Publishing a book can be a daunting task, especially if you’re not sure where to start. Fortunately, learning how to publish a book is a fairly straightforward process.
Authors used to be at the mercy of traditional publishing companies, but these days the publishing industry is more flexible, allowing authors more options. There are three ways to publish a book now: self-publishing, hybrid publishing, and using a traditional publishing house. In this blog post, we will discuss the pros and cons of each type of publishing process so you can decide which is right for you.
Let’s get started.
1. Self Publishing
What is self-publishing?
Self-publishing refers to how an author publishes and distributes their work without the involvement of a publisher. This can result in lower costs, as there will not be any third-party processing fees or central distribution costs.
Whether a book is a non-fiction, fantasy, poetry, a cookbook, or any other publication, self-publishing is a method any author can use to publish a book.
However, the self-publishing process requires authors to be responsible for covering all aspects of the publishing process themselves, so they’ll need to do everything—printing, editing, inside layout, book cover design, and marketing—all on their own. In essence, an author who wants to self-publish acts as a full-service project manager.
There are a variety of ways to publish a book yourself, but the most common is to use online companies like Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing, Barnes & Noble Press, or Ingram Spark. These companies give instructions online on how to publish a book using their platform. The author uploads their manuscript and sets their price, while the publishing company gets a commission on each book sale. An author may choose to publish with only one self-publishing company or several.
Some authors self-publish a digital version of their book before publishing a printable version. This gets the book on the market right away while the author continues to work on the book cover and design aspects of laying out a printable book. Learning how to publish a book digitally is fairly simple, so much so that some self-published authors only do digital versions and skip the print version altogether.
Having both print and ebook versions of a book available will increase book sales because it gives consumers more options. Some people even purchase the same book both ways.
Authors who choose to self publish typically have access to good content creation programs, or to other professionals to help them with the book creation process. Some even use AI content creation programs to help with writer’s block.
Pros of self-publishing
It’s faster
Self-publishers are in charge of the entire process, from writing the book to publishing and marketing it. This means that there is less red tape to wade through, and the author can get their book to market much faster.
More creative control
When an author publishes a book through a publishing house, they are often required to make changes to their work that they may not agree with. This is because the publishing house has to ensure that the book will be commercially successful. Self-publishers, however, have more creative control and can publish the book exactly as they see fit.
Higher royalties
When publishing the traditional way, the average royalty rate for book sales is around 10%, but for self-published authors, it averages 60-70%. This is because the publisher is taking on all the financial risks associated with publishing your book.
Longer book shelf-life
Traditionally published books have a limited shelf life in the bookstore and are periodically removed to make way for newly published books. Self-published books, on the other hand, are always available in online bookstores and can be discovered and purchased months and years after the book is published.
No deadline stress
Self-published authors have no deadlines other than the ones they give themselves. Of course, this could be a problem for procrastinators because there’s no pressure to get the book done!
No rejection
On the plus side anyone who wants to self-publish a book can do so—there are no gatekeepers to accept or reject a book submission. On the negative side, however, this means many terrible books get published!
You retain your book rights
When you publish a book yourself, you retain your book rights. Conversely, with traditional publishing, the publisher owns the rights to your book, at least for a contracted amount of time.
Cons of self-publishing
You have to do everything
Self-publishing authors have to do everything themselves (or hire professionals to do it for them), from designing the cover to marketing the book. This can be daunting if you don’t already know how to publish a book, especially for first-time authors. Traditional publishers, on the other hand, do much of the work for the author.
Potential financial loss
When an author self-publishes a book, they are essentially putting all of the financial risks on themselves. There is no guarantee that the book will sell well. Even if they do everything right, there is no guarantee that people will want to buy the book.
Harder to get distribution
Self-publishing authors have a harder time getting their books into stores. Independent bookstores and other retailers are more likely to carry books from well-known publishers than books from self-published authors.
No agent support
It can be hard for self-publishing authors to not have the support of a publishing agent. One of the main reasons for this is that self-publishing authors typically do not have the same resources and networks that publishing agents have. In addition, self-publishing authors often do not have the same level of expertise when it comes to book publishing. Finally, self-publishing authors typically do not have the same level of marketing and publicity resources as professional publishing agents.
Less prestige
Self-published books might seem less prestigious because they aren’t officially published or advertised by a large publishing company. Typically these writers don’t have the opportunity to include feedback from book critics, editors, or agents and thus can be subject to some natural oversight in quality.
2. Traditional Publishing
What is traditional publishing?
This type of publishing refers to the process of publishing a book through a professional publishing company (sometimes called a publishing house) such as Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, or Penguin Random House. The author typically signs a contract with the publisher which gives the publisher exclusive rights to publish the book for a certain amount of time. During this time, the publisher will edit, market, and distribute the book.
When you publish through a professional publishing house it doesn’t matter if you know how to publish a book since all the work is done for you. The hard part is getting a publishing company interested in your book to begin with.
If you’re interested in using a publishing company, your first step is to research literary agents and find one willing to work with you. Literary agents represent authors and their work to professional publishers. They will pitch the book to publishers, negotiate book deals, and help with the editing and production of the book. They also take care of the marketing and publicity for the book.
You may spend quite a bit of time researching literary agents before you find a good fit, however, once you have a literary agent, the book publishing process will become much easier. The first thing your literary agent will do is help you write a book proposal which is a document that outlines your book idea, how it’s different from other books on the market, and why people should read it.
Pros of traditional publishing
No upfront cost
When an author signs a traditional publishing deal, they will generally be paid an advance against royalties. This amount is usually a few thousand dollars, and it’s meant to help the author produce the book. The publisher will also cover all of the publishing costs, including editing, design, and marketing.
Credibility
There are a few reasons why traditional publishers are often seen as more credible than other forms of publishing. First, because traditional publishers have been around for a long time, they have a reputation for quality. They also have a team of editors who review manuscripts and help to make sure that the books are well-written and error-free. Finally, because traditional publishers are backed by big companies, they’re often seen as being more reliable and trustworthy than smaller publishing houses.