Self-publishing versus traditional publishing

One of the decisions an author has to make is whether to go the conventional publishing route or the self-publishing one. In order to make this decision, it is important to understand the differences between self-publishing and traditional publishing (also known as royalty publishing) and what each can offer you.

Here are some comparisons to help you with your decision.

Self-publishing offers excellent returns if the book does well. This is because, by making a financial investment in the book, you are entitled to all the profits from the sale of each book. Your greatest gains are from sales made directly to the customer because you are cutting out the expensive chain of distribution, which most publishers don’t do. The downside is that most authors have limited budgets and cannot print and distribute the huge quantities that major publishers can. However, the higher returns often make up for this and many self-publishing authors find that, with active marketing, they make much more than they would have done on a royalty basis.

With traditional publishing, most sales are made through bookstores which take 40% of the retail price. To get books into stores requires a book marketer and distributor, who will in turn take 20-25% of retail. Then editing, production and printing expenses must be deducted. The publishing house must also cover its overheads and (hopefully) make a return on their investment. You can see now why royalties are so low! Publishers don’t really make much money unless they have a bestseller on their hands.

Self-publishing offers you the opportunity to dictate your own success. The more you put in, the more you’ll get out. Your marketing efforts will not be wasted. You have the opportunity to determine your own income.

With traditional publishing, you’re totally dependent on the publisher’s efforts and it is unlikely that your book receive any further attention after the initial release, unless you have an exceptional book, or are a well-known or celebrity author.

Self-publishing includes you in the production process and allows you to have input and control over the presentation and delivery of the end product.

Traditional publishing often excludes you from these decisions as publishers' decisions are usually based on economic viability and what they believe will sell. While this makes perfect business sense from the publisher's point of view, it is not necessarily compatible with the author's vision for the book.

Self-publishing allows you to retain full ownership of your book. You own the electronic file used to print the book, and you are free to use the file yourself and/or take it elsewhere for printing.

With traditional publishing the publisher owns all rights to the book for the duration of the publishing contract. During this period, you may not take the original manuscript and have it published elsewhere. Once the contract has expired, you will again own the rights to the original content of the book, but the publisher will continue to own the copyright to the book in its published format (i.e. the look, design, layout, editing, and size, as well as all the printing material and plates). Should neither party choose to renew the contract, the book's files will be archived. If you at a later stage decide to publish the book yourself, you have the option of starting production of the book from scratch using your original file, or you can purchase the existing material from the publisher, for a fee.

Self-publishing allows your dreams of seeing your book in print become a reality - no hassles, no fuss, no rejections. However, any good and reputable author services company will make recommendations on what needs to be done to your book to make it a professional and marketable product. If you are serious about successful self-publishing and producing a book that will be accepted by bookstores and book marketers, it is essential that you invest in professional book production. While you may not notice the difference between a low-cost self-published book and one produced by a professional publishing or author services company, people in the trade certainly will.

With traditional publishing, it is very difficult to have a book accepted, and even a good book may never see the light of day. With fierce competition and the high cost of distribution, publishers have become extremely selective about what they take on. They also work to very strict budgets and these budgets are normally worked out a year or two in advance. Some publishers may funnel the bulk of their budget towards specific genres for the year - those that have shown an uptrend globally. Your manuscript may unfortunately fall into the ‘wrong’ genre. Well-known South African publishers receive a couple of hundred manuscripts a month while overseas book agents have been receiving up to 1000 manuscripts a month (each!). Your manuscript has to compete with all of this.