The world of publishing is an evolving business, and never before has the aspiring author had so much choice or information in the process of becoming a published author.
So much so, that traditional roadblocks and hurdles, such as a lack of time, money, know-how or writing ability are of little consequence.
On the flip-side with an abundance of choice and information also comes one of the biggest triggers of writers block for the new aspiring author: overwhelm of information and confusion.
In my blog post: The Writing & Publishing Journey simplified, I broke the process down to four stages (Planning, Producing, Promote & Publish).
In this post, I focus on one of the most confusing choices for the new aspiring author - Publishing
The Original Two Options: Traditional versus Self Publishing
Just like a new authors publishing options, - choosing the wrong tool, can certainly make a simple task challenging.
It wasn’t all that long ago when an author with a finished manuscript just had the two options for getting his or her work published Those choices were Traditional or Self Publishing.
While both start with an author and completed manuscript (or concept), from there the journey varies dramatically. The two key differences, was money, in the form of advance payment to the author and reach via the ability to get the book into bookshelves of the big bookstores.
Where once self-publishing a book was the kiss of death to securing a future book deal with a traditional publishing house, the publishing game has changed dramatically, reducing the gap of differences between the two. This in turn created alternative pathway to securing the much sort after book deal from the big Publishing Houses.
Yet there are still enough differences between each of them to make it worth your time to understand them, and in order to understand the role of a Publisher within the writing journey - we first we need to get familiar with the term and definition of the following two terms:
Published Book
A book is considered "Published" when it is assigned a unique identifier code (ISBN), printed and distributed. Otherwise, a book printed and distributed without an ISBN, it is considered a printed book.
There are essentially two ways to have an ISBN and Barcode assigned to your book:
- 1The Publishing House will assign one from their consignment of available ISBNs
- 2You can purchase your own from Bowker. By registering and assigning it to your book, you effectively become a Publishing House.
You can read more about ISBNs & Barcodes in this blog post.
Publishing House
A publishing house is a company or organisation providing services of: printing and distribution of books, music and information both locally and internationally.
The suite of services offered by publishing houses, have dramatically changed over time and can greatly vary between the publishing houses, particularly within the self-publishing industry
Traditional Publishing
Whilst their services may be to polish, promote and distribute an authors book, in the simplest of terms, the Traditional Publishing House is an investor.
- An author completes a manual or has a book concept, he /she finds an agent, who then pitches the book via Book Proposal to the Publishing Houses.
- A successful bid and book proposal, will result in a Book Deal (contractual agreement), between the Traditional Publishing House, author and agent.
- As the financial investor of the book and authors work, the Traditional Publishing House carries the full financial responsibility and risk of the project (including marketing and promotion). A good investment will see the book sell enough copies to provide a profitable return on their investment.
- A great investment will see the book as a best seller (with perhaps movie rights) and a highly profitable return on investment.
In return, the author will give up publication, ownership rights and a certain level of creative control rights. In return an agreed advance payment is paid to the author, with royalties to follow for book sales (a small percentage).
A first choice and readily traded deal by most authors due to the worldwide market reach and influence of the publishing company compared to their own - not to forget the"bragging rights" of being picked up by a big name Publishing House.
Pro's & Cons of Traditional Publishing
Advantages
- Heavy lifting done for you, so you can focus on what you love – writing
- No financial risk: advance payments and royalties based on sales
- Support: where writing can be a lonely journey, it can also be challenging when you don’t have your own professional development and editing team.
Dis-advantages
- Ownership: the perks, including advance payments come at the cost of giving up part or all ownership of your work, and often also include Creative Control of your content
- Time: from completed manuscript to print can take anywhere from12-24 months. That is a lot of dog years when you consider a 2-3 week turn around with self-publishing.
- Selection Process: Getting a Book Deal from a traditional publishing house can be a long and painful process (think rejection letters) – think of it as “Charlie Wonka’s Golden lottery ticket” to the publishing world.
Self-Publishing
Self-publishing has been known by many names (Vanity Publishing, Independent and even Subsidy Publishing), primarily due to the changing environment around print and production costs of books.
The name in itself, is its own definition – any publishing process led by the author and funded in full or part by the author, including the purchase and registration of the ISBN, falls into the category of Self Publishing.
Boutique & Subsidy Publishing
Before the self-publishing boom and evolution, if you were not lucky enough to be picked up by a traditional publishing house, an author had the option of financially backing his own work (either self-funded, crowd-sourcing or sponsorship funding).
Should the author opt out of the editing, print and publishing process - he or she may engage in the services of a third party, and whilst there will be a variation of services provided between the different subsidy partners - ultimately it is the provision and registration of the books unique identifier (ISBN), which defines them as a boutique or subsidy publisher.
Often an easy and in-expensive process with the benefit of providing unabridged and unedited creative control to the author.
Unfortunately, this also allowed for many self-published memoirs and books to be printed and distributed which were no more than poorly disguised self promotional literature – hence the low-viewed term: Vanity Publishing.
Pro's & Cons of Self-Publishing
Advantages
- 100% ownership and complete creative control of content.
- Keep 100% of Profits
- Fast and Simple process. You can have a book written and published in as little as 8 weeks.
Dis-advantages
- The author is responsible for all publishing and editing costs and is effectively taking the risk on the investment.
- One man team. The author will often wear many hats in addition to writing the book.
- A limited budget can often lead to cutting corners in the editing and publishing process, often resulting in less than professional looking books will little return for the author.
Hybrid Authors & Publishing
With a change in attitude towards self-published books, a third option has now come into play.
The Hybrid Author
The hybrid author utilises both the self publishing and traditional route.
The Hybrid Publisher
Also known as Subsidy Publishing, an author will outsource the whole or part of the publishing process. The arrangement of royalties, ownership and distribution commitments vary from Publisher to Publisher.
How to Choose the Right Publishing Option for you:
It a nutshell, you have three choices and often the deciding factor is Time versus Money:
1. Do it Yourself (D.I.Y.)
2. Supported (assisted with part of all of the process)
3. Done for You (C0-Authoring & Ghost Writing)
With such a variation of differences between publishing companies, research and conversations with self-published authors and publishers will serve you well.
If you are new to the writing and publishing journey and not quite sure where to start, I recommend you join my #7DAYBOOK Kickstarter Challenge.
