What’s the Difference Between Traditional and Self-Publishing?

“Is it okay to self-publish?”

“Should I go for the traditional book deal?”

“Isn’t self-publishing just vanity publishing?”

“Could I find an agent with this story?”

“Is traditional publishing better than self-publishing?”

While authors ask in all kinds of ways, the underlying question is the same—how do you decide whether to self-publish or shoot for a traditional book deal?

Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. Your publishing path will depend on your goals, background, platform, and timeline.

Before we get to the considerations, it’s worth busting one major myth—even with a traditional book deal, you’ll still have to market your book. Whether you publish traditionally or independently (i.e. self-publish), your book won’t sell without you. Books only hit the NYT Bestseller List because their authors pounded the pavement, building a loyal, engaged following and a community of happy, connected readers.

So let’s put aside the (completely understandable) desire to sip a mojito while your book literally sells itself and consider the three key differences between traditional and self-publishing: timeline, control, and money.

Timeline

Unless you’re a major celebrity (and sometimes even then!), there are no shortcuts in traditional publishing. The process is the same for everyone:

1. author queries agents

2. author (hopefully) signs agent

3. agent submits to publishers

4. publisher issues a contract

5. publisher produces the book

Sounds simple, right? Most of the time, it’s not. Your path can be derailed by anything from your agent’s retirement to your press going out of business to your editor resigning to a major natural disaster.

Step 1, querying agents: 8-24 months

Most authors don’t get beyond step 1. It’s really hard to get an agent if you’re an unknown author without a big following. Even with a modest platform, first-time authors are unlikely to secure an agent on their first round of queries. Every round of queries takes at least six to eight weeks. If an agent requests more information, that timeline increases. And a request for more information doesn’t guarantee a deal.

Plan on a minimum of eight months to move from step 1 to step 2—probably more like a year or two.

Step 2, signing with an agent: 3-6 months

If you do sign with an agent, they will probably want you to revise your manuscript. This is a great perk of working with an agent. Agents know the industry very well, and a good agent’s advice is like gold.

But, of course, this adds to the timeline. Revisions will likely take you a minimum of three to six months. And if your revisions don’t meet the agent’s vision, you might find yourself back at step 1.

Step 3, agent seeks a publisher: 3-12 months

Once it’s ready, your agent will take your book “on sub,” meaning they’ll submit it to publishers. This will add another three, six, or even twelve or more months to the process.

You may get a contract (woohoo!), or your agent may come back to you with bad news. Contrary to popular belief, signing with an agent does not guarantee a book contract. That’s why your agent wanted you to revise earlier—to increase your odds in the marketplace.

Step 4, publisher issues a contract: 1-2 months

This one’s usually pretty quick, although the further you get in the process, the more variables will come into play. Your contract may require more revisions. Or you may be required to make revisions before the press is ready to issue a contract.

Step 5, publisher produces book: 12-18 months

The book industry is slooooooooow.

If you do get a deal, unless you’ve got a shocking exposé on a major, timely issue (and sometimes even then), it will likely be a minimum of one year from the date of the contract until the book is released.

There are excellent reasons for this. For one thing, if you want your book in brick-and-mortar bookstores (and most authors do!), the publisher’s sales reps will have to start working on those placements immediately. Even small bookstores often schedule their acquisitions six months in advance.

Plus, lots of things have to happen behind the scenes to make a book successful. Those things take time, and publishers want to do them the right way.

So how long does it take to publish traditionally?

All told, three years is a very reasonable timeframe for taking a book from pitch to launch with a traditional publisher. And that doesn’t include the time it takes to write, revise, and polish the book.

The bottom line: If you want to launch your book quickly, the only option is self-publishing. Traditional publishing offers many benefits, but speed is not one of them!

Creative Control

The second major difference is creative control.

You may have picked up on this already—all those editors (plus your agent!) aren’t just proofreading your manuscript. They’ll comb through it with expert eyes. Sometimes they’ll make changes for you (as with copyeditors and proofreaders). In other cases, they’ll tell you what needs to change.

Good editors want you to feel comfortable and excited about the progress of your book, so they won’t force you to change things that undermine your purpose or meaning. But when they ask you to revise, they aren’t really asking—they’re telling you that something about your book will keep it from selling. And if it won’t sell, you won’t get through the marketing department and editorial board.

The thing is, when you publish traditionally, you’re essentially publishing by committee. The press is going to make a sizeable financial investment in your book (see below!). They’ve already run a P&L (Profit and Loss) analysis based on their previous experiences. And as businesses in a highly competitive industry, they know what will sell to which markets (or, at least, they can make an educated guess). They will put much more weight on that knowledge than on your vision.

Sometimes revision requests come before a contract can be issued. In other cases, contracts are contingent on the revisions being completed “to the satisfaction of the press.” Both of those conditions mean the revisions are mandatory. If you refuse to make the changes, the press will refuse to publish your book. You may also lose your agent, since a canceled contract costs them income, too.

Most people make the revisions.

Once those revisions are finished, the press will review them. At the very least, the manuscript will go to copyeditors who will tighten your prose. You’ll get galley proofs to review, and you can, again, push back on their changes, but they will have already been made. You will not have control over this process.

Meanwhile, the marketing and design team are working their magic. You’ll complete a couple of preference forms, usually an Author Questionnaire and a Cover Design Form. Depending on the press, the amount of input you’ll have will vary. But you’ll likely receive the cover design when it’s finished, and you’ll probably have to take it as is.

There are exceptions—we know one author who was able to argue, based on the book’s topic and her knowledge of the target market, that the cover undermined the book’s argument. She got a new cover. But that is absolutely not the norm. In most cases, the press will design the cover based on their knowledge of the book industry, and you’ll be locked in.

(As a side note, you probably won’t care as much as you think you will by this point. And, honestly, you’ll probably love the cover. In my experience, the day the cover proof arrives in your email inbox, the sun seems to shine a little brighter—the book is really happening!)

While most authors see their books as extensions of themselves (and they are!), to traditional publishers, a book is a product. Traditional publishers are not artists. They are businesses that employ artists. Their goal is to sell as many books as possible. And while, yes, your editor believes in the power of words and the craft of writing—and they may truly believe in your vision—their job depends on signing books that sell.

The bottom line: traditional publishing is designed to spread creative control across several specialized departments. When you sign a book contract, you turn your book over to the professionals—and they take their job too seriously to allow authors to call the shots.

Money

That brings me to the third difference—money.

You may have picked up on the huge number of people involved in traditional publishing. Editors, copyeditors, layout designers, cover designers, marketers, production coordinators, hundreds of assistants, interns, and contractors…and that’s before you get to printing and distribution!

These people all have to be paid.

That’s why your royalties are likely to be between 7% and 10% of your book’s profits. Yep, you read that right. Around 90% of your book’s earnings will go back to the press—and your agent will be paid out of your royalties, not the publisher’s income.

So what about your advance? A book advance, short for “advance payment on royalties,” is a chunk of money based on the press’s predictions of how well your book will sell. It could be anywhere from a big, fat zero to millions of dollars, but for most authors, it won’t exceed the low- to mid-five-figure range.

That royalties check (or checks, depending on the amount) is very often the only check an author will ever receive from the press. To get additional royalties checks, you’ve got to “earn out” your advance. The press is essentially holding your royalties until you earn an amount equal to your advance (remember, it’s an “advance on your royalties,” and it works the same as any other financial advance). Multiply your royalty rate by the number of books sold, and you’ll start to get a sense of why so few authors earn out—if you’re earning a couple of bucks per book, it’s gonna take a lot of books to get to $35k…

But won’t the press’s marketing efforts take care of this? Sure, most of us couldn’t sell 70,000 books on our own, but that’s why you go with a big press, right?

Your press’s marketing team is going to be amazing. But thanks to the unrealistic scenarios in movies and on television, most authors are disappointed in their press’s marketing efforts.

The marketing department will work very hard to sell your book with you.

They will not take care of the marketing for you.

Press marketing departments focus on things like library and bookseller catalogs, display marketing opportunities, industry blasts (check out Publisher’s Weekly and Shelf Awareness if you’re curious!), relevant awards, and conventions. If it makes sense, they’ll run some ads.

But they will not send you on press-paid tours or run your social media for you. If you want to earn out that advance, you’ll have to launch a full-tilt marketing campaign to run alongside the press’s efforts.

The bottom line: Some traditionally published books make millions. So do some self-published books. In both cases, the author did a substantial amount of work to make the book successful.

So…How Should You Publish?

The decision comes down to your goals.

If you want a speedy timeline and total creative control, self-publish.

If you want the prestige of a traditional book deal plus access to industry connections, start looking for an agent.

Or, you can go for a combination of benefits by hiring an author services company or working with a hybrid press. It won’t be cheap, but the results can rival traditional publishers without the long timeline or loss of creative control.

If you’d like to talk with an industry professional to get answers and advice, DAS Author Services offers complimentary clarity calls—click here to book. Or check out our free resource, Your Book’s Big Picture, to get a better understanding of your readers, your goals, and your content, the key components of a book framework you can be proud of—however you choose to publish!