This is Part 2 of “How to publish your book: Self publishing vs Traditional publishing”, in which we discuss the PROS and CONS of Self- and Traditional publishing.

If you haven’t read Part 1 of this article, please click here.

Publishing timelines

You might have heard that it takes 6 months to 2 years to traditionally publish a book.

But that’s not the whole truth! Let’s peel this interesting onion and give you a realistic estimate of publishing timelines.

Traditional publishing is a 2-stepped process in which the author has to first find a literary agent, and then the literary agent has to get that author’s book accepted by a publisher.

However, there’s no guarantee that one or both these steps will meet with success.

There are plenty of aspiring authors who are unable to acquire a literary agent, and for those who do get one, there is no guarantee that the literary agent will find a home for their book in a publishing house.

Both these steps are time-consuming — ranging from months to years — and are filled with rejections along the way. In reality, only a small fraction of first-time authors are able to secure both a literary agent and a publisher.

Once a first-time author has successfully navigated both these steps, will the publisher fit the book into their catalogue — and that takes 6 months to 2 years, or a little more in some cases.

How long does it takes to self publish a book?

As you might have guessed, self published authors don’t have to jump through the hoops that exist in traditional publishing.

They can publish once the book is written, edited, the cover design ready & marketing plan put into action.

Self published authors sometimes maintain a publishing calendar, and release their books at regular, pre-planned intervals.

That’s how self published authors maintain control over their publishing timelines and deliver books in the hands of readers at their own pace.

Editing, Cover design, audiobook narration

In traditional publishing, the publisher is responsible for editing the book, getting the cover designed, and the audiobook narrated. These are some of the activities that happen during the 6 months to 2 years it takes to publish a book.

While traditionally published authors save money on these services, it comes at the cost of not having a final say in their book’s cover design & the choice of editors & audiobook narrators.

What happens in self publishing?

To meet the needs of a thriving selfpub community, over the last decade, there has been an explosion in the volume of freelance editors, audiobook narrators, and cover designers — now that’s a fantastic example of supply and demand!

While there is an upfront cost to bear in self publishing, it comes with the freedom & flexibility to hire professionals who truly align with the vision that self published authors have for their books.

Advance

Advance is the money given by a traditional publisher to an author before even a single copy of the book has sold.

The Advance is paid in multiple installments from the time of signing the publishing contract to the publication date of the book.

It stands to reason that authors with large readerships will command six- or even seven figure Advances.

For a first-time author it is possible to get a sizeable Advance but only if you come with your own readership. eg if you are a celebrity, or a well known expert in your field who has built up a following, that would signal to the publisher that there are a large number of readers who are willing to buy your book.

On the other side of the fence, in self publishing, since the authors function as their own publishers, there is no Advance … unless, of course, you want to transfer money from your right hand to your left hand!

Book Royalties

When readers buy books, authors earn royalties.

There are a few important things you should know about royalties, if you’re planning to traditionally publish your book. To begin with, let’s talk about middle-men:

In traditional publishing, the majority of earnings from your book sales are split between the publisher, brick & mortar bookstores and online bookstores. There are other smaller players in the book supply chain, who also take their cuts.

For this reason, book royalties range from 5 - 10% for print books and about 25% for ebooks.

Secondly, book royalties have to earn out the advance before an author gets paid.

What does “earn out” mean?

If you remember, the publisher pays an Advance to the author before the book is published.

Now let’s imagine a future in which your book has been published and happy readers are buying it.

In the background, the publisher keeps an account of the book sales, and splits the earnings between themselves, brick and mortar bookstores, online bookstores, and keeps some aside for you, as royalties.

As more and more readers buy your books, your royalties keep accumulating. But does the publisher send over the royalties to you?

Not just yet!

They are waiting for your royalties to exceed the Advance that they had paid you earlier. And that is why it is called “Advance” — or more appropriately, it is an “advance against royalties”.

Once your royalties exceed (or earn out) the Advance, will the publisher send the royalties over to you.

The good news is that a publisher, or rather, a reputable publisher, does not expect you to return the difference. Paying Advance is a risk that publishers take in the future of a book and its author.

Another important point to note: royalty payments are not sent directly to you.

The publisher sends them over to your literary agent, who will take their 15% cut and then forward the remaining 85% to you. That’s how literary agents make money, and this practice is related to the risks they take when signing on an author.

We will talk more about the risks that industry professionals take, a little later in this article.

And now ... Self publishing!

A self published author earns about 60% royalties for print books and up to 70% on ebooks from online bookstores, like Amazon and Apple Books — who, in effect, are the only middle-men standing between the author and readers.

By selling direct, self published authors command up to 85 - 90% royalties, for ebook and audiobook sales.

The common platforms used for selling direct to readers are Shopify, WooCommerce, and Payhip.

I use Payhip to sell my Magical Rome Universe books.

On my Payhip bookshop, I’m able to sell discounted books to my readers and still earn more royalties than I do while selling at full price on online bookstores (like Amazon & Apple Books).

Isn’t that a win-win situation?

Book Marketing

And that brings us to one of my favorite author activities… Marketing.

Marketing is an umbrella term that encompasses all the activities authors and publishers do to place books in front of their ideal readers and encourage them to buy.

As you’d expect, self published authors execute book marketing strategies on their own and bear all the costs.

In traditional publishing, the marketing muscle varies from publisher to publisher. The best case scenario is when a publisher does the lion’s share of the work & involves the author at their discretion.

And in the worst case scenario, the publisher does not do not do any marketing. In which case, the author has to learn, execute, and fund all their marketing efforts… just like a self published author.

However, in real life the truth lies somewhere in between the worst case and best case scenarios. And the marketing push provided by a publisher depends on:

• how big the publishing house is,

• what is their prediction of your book’s success, &

• if you’ve been published in the past, what was your sales record?

As of writing this article, audience building, email marketing, author website, and social media are considered important marketing tools that will help you grow your readership and cultivate your author brand.

Right now, whether you’re writing your first book, or you’re thinking about writing your first book, I would encourage you to explore the wonderful world of book marketing.

So that, once your book is published, you will level up from a writer toiling in obscurity to an author whose books people actually read.

Rights to publish - Traditional publishing

Before we understand who controls the rights to traditionally publish a book, let us first talk about the risks that literary agents and publishers take when working with a new author.

Literary agents don’t earn money when they sign on an author and they also don’t make money when they are pitching books to publishers.

Because it is not certain when, or even if, the book that they are championing will get accepted by a publisher, literary agents risk their time and effort without any guarantee of success.

Only when a publishing contract is signed between the author and publisher will the advance installments start coming in. That’s when the literary agent gets their 15% cut, before passing on the rest to the author.

Is the grass greener on the publishers’ side? Well!

Publishers (and by that, I mean Acquisition Editors in publishing houses) are inundated with pitches from literary agents. At every pitch meeting, they face the same question: if I publish this book today will it make a profit tomorrow?

In addition, they may also have career-oriented concerns, like: will this book help me rise in my company? And in the publishing industry? What if the book fails?

If the author has published a book in the past, then the publisher can probe into the author’s track record and make calculated guesses.

But, in the case of a first-time author, the publisher has no yardstick to predict how much money a book will make for them.

So, publishers have to lean on their instincts and experience to weigh potential book sales (in the future) against the pre-publication risks.

What are these pre-publication risks?

Publishing is a business, and the risks are mainly financial.

Firstly, publishers pay an advance to the author. They also pay their editors, cover designers, audiobook narrators, and other employees.

Publishers print books. They maintain inventory, work with distributors, and ship books to brick and mortar bookstores across the country — all of which costs money.

And if the book sales don’t go as well as expected, then publishers foot the cost of books being returned to them.

So, publishers risk their money and expertise long … long before they start earning from a book — and they are fully aware that they may not recover their original investment.

No wonder it is a top priority for publishers to pick and choose those authors who are likely to carry the least risk to them.

By now, having read about the pre-publication risks publishers take, it becomes easier to understand why they hold the exclusive rights to publish books.

These rights extend to publishers maintaining control over and orchestrating all the operations that are involved in publishing and selling a book.

And that’s why, new authors, especially those who don’t come with their built-in readerships, discover that the publishing contracts are skewed against them — making it important for us to get acquainted with the author-publisher relationship.

Author-publisher relationship:

A publisher should not be thought of as a boss, or business partner, and they’re definitely not your friend or mentor.

Publishers are the gatekeepers of the traditional publishing industry who hand-pick creative talent, called authors, to accomplish their business goals.

Rights to publish - Self publishing

What happens in self publishing? Who owns the rights to publish?

As a self published author, you own the exclusive rights to publish (and sell) your book.

That gives you sweeping powers over your author career — from the big picture decisions down to the finer details. It is that simple!

And now, may I invite you to Part 3 of this article where you’ll discover:

• Is traditional publishing the right choice for you, or

• Is self publishing the right choice for you, and

• 2 non-negotiable factors that are relevant to both self- and traditionally published authors.

Please click here to read…

Thanks for reading & have a great day,

A. David Singh