Publishing