Indie vs. Traditional Publishing

Good, concise article.  Thanks.

How was your ROI when you published yourself, Bill? There are two major reasons why I'd be reluctant to go down the indie publishing route;
1. You have to invest in editors, cover artists & marketing experts but if your book doesn't do well, it could all be money down the drain. With a publisher, they'd take the hit if the book is a flop.
2. You have to invest a lot of time in learning and researching about different vendors & figuring out how to market it.
Are these valid concerns or am I wrong somewhere/overthinking things?

Though it’s changing, I think it’s still safe to say that today “most” writers that self-publish do so because 1) they can’t get an agent to represent them, 2) they can’t get a publisher to accept their work, or 3) don’t bother trying to get published traditionally because they don’t have the confidence they will be successful at either 1 or 2. 

So, whereas anyone can make the choice today to self-publish, to “get published” traditionally is not really a “choice” for the preponderance of writers as much as it is an aspiration.

Note: For anyone inclined to give me the one-in-a-hundred-thousand success story, please spare me/us; I/we get it.  I concede the point that some people truly do have this choice.  I am referring to “most” not “all.”

I'm not in it for the money. I know that sounds strange, but I published myself as an accomplishment. At my age (76), this works for me. As for ROI, I have a little royalties coming back to me, but not enough to get heady over. I make the rounds of libraries in the area, set up tables and sell a few books. This satisfies my ego enough.

As for editors, I use a couple of good pieces of software (primarily Pro Writing Aid) and they tend to point out mistakes and/or offer suggestions well enough for me. My daughter works for EA Games as an illustrator and software creator so she has a hand in making my covers. I think she did extremely well on my first book. I did the second book cover myself.

I went the self-publishing direction when I hit 50 rejections. It may take me a while, but I know when not to swim against the tide.

Bill

Would the publisher, at least, give you support on how to market? Like a checklist of best practices, feedback on how to improve, etc?

Just to share - I hit 60ish rejections if you count the non-responses. The usual responses were "This is good, but not for me at this time." Which is a bit of a played out line. I chose self-publishing because I'd been through the rounds with agents that would actually look at my book. Not easily fitting into genres limited my options (and potential sales) so I swallowed a bitter pill and shelled out for some professional editing because I didn't want to release a piece of crap. I thoroughly enjoyed working with my editor and I think she made my book into something I can be proud of.

When I paid my editor I knew I likely would not break-even on royalties. I suppose I went in with eyes wide open. I plan to do the same for my second book and use the same editor. For me, personally, I like having total control of my book. But it is a lot of work. Website and Cover alone were a few months of learning and doing and I still think both could be much better than they are.

As a side note - I plan to go to a few cons in the coming years to sell. This won't work for every book-type of course and the tables can be expensive so I'll be splitting costs with a woodworker.

I just read the above article. It's essentially presented as a dichotomy - "indie" vs. "traditional" publishing. But it ignores a third category: independent medium-sized publishers. The article seems to be referring to large publishing houses who have publicity teams, pay for book tours, and pay advances when the contract is signed. The third category, with which I and a number of authors on TNBW are affiliated, do not offer those perks. They do the editing and cover art and support in ways I mentioned above. And they don't require an intermediary  agent before even looking at your book. In fact, some forbid the use of agents. Just wanted to make clear that a third choice is available for those who don't want to do ALL the work by themselves and are willing to give up being in total control to have it.

"Independent medium-sized publishers". This is a very interesting approach. Like, which ones? Is it possible for we, little, unkown authors to access a database where, at least some them, are listed so we may contact them?

Kiss,

Gacela

I'd be interested to know if anyone has tried 'hybrid' (or vanity) publishing where you pay for their expertise in publishing including editing, printing, Amazon & marketing...

That's what "self-publishing" used to be. You paid somebody like CreateSpace to do the work that "traditional" publishers do. I published my first book that way.

Thanks for sharing that, Ann.