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 Which Path Is Best?
As an editor/proofreader, I am often asked which method of publishing is best - traditional or self-published. That's tough to answer as everyone is different in goals for their project, time, skills, and profit preference. I listen to many podcasts and resources including authors. Authors are seemingly 50:50 in their preference and recommendation. I'll share author resources I pay attention to and review responses I received to the question "traditional vs self-publishing" in Google's Gemini, an AI service. Defining Traditional vs Self-Publishing Let's begin at the beginning. According to Gemini: "Traditional publishing involves a publisher buying the rights to your manuscript, covering production costs, and handling distribution and marketing. Self-publishing is an author-driven process where you manage and finance every step of bringing your book to market, but keep a higher percentage of the royalties. The best path depends on your goals for control, speed, and financial return." Below is a very quick review of the differences according to Google Gemini. Choose Traditional If... Control You are comfortable with relinquishing creative and business control to a team of experts. Financials You want a risk-free path with a potential upfront advance, and are fine with a smaller share of royalties. Validation You desire the prestige, industry recognition, and wide physical distribution that comes with a traditional book deal. Timeline You are patient and can wait 18+ months for your book to be published. Business mindset You prefer to focus solely on writing and let professionals handle the business side. Choose Self-Publishing If... Control You want complete autonomy over every aspect of your book. Financials You are willing to invest your own money for higher royalties and long-term profit potential. Validation Your main goal is to get your work to readers sooner than later. Timeline You want to publish quickly and on your own schedule. Business Mindset You have an entrepreneurial spirit and are willing to learn about editing, marketing, and distribution. And Now for a More Expansive Comparison Jane Friedman is a fabulous resource in the publishing world. She has created charts to make it easier to digest this rather significant question as there are actually multiple types of publishing within both traditional and self-publishing. She offers them freely to all. I will attach a copy of the charts she posted January 2025 and a link for you to review her chart post and subscribe to her news. Fabulous Self-Publishing Resource Let me introduce you to my friend Gillian Whitney! She is a 5x author herself and is happy to assist you with getting published. She has a number of resources available on her podcasts, YouTube, and on LinkedIn. You'll see a number of other services available to help you make your publishing decisions. But What About Marketing? I regularly hear from authors that you really need to plan on your own marketing. Going the traditional publisher path does not guarantee the best or full scale marketing effort on your behalf. You are one of many of their clients. It's a given the marketing is all on you when self-publishing, but you really should plan on it no matter how you publish. This is a large topic on its own. Many marketing options have been shared in prior blog posts and will be reviewed on an ongoing basis - stick around for more fun! How About You? Have you done traditional publishing, self-publishing, or both? I'd love to hear how it went for you to be able to share your insight with others! Let's Chat or connect with me on LinkedIn!
1 Comment
10/4/2025 08:01:44 pm
I’m an author and this is a topic that I hear most often with my writing groups (including a chapter I’m president of within a larger state writing association. I always give the advice of check out Friedman’s chart, but also look deeper into what are your goals as an author as well as what’s more valuable, money vs. time. I did indie publish my first book (a creative writing prompt journal type book, which wasn’t supposed to be my first book, through BookBaby. For this book, I didn’t see a need to go with an agent or publisher as I didn’t think they’d be interested. I however knew how I wanted it to look, inside and out, and thought it would be wiser to keep most of the profit. It wasn’t one I planned on getting rich off of, but would be easily marketed at writing conferences I attend, writing groups and writing organizations in my region, and doing some in person events like hosting a Write In and working with high school and community college English professors. But my horror novel is a different story. My goals for that are different and doing the traditional route with that - albeit a large or small press, is a big deal. It’s more commercial and working with a team that knows how to design just the right book cover, work with one of their editors, work with their PR team to do the press releases and get the book into libraries, and negotiate things like foreign rights and audiobook rights and so on. Ultimately I want to write more books in the genre and have an author career as a fiction writer and occasional indie publisher additional writing prompt journals. This would make me a hybrid author and I like that. Again it boils down to identifying your goals as an author. Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
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