Paths to Publication

Since I announced my publishing contract, I’ve received many messages asking about the process of publication. Do I need an agent? How do I get a contract? Is it better just to self-publish? After getting similar questions sent to me this weekend, I decided it might make a good blog topic for all you writers out there, or for readers who are interested in how those books get into your hand.

First, let me address the three major types of publishing common today.

Traditional: This is the “classic” way of getting published. You sign a contract with a publisher; they agree to publish the book on your behalf. They bear the risk and costs, and you share profits.

Self-Publishing: This is where an author acts as the publisher. In self- publishing, the author bears all the costs and risks, but earns a higher share of the profit per sale.

Hybrid: Hybrid publishing is exactly what it sounds like: an author is both published by a traditional publisher and self-published. (Stay with me, I’ll explain!)

Though which way to publish is one of the great debates of the literary world, I don’t believe there is a one size fits all answer. There are pros and cons to all three, and your decision should depend on your goals as an author.

I’ll begin by unpacking traditional publishing, because this is the one I have experience with.

Let me start by saying everything takes forever in the traditional publishing world. Forever. After your book is complete (and edited), you will begin the process known as “querying.” This involves writing a letter to sell your book and a one to two page synopsis summarizing it. You will then need a handy book called Writer’s Market and use it to start researching which agents or small publishers might be the best fit for you. Each one has their own criteria on what sort of books they accept and what you need to send to them. Some just want your letter, others your letter and synopsis, and still others your letter, synopsis, and first five pages. If they are interested in what they read, they will request more.

For most, this is a long and brutal process, guys. As author Tricia Lynn put it, “You must live in query hell while looking for an agent.” Get ready for rejections. Get ready to cry. Get ready to rewrite your letter 100 times because it’s really hard to sell a book with just a few paragraphs. Get ready to wait and then wait some more as agents generally take about six weeks to respond, but I had some respond up to six months later. Did I already say get ready to cry? Some feedback can be harsh.

So why would anyone go through this? Well, there are certainly benefits to being traditionally published. One being that there is no upfront cost to the author. In fact, authors usually are paid an advance against future royalties. All editing, cover design, formatting, etc. is paid by the publisher. Publishers have marketing experience and connections, and it’s much easier to get your book into book stores when it’s traditionally published. For some there is also a prestige to being traditionally published. I read somewhere that less than one percent of submitted manuscripts ever see publication, so there is no denying it is an achievement. Literary prizes and critical acclaim are also more common through traditional publishing. Oprah or Reese are likely not going to select anything besides traditionally published books for their book club picks. I’ve also really enjoyed the relationships and connections I’ve made with industry professionals and other authors through my publisher.

But did I mention that it takes forever? Because it does. Publishers have more than your book on their mind and their calendar. I started querying Enemies of Doves in October 2018. I signed a contract in March 2019. Enemies of Doves was published in March 2020. This is to be expected with any traditional publisher you sign with. Your book will not see the light of day for one to two years. But for me, it was worth the wait!

But what if you want your book to be out sooner? If you have some money to invest into the process, self-publishing may be right for you. Self-published writers are in no way inferior to traditionally published ones. Some may have tried to get an agent and it was just bad timing (or a big mistake by the agent), and some choose self-publishing from the start because they want to be in control and keep all their profits.

I think by far the biggest advantage to self-publishing is that you maintain all creative control. Though my publisher did let me have a lot of say so into the process, that is not exactly common in the traditional publishing world. Publishers can rename your book, design a cover you don’t like, or make editorial changes that you may not agree with. If you self-publish, you are in complete control.

Of course, that can also be a negative. That means you either have to hire a cover designer, or learn to do it yourself. Hire a formatter, or learn to do it yourself. (Same with editing, though I recommend all authors hire an editor at some point in the process). As with any new skill, it’s a steep learning curve.

Though self-publishing requires an upfront investment, the profits are yours to keep. So, you can make more money IF you have a solid marketing plan to get the word out about your book. However, generally speaking, self-published books do not sell as well as traditional ones. There are, of course, exceptions. (Google Still Alice or The Martian to name a few).

Self-publishing is certainly faster. I spoke to a highly successful self-published author who decided to get an agent and traditional contract for her new series, and she could not believe how long the process took. She was also having a hard time giving up the privilege of checking her sales daily to see how well marketing strategies were working. As traditionally published authors, often our only clue to how our books are selling (until we get royalty statements) is the Amazon ranking.

There is a third choice that is emerging called hybrid publishing. In most aspects, hybrid publishers act as a traditional publisher, but their authors will subsidize some of the cost to produce the book. Like traditional publishers, reputable hybrid publishers will only accept manuscripts they believe in and shepherd them through the publishing process. I think one major appeal of hybrid publishing is that authors are treated like a partner in the process. Though authors will maintain creative control, the publisher will be there to make sure the book meets industry standards and will take care of those publishing tasks the author may have little interest in handling.

There are so many amazing books I’ve read that have been released through hybrid publishers. Publishing is a business and sometimes traditional publishers (especially the “Big 5”) don’t like to take risks. If your book doesn’t fit squarely into a genre, they will often pass, whereas hybrid publishers (and smaller traditional publishing houses) will be more willing to take a risk on quality, cross genre fiction.

The main drawback to hybrid publishing is that the author is footing a significant amount of the cost associated with publishing their book. However, this does translate to higher royalties. Publishing royalties vary some, but according to Reedsy Blog, “A typical book deal with a traditional publisher nets authors 10-15% in royalties for a hardcover, 8-10% for a paperback, and 25% for an ebook. Hybrid publishing, on the other hand, can let the author rake in up to 50% in royalties.” Yet, there is always the risk your book won’t sell enough to make up the money you put into it. This is true of many books, but in a traditional setting, it’s the publisher taking the majority of the monetary risk.

Speaking of cost, let me say this. No matter which of the above options you pick, you are going to bear a brunt of the marketing. Since I signed my contract, I have had conversations with at least a dozen authors, some traditionally published, some self, and some hybrid. Every single one of them (even a NY Times Bestseller) told me they have to do A LOT of marketing. Marketing costs time and money, and if you want your book to sell beyond family and friends, is a necessary evil.

Marketing has been a whole new world for me. I can say with 100% certainty that I would be heavy into edits for my second book if I did not have to spend so much time marketing Enemies of Doves. Instead I’m still working on the first draft of book two. I spend far more time marketing than writing. I thought that meant I was doing something wrong until I spoke to other authors who assured me that we are in the same boat. One told me that she spends one hour writing a day and the rest of the day marketing. Another doesn’t even bother starting another book while marketing her current release.

There is no clear count number of how many books are released a day, but according to Bowker’s report Self-Publishing in the United States, over 4,500 self-published books release every day! And that’s not counting traditional or hybrid publishers. As a debut author, even if you write a phenomenal story, the odds of word getting out about it are very low if you don’t actively participate in selling it. But all that is a blog for another time.

So, in short, if you have a book you’d like to publish I’d advise you to think seriously about the content of the book itself and your goals with it.

Will your book appeal to a broad audience? Would you like to see it in a bookstore or win awards for it? Are you willing to face a lot of rejection and a lot of waiting? Are you okay with relinquishing creative control in exchange for professional expertise? Is it worth it to you to get a smaller royalty percentage in exchange for not paying anything up front? If so, traditional publishing may be right for you.

Do you want your book out quickly? Do you want to maintain complete creative control? Are you willing to invest in editing, cover design, legal stuff, and formatting? Or are you ready for a steep learning curve to do it yourself? Do you want to keep 100% of your profits and call 100% of the shots? Self-publishing may be right for you.

Or are you looking for a happy medium between those two? Are you okay with investing some upfront costs, in exchange for higher royalties? Do you want to maintain some creative control, but still have professionals with connections producing a high-quality book? Then I suggest looking into hybrid.

One word of caution, do not confuse self-publishing or hybrid publishing with “vanity” publishing. Vanity publishers often advertise themselves as hybrid, but will accept any book, are aggressive with marketing, have ridiculous costs, and little to no distribution or marketing services. They only care about selling to authors, not selling your book.
When in doubt, do your research. There are many good blogs about this topic out there. Remember that a true hybrid publisher will follow the Industry Standards Checklist for professionally published books. (https://www.ibpa-online.org/page/standardschecklist).

For me, I wanted to be traditionally published for my own personal reasons. I didn’t know anything about hybrid publishing at the time, but I had planned on self-publishing had I not gotten a contract. For my second book, I also have plans to seek traditional publication, but there are no guarantees so nothing is out of the question.

At the end of the day there is no wrong choice between traditional, self, and hybrid. It all depends on your goals. Getting your book into the world, no matter the means, is an incredible accomplishment and something to be proud of.

To end, let me quote Nick Morgan, who closed his own article about the various types of publishing with this: “If all this seems ridiculously hard, then try actually writing the book. Maybe this is why we still respect authors of any stripe.”

I couldn’t agree more.