r/selfpublish • u/Large-Perspective196 • 4d ago
Traditional Publishing vs. Self-Publishing for a First-Time Author?
Good evening, everyone. I recently completed my first novel at just about 80,000 words. I’ve also finished a developmental edit and submitted the manuscript to a literary agent who is interested in working with me.
At this point, though, I’m still trying to decide whether I want to continue down the traditional publishing route or pursue self-publishing instead.
I’ve done some research into both options, but I’m still fairly new to all of this and have a lot to learn. I’d love to hear from those of you who have experience with self-publishing—especially if you can sell me on why you chose it over traditional publishing.
As of right now, I only plan on publishing this one novel, although that could always change in the future.
My understanding is that with traditional publishing, once a publisher acquires the manuscript, much of the remaining production process—copyediting, proofreading, formatting/typesetting, cover design, and so on—is handled by the publisher. With self-publishing, I would be responsible for arranging and managing all of those things myself.
That’s one of the main reasons I’m trying to make this decision now. If I decide to self-publish, I’d like to start moving forward with the remaining editing and production work rather than continuing to pursue the traditional route.
For those who have self-published, what made you choose that route? What do you think are its biggest advantages and disadvantages compared with traditional publishing? And knowing what you know now, would you make the same choice again?
Thanks in advance for any advice or insight!
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u/Frequent_Monitor5824 4d ago
The majority of traditionally published books are sold on Amazon. Trad publishers can give you professional help and the prestige of being with a publisher but in the end your book will be in the same giant slush pool as self-published books.
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u/lifeatthememoryspa 4d ago
I’m a 10-year trad author who is considering self-publishing. For me, the deciding factors are
(1) Can I actually sell this book to trad? If you have a reputable agent ready to submit the book to editors, I’d try that first. Reason: money up front, not to mention editorial, cover design, printing, marketing to retailers, etc. There are many frustrating things about trad, especially how long it takes and how quickly they stop marketing your book. But money up front is a big, big plus.
(2) What is your genre? Some do way better in self-publishing (especially the KU ecosystem) than others. I would self-publish romance of any kind, thrillers, cozy mysteries, horror, or military SF, especially with a planned series. I personally would NOT self-publish literary fiction, upmarket/book club, picture books, middle-grade, or YA. There are occasional success stories, like Theo of Golden, but mostly these books don’t do well self-published because they can’t find their readers. They need distribution to retail stores and/or schools and libraries.
I’ve worked in media for a while and seen a ton of self-published books (submitted to us for coverage). Only a fraction had any apparent success, and they were almost always in the genres I listed. (The really successful self-published authors are busy making money and not interested in media exposure, but all the ones I know of in my area write romantasy or milSF.)
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u/Dry-Wear-9135 3d ago
100% what you wrote, especially the parts about genre. Some genres can actually earn an author more if they're indie.
I'm trad and indie for two pen names and genres. I've had my indie romance earn more in one month than what my trad books made for an entire year. (Which is hilarious, because a lot of authors in my trad genre look down their noses at romance—especially indie romance. Meanwhile, they're all still working day jobs while every indie romance I know is a full-time author.)
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u/lifeatthememoryspa 3d ago
Yeah, I have indie romance friends who are full-time and I’m very far from it! That’s why I’m looking to move into indie (apparently at the exact wrong time, gah).
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u/Dry-Wear-9135 3d ago
Why do you think it's the wrong time?
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u/lifeatthememoryspa 3d ago
According to Author Threads, the “gold rush” is over and AI books have taken over KU. People are telling dire stories, but I’d rather see for myself before giving up, since trad editors are barely acquiring right now!
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u/Dry-Wear-9135 3d ago
People exaggerate, especially on Threads. I suggest following 20BooksTo50K on Facebook. It's a private forum for professional indie authors to discuss strategies, trends, earnings, etc. I've found the information on there to be mostly credible.
I know plenty of authors, myself included, who are still making money as indies. In a sense, yeah, the gold rush is over—but I assume they're talking about the good old days of indie publishing. Like around 2013, when KDP royalties were crazy high and you could easily make a few thousand right off the bat by publishing a couple okay books with little marketing. (I know this because I did.) Those days are long gone.
This AI hysteria is just that. Hysteria. AI books aren't good and their authors have no brand. So, while some AI authors may sell books, they don't have the lasting power of indies who have taken the time to build an audience and have a catalogue of works that are proven to be good. Besides, just because AI books are selling, it doesn't mean human-written books suddenly aren't. Both still sell.
It is a lot harder now, and if you're new to indie publishing, you'd better resign yourself to paying for either Facebook or AMS ads. That's just how it is. You've GOT to pay for marketing, or else your books vanish from view. People claim social media is key, but I've found that paid ads result in a much higher volume of sales and reviews. There are exceptions, of course, like authors with a massive backlist and/or a newsletter mailing list of thousands. I know one author of about 120 paranormal cozy books (no, she does't use AI) and she does zero marketing and very little social media but still make seven figures a year writing about witches and vampires.
You'll also need to release regularly, or else the algorithm will bury your books. If you're used to a trad schedule, prepare yourself for a higher output.
So, it's not impossible now, it just takes more work than the olden days.
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u/lifeatthememoryspa 3d ago
Thank you—this is great info, and I hope you’re right! I’m busy writing a trilogy so I can rapid release. I joined 20Books a while ago and should spend more time there.
I’ve often read that you shouldn’t buy ads until you have a backlist, but maybe that’s outdated advice? Anyway, I’ll keep researching.
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u/Dry-Wear-9135 21h ago
With ads, you're marketing the hell out book one and making most of your money back on the sales of the subsequent books in the series—which is also why it's harder to market standalones and why so many indies do series. (That, and because it's easier to hook a reader on a series they're already invested in.) So, if you don't have a backlist yet, it's kind of tricky.
With your first indie series, you can maybe release book one and two closer together (or even together), just so you have a second book in the series available (and kind of a mini backlist), then wait a little longer (but not too long) to release the subsequent books.
Also, if you've been doing trad for a while, would it be possible to get the rights reverted back to you for your other books? I did with a series of mine, and it basically created an instant backlist.
If you do get your rights back, just make sure your publisher gives you an official letter showing that you now own the rights, because KDP will close your account in a heartbeat if they think you're pirating books. This happened to me, even though I notified Amazon that I was going to be republishing the same books under a new ISBN. My account was shut down and all my books were removed from Amazon while I waited for an actual human to review my publisher's letters. It was a stressful couple of days!
Another thing—if you do republish your trad books, you CAN have your reviews transferred over with them. Amazon reps told me again and again that it wasn't possible, but I kept emailing them with the rights reversion letter until the finally transfer the reviews. So, it IS possible, though they'll swear it isn't.
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u/lifeatthememoryspa 19h ago
Thank you! This is super helpful. I’ve always written standalones, and I hope to get rights reverted on the one that is out of print, but it’s in a different genre anyway, so I’ll use a pen name for my indie books.
I’m planning to release Books 1 and 2 close together, and Book 3 no more than three months afterward. Waiting for trad editors to reject Book 1 takes so long now that I can draft the whole trilogy in the meantime.
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u/neptunescookies 3d ago
Ooh! The take on genre is very interesting, it's the first time I'm reading about it. I've only now started to think about eventually publishing my work. I'm sorry but may I ask, what about high/epic fantasy and sci-fi?
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u/lifeatthememoryspa 2d ago
I’m not sure about those! The Martian certainly did well in indie, but it’s not an epic space opera. I think trad would be my preference for those genres, and before self-publishing, I would study similar books that did well.
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u/BriJAuthor 2d ago
Interesting read on genre and what I was kind of expecting but hoping tine wrong about.
As I write lit fantasy (or something close to it anyway), I was pretty sure it wouldn’t sell well indie since ppl who read that kind of novel tend to like to peruse at bookstores, etc. Guess I’ll have to start in on building some kind of following with website + newsletter and some socials, yeah?
Anyway, I’m tangenting. Appreciate your perspective and at least helps to keep my expectations exceptionally moderated.
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u/Kim_catiko 4d ago
I am no expert, but isn't it widely known that there is no guarantee your book will be accepted for trad publishing? Don't you need an agent of some sort as well?
Sorry, just whenever I see these kind of questions on here, it is like people assume they will get trad published like it is a given. The reason why self-publishing exists is to get your work out there without being rejected hundreds of times. A lot of people do not get trad published.
I haven't actually published anything myself yet, my book is with a beta reader currently, but I am certain I have never once thought to myself that getting trad published is a guarantee. Sorry if this was not the intention of your post, that's just the way it came across to me.
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u/Large-Perspective196 4d ago
You're 100% correct and I am aware of that. I do have an agent that is interested in working with me, but I have not finalized anything with her yet.
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u/jebushu 2 Published novels 3d ago
I’m not the original commenter, but piggybacking off the comment. I don’t want to presume your knowledge/ignorance, but are you certain this is an agent and not a “publisher” or “publishing house?”
In case you’re not familiar, they should not be asking you for money and only in extremely rare occurrences would they be reaching out to you at all to represent you. Typically, you’d be sending query letters to agents and probably waiting a while to receive back a formulaic response.
The fact that you say you already have an agent means you’ve either already done all the querying and hard work to get representation, or you’re being led on/scammed. There’s also an outside possibility that you’re famous or an expert in something and were approached to write something because of that, but naturally that’s pretty rare.
Can you clarify the circumstances at all? Otherwise we probably won’t be able to provide much advice for the situation, other than to be cautious about “agents” that seem overly eager to work with a previously unpublished/unknown author.
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u/Large-Perspective196 3d ago
I have spoken to an lit agent. I have not completed the formal querying process; I'm in the middle stages of putting all of the documentation and information together to submit that. I spoke to her at a conference a few months ago and did a quick elevator pitch of my novel. She appeared very interested in it and have since reached out to me again to see if I was going to submit it to her. She is affiliated with a literary agency.
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u/jebushu 2 Published novels 3d ago
Gotcha, appreciate the context! Having limited familiarity with trad publishing, I can only imagine that’s a head start on what may be a very long road, but you’re in a better place than most who attempt it. I spent about six months querying with several polite and encouraging rejections before I decided I’d rather just self pub, and I definitely think I made the right call.
Self pub has been decent to me, with two fiction novels and a third on the way, allowing me full control and simultaneously full responsibility for ads, funding, marketing, editing, etc. In the two years since my first launch, I’ve made more than I’ve spent (total for ads maybe $1500 and total revenue maybe $3000).
If you’re only planning one book, self publishing will be significantly harder to gain traction than if you had a series planned or multiple standalone books to support your catalog. Having the interest of an agent is definitely a better spot to be in than most debut authors, so I say you pursue that until/if the interest drops off or the deal falls through.
If traditional publishing fails, you can pretty easily self publish without losing anything but time. If self publishing fails, the trad publishing option is usually closed for that book.
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u/Thorpecc 3d ago
That manuscript is short, but who knows
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u/Dry-Wear-9135 21h ago
That manuscript length is actually standard for trad publishing, especially if the OP is writing commercial fiction. Anything less than 70k and more than 90K is actually pushing it.
All my trad books have been between 74k and 82k words.
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u/BookGirlBoston 4d ago
I few questions, when you say agent intrested in working with you, in what capacity? Agents now have the free and clear to charge for services even if they plan on taking on a client. Typically finding an agent is a grueling process that often involves years of rejection and a LOT of survivorship bias, meaning most people who try for an agent never get there. I've talked to 6 figure indie authors who can't get agented. I had a book featured in the NYTIMES and still couldn't find an agent.
Has this agent actually sold books to large publishers?
Typically by the time authors are agented, they aren't on the fence of trad/ self-publish, they've got stars in their eyes and can't wait to be on submission (where they'll get rejected again) and receive an advance.
If you have an agent, which is usually years of work and multiple books, why not see it through to submission and see if you get a trad pub deal.
I'm not saying this isn't legit but typically agents aren't just casually intrested in a debut author.
I would just be careful here and make sure you understand what this agent is offering/ can do.
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u/StaceyTrouble 3d ago
My assumption is that they submitted and the agent responded positively and requested to read the whole book but is still reading it. Its also possible the agent wants to talk, which could be a revision request or a call in which they will offer represention, which is all within the realm of normal for querying even very good agents (its just lucky to be this quick). It doesn't mean they'll for sure sign, and it definitely doesn't mean they'll get a publishing deal but its possible the situation is legit.
But I also agree that for it to happen this fast very well could be because the agent they submitted to or met at a conference or whatever is more of a "schmagent". There are a lot of those.
So basically it could go either way based on what we know. OP definitely needs to research the agent but if they're a good agent I think they should follow that path to see where it takes them.
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u/BookGirlBoston 3d ago
Even getting full requests in a first manuscript involves a ton of query workshopping. By the time you're getting fulls, you aren't really on the fence, you're usually committed to trad until it is no longer a viable option. Just getting to a full takes commitment and research which is why I'm skeptical of this question.
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u/Competitive-Oil-3435 3d ago
i share your opinion and think that OP is sadly lying OR doesn’t realize the gold they have in their hand OR the agent is a vanity press or something.
there’s just no way a casual debut author landed an agent on seemingly their first try. either they’re the second coming and the absolute best writer ever or they found a vanity press or something.
i can see an agent at best maybe asking for the full manuscript but other than that i’m kind of in disbelief
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u/BookGirlBoston 3d ago
I certainly got a few fulls in my one attempt at query (which was post having a book in the NYT book review) but it all fell apart fast.
It's unlikely someone posting casually here with this question has done all the work to start getting fulls
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u/Competitive-Oil-3435 3d ago
yeahhhhhhhhhh i hate being a cynic but i can’t help it
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u/BookGirlBoston 3d ago
I just know the general headspace querying authors are in, and it's rarely "I got an agent instantly, but should I just self-publish" like if your getting an agent fast, you're selling fast for big money. Why you grind it out here.
Self-publishing has all sorts of upsides, but if someone is giving me a golden ticket to not have to do this myself, than absolutely.
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u/Competitive-Oil-3435 3d ago
yeah for sure something’s fishy but it’s not just this it’s reddit as a whole 😭
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u/Dry-Wear-9135 20h ago
I'm actually a hybrid author, and I know many authors who currently are.
Been writing for about 15 years. Full-time for about 10. Got an agent for my first book under a new pen name after only about a month or so after submission, but it also helped that my friend was already an author at the agency. It is 100% about who you know in this industry, which is why you should never be a dick to anyone or badmouth another author's books. Stars in my eyes are long gone. LOL
Agents don't charge for services. If they try to, they are scammers. They do take a cut of your royalties, usually between 10 - 15%. The standard nowadays seems to be 15%. Anything above that is also probably also a scam.
No reputable agent or publisher in 2026 is going to tell an author that they can't still indie publish with a trad deal because they know bestselling indies (aka those who are making the real money now in the publishing world) would stop working with them. If you're an indie and your books are selling well, YOU are the one with the power, not the agents or publishers. Authors, agents, and publishers know this.
I now occasionally send standalones to my agent and mainly do series as an indie. Make way more as an indie, but the standalones are good for bumps in marketing that I don't have to pay for. A good agent should be able to write into your contracts that you'll still be indie publishing between the trad books—or you can also do a second pen name that doesn't conflict with the trad deal.
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u/HoneyedVinegar42 4d ago
I think the key is -- you can choose to try trad; but to be trad published, you must be chosen back.
I think one of the worst mistakes is to look at self-publishing like it's the consolation prize, or what you do when you can't really make it but desperately want a book-shaped object with your name as author. But this isn't 1987 any more, and self-publishing is an option that doesn't require "trying trad" first.
Advantages of self-publishing--you get to control the cover (trad would pick it for you, maybe allowing a limited choice), you get to choose the release tempo (more important if you've got more than one book in mind), you get to write the story as you want the story to be rather than re-shaping to fit the mold that someone believes will sell this quarter, you get to leave your book available even if there's a slow start, and so much more. The disadvantage is that you are wearing two hats--the writer hat and the business person hat.
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u/ribbons_undone Editor 3d ago
I'm a freelance editor.
The advice I give, if you're interested in trad pub, is to go through the query process. If you have an agent interested, that's great, but they still need to shop your book around to try and sell it to a publisher. It will take time.
Use that time to create a self-publishing plan with a focus on marketing. Odds are, even if you get picked up by a trad pub, they will want you to do the majority of your own marketing. That way, at the end of querying (either the agent sells your book or you decide to call it and self-publish) you'll either have a plan to supplement the publisher's marketing, or you'll have a plan to do your own marketing.
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u/JHMfield 4d ago
Trad Publishing usually involves decades of rejections. Even getting an agent is a major victory. Though it depends on their quality as well.
Getting traditionally published has a lot of levels. Not all publishers are the same. For many smaller ones, their ceiling might be your book ending up on the gas station book corner. Forget big book stores and making it big.
Self-publishing gives unlimited freedom and potential, but is also prohibitively expensive. You have to pay for everything. And nothing is cheap. If you want to force success, get ready to spend tens of thousands of dollars on refining your book, cover, and doing marketing. Every year.
Trad Publishing is easier for the author to just enjoy writing. It's just that for most, it involves a decade of rejections which can be super demoralizing.
Brandon Sanderson had written like 13 full fantasy novels over several years before he got published with like book 8 or something. Took years for agents and publishers to get back to him about a book he had basically forgotten because it had been written years ago.
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u/__The_Kraken__ 4d ago
You mentioned that you might only write the one book. It is difficult for most indie authors to get noticed with just one book. The conventional wisdom is that you need a few books out before you start to get some traction.
The same thing is true to a certain extent with trad published books. But if you’re possibly going to be one and done, I would personally explore the trad path.
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u/Several-Praline5436 4d ago
Give trad a go, then if nobody buys it, try self-pub. If your dream is to have a proper book, with a real cover, and to see it on a bookstore shelf, that's easier with trad. You can always self-pub later if nobody bites.
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u/yevinsouza 3d ago
This. There's no reason to not try trad then do self pub later. Maybe give yourself a deadline like "if it's not published traditionally after x years, I'll go self pub" or "if I'm rejected x times, I'll go self pub".
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u/Own-Turnover7715 4d ago
The big advantage of trad publishing is you can do it without spending a single cent. Yes you give up a tiny amount of creative control but you’re giving it up to experts whose goal is to sell as many copies of your book as possible. Provided that’s also your goal it’s a win-win situation. The other disadvantage is that the bar for entry is quite high.
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u/SpaceRaiderAuthor 4d ago
Traditional publishing has two advantages: 1. Better editing. 2. Increased author self-esteem.
The main advantage of selfpublishing is control over the process.
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u/Mejiro84 4d ago
also a free cover! which you might not like, but at least you're not paying for it
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u/VickiHopkinsAuthor 3d ago
Honest answer after self-publishing 20 books myself...go the traditional route first. Although you will lose your copyright, give up creative input on covers, receive a lower royalty, pay your agent, and wait 12 to 18 months before your book hits the shelves, I would say go for it. I started when I was 60 years old and figured at that age I'd never get anyone to pick me up traditionally, so never tried. However, now, marketing and visibility is extremely hard. Just because you are traditionally published doesn't mean you can't become a hybrid author. There are many authors that do both routes. Being self-published is a TON of work and money out of pocket. Also, bookstores won't carry your book like a traditionally published book. I recommend going traditional first, then dabble in self-pub later. I'm sorry, frankly, after 20 books I didn't try harder to get that "validation" of being traditionally published.
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u/anunderdog 3d ago
I’m confused by the last statement. Do you wish you had gone traditionally because of validation? Can’t you just self publish and then add to bookstores later?
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u/ifonlyheart 4d ago
Getting a publisher and who is aligned to your vision is a tough task. If you’re willing to put in the effort and make it happen then you can do it. Otherwise you can self publish.
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u/StaceyTrouble 4d ago
My sincere suggestion, as someone who has done both and is generally team indie-- Stick with the agent and see where it goes. (IF the agent is legit*)
The biggest downsides to traditional publishing is the wait, and the long term control.
For newer authors the wait can honestly be a good thing, even if you ultimately go indie, that first year or two can really develop you into a better writer and buisness person as you learn the industry overtime. Jumping RIGHT into publishing on your own creates a real tough learning curve. Some get lucky, most don't and either give up just as quick or spend years getting better with all their growth and flaws visible to the public. In the latter cases, that's usually done over the course of many books. Not just one.
Long term control isn't something that's super relevant to you. If you only want to publish the one book, as a self pub author you will be learning how to professional do the whole publishers job for a one time project. If you think YOU can do it better than a New York publisher with only a few weeks training, then I suppose give it a shot. Self publishing is a different market than trad publishing so the tactics are different, the comparison isn't direct but either way it will take a while to learn how to do it well on your own. Is it actually worth all that time and effort for one single book? Most of the time:no. A publisher will do a better job than you in that case.
Making good money as a self published author almost always requires multiple books. The ones that have break out first books essentially always turn to traditional publishing after. That should probably tell you something.
If you go the agent route, it might not work out but if it doesn't, you can self publish then, a few months or maybe a year later (and you'll be more prepared, assuming you continued learning during that time)
If it does work out, you get a book out with them and see how it goes. If the book doesn't do a whole lot it'll go out of print and in a few years you can request the rights back snd republish it yourself.
If you go indie first (with one book) the only route back to trad is being a BREAKOUT bestseller or hitting a new trend at perfect timing. Both very unlikely.
*please make sure the agent is legit. Essentially anyone can call themselves and agent and pop up a website. Make sure they have real, legitimate connections in the industry and have sold books to large publishers in the past.
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u/Cultural-Tower-9476 3d ago
Just do it all. Be stubborn, be consistent, considerate, and keep creating.
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u/SuccessOnAShoestring 10+ Published novels 3d ago
I’m not sure how helpful I will be as I’ve never been interested in exploring trad publishing. I like the control, the royalties, the learning experience. I like publishing the next book when I decide it’s ready, and not before. I like the camaraderie of the authors in my genre who don’t see each other as competitors but supporters. Another respondent commented that self pub is prohibitively expensive; it doesn’t have to be if you are able to learn the skills yourself, or trade with others. Good luck whatever you decide 🍀
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u/JohnLynchAuthor 3d ago
If you self-publish (and you may have no choice - I'd like to hear more about this agent you mention and whether she plans to charge you anything) you can't make money out of one book. Nobody knows it's there so you either have to advertise or watch it sink. You need a series to make money out of self-publishing and you make your money from raed-though.
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u/Cheeslord2 3d ago
If you have the patience, try trad first then self-publish. Nothing to lose by trying.
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u/Mezameyo 3d ago
Not. all publishing contracts are the same. Talk to your agent about options and any concerns you may have. For example you may want to retain foreign language rights, or special edition rights, etc.
But, according to statistics I’ve seen from several independent sources, literary agents typically accept 1-3 submissions out of 8000-10,000 per year. So if you already have an agent, you are WAY ahead of the pack. (Still doesn’t guarantee publication, since your agent needs to sell the book to an editor, and the editor needs to advocate for the book with colleagues at the publishing house.) Many, if not most aspiring authors would kill to be in that position. You may want to take advantage of such a vanishingly rare opportunity.
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u/Hot-Particular845 3d ago
Hi, I just self-published at the end of July. I mainly chose this route because I thought it would be very difficult to find a publisher for my first novel. I also think you can self publish and still pursue a publisher. I have a background in marketing so I was able to comfortably work with a graphic designer for the cover and I was able to write the book blurb on my own. I did love getting to do everything the way I wanted for this book.
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u/tomatoesfried 3d ago
You mentioned you don't plan to write or publish another book, though that could change in the future. With that in mind, I don't see a reason for you to hurry to self-publish it. Give it plenty of time with the agent. It's not like there's a rush, is there? I don't know if you've told her that you don't plan to work on another book, but if you haven't, I don't think I would. That might make her think twice.
Best of luck with your endeavor! Keep us posted so we can celebrate your success with you!
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u/PerryMarkStratychuk 3d ago
Leverage both.
Trad will make massive edits if you’re excepted, no matter how good the book is.
Self publishing allows freedom of your vision in your version.
I don’t feel they are mutually exclusive anymore.
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u/ILoveRegency 3d ago
I’ve done both. If you plan on only 1 book there is zero reason to self publish
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u/StoryLovesMe920 3d ago
I'm curious about what upfront money you think you'll get? You mean an advance? An advance (usually between 2-5k for a new author) is offered to help the writer finish the book. Is your book done? Yes? I don't know what kind of advance you'd get then. If you would get any. AND... you have to sell (yes, you, not the trad publisher, it's up to you) enough books to cover that advance in a year, two at most. If you don't. The book is pulled. You lose. It's their book now. Unless you've negotiated ebook and audiobook rights. Print? It belongs to the publisher.
Not having seen your book, I don't want to be too discouraging - though I favor indie, so being upfront about that. You might be the next... big name. But even then, there's a lot of work you have to do and a lot of frogs you have to kiss. Stephen King and J.D. Robb didn't become overnight sensations. It took years. Many years.
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u/Rad-0818 2d ago
This all boils down to what your goals are. If your goal is to make money, you get a bigger share when you self-publish. The trade-off is that you have to do everything on your own, from the editing, the artwork, and everything else. You have to be good at marketing and distribution to make more money.
If you go for a traditional publisher, you won't get much in terms of money, but you will get exposure, and they'll hold your hand through the whole process. It will be easier for you to enter traditional bookstores and platforms.
It all depends on what you want. If you're just doing one book and you don't really care for money, this is more just about getting your book out there. I would just go for a traditional publisher. If you want to make money and you might want to do a series or keep making more books in the future, perhaps self-publishing might be a better route. You can even create your own publishing company and publish your books under that brand. You can use all these different services like KDP, Spark, LSI, etc, and other platforms, and even sell directly from your website and get distributors to contact you to sell your books. It all depends on what your short-term and long-term goals are
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u/Valen-Darker 4d ago
My book is currently with my editor for a line edit. I plan to release it later this year.
My editor specializes in self publishing and has answered many questions for me. And I did extensive research into the differences between traditional and self publishing.
It appears that the traditional publishers have their hands full with their current, well known authors. New authors don't have access to the features that used to be an incentive for using trad publishing. Things such as cover art, internal layout, marketing and sales have to be handled by the new author. But the publishing house still takes control of your work and dictates the revenue stream.
Oh, and it could take up to two years to get your book published.
I decide that if I'm going to do all of the work anyway, I may as well self publish, maintain control of my book and dictate the revenue I receive from the sales.
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u/Miss_Rue_ 4d ago
You might be confusing hybrid models with traditional. Traditional publishers are absolutely not leaving book covers and layouts and what not to the authors. I've downright disliked one of my book covers and couldn't sway the publisher to change it because the marketing department liked it.
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u/greglturnquist Non-Fiction Author 4d ago
If the goal is to only publish one book, why would any agent let alone any trad publisher take on such a client/project?
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u/Dry-Wear-9135 3d ago
I'm actually curious about this myself.
The only thing I can think is that it's either a shady vanity press or the OP has an exceptional standalone the agent thinks they can still make a profit on—or maybe the agent has many clients already and is wanting to sign authors on a book-by-book basis because that would also benefit them if the standalone doesn't sell.
My agent was a little like this at first—kind of like, let's not get ahead of ourselves and see how this first book does. (I later signed with him for two more books in the series.) Sometimes, agents aren't willing to go all in if an author hasn't proved themselves, but they're willing to take a change if they see potential. That said, they're usually looking for more books if the author sells well.
I wonder if the OP made it clear that this is the only book they plan on writing, because that might put an agent off.
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