First, let’s review your options: 1. Traditionally Publish and 2. Self-Publish.
https://mailchi.mp/180ff06109cc/self-pub-or-trad-pub
Traditional Publishing is where a major publishing house, one of the top 5, or an established indie press, purchase the rights to publish your book. This is usually negotiated by a literary agent who knows the ins and outs and has relationships with acquiring editors at these publishing houses.
There are indie presses out there that I would still categorize under the umbrella of trad pub because you still need and agent, the publisher still pays you for the rights.
The big thing to avoid here are vanity presses.
5 factors to help you decide:
Vision
Audience
Time
Control
Budget
Vision – what is the future you see for your book? Is it a movie? Is it a billboard in times square? Is it in your local bookstore? Is it on Amazon? Your vision is achievable, but one route makes certain really big audacious visions more likely. Neither guarantee it. But one is way harder to get to those lists than the other.
Audience – who is your audience and where do they find books? If your audience is on booktok and is looking for a new book every week, if you have the patience to be on tiktok and write in that genre, you may be okay still self-publishing. Is your audience for this book someone who reads whatever the big morning shows are promoting for their book clubs or who only reads what makes the big lists? If so, you may need a traditional publisher.
Time – Say this often but there is the speed of light, the speed of sound, and then there is the speed of books. Books move slowly. Even self-publishing I say plan for this to take a year. From starting the draft to all the edits, polishing it, juggling the book tasks with your day job, formatting, design, and publishing. It takes a year. With traditional publishing, it can take YEARS. But with self-publishing, you have better control over the timeline. If you can be patient, maybe traditional is for you. If you aren’t patient, well maybe writing a book isn’t for you but at least with self-pub, you have a say on the timeline.
Control – This brings me to control. Whether you self-pub or traditionally publish there is a LOT out of your control. Just accept that. Retailer websites have glitches. Someone else’s book goes viral. You have no control there. With self-publishing, you control all the other variables. All of them. If you like learning by doing and getting your hands dirty, self-pub. If you want someone else to manage the timeline, handle the financial transactions, pick the best cover designer, trad pub means you have more people helping to pick things.
Budget – With traditional publishing, you get paid! That’s right the publisher buys the rights to your book. But they decide how much they will invest in marketing the book. You may spend your advance building a website, doing PR, and other things you feel will also help the book sell. With self-publishing, you cover ALL the costs, but you also get all the royalties. If you can front-load the expenses, self-pub could be for you. What you don’t spend in dollars, you will spend in time.
So, any ideas on which avenue sounds right for you and your book?
I put together a checklist for you to work through to help you decide which route is best for you and your plan for the book. You can claim it here: https://mailchi.mp/180ff06109cc/self-pub-or-trad-pub
Trad Pub Resources
Alyssa Matesic
https://www.youtube.com/c/AlyssaMatesic
Book Ends YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/BookEndsLiteraryAgency
Alexa Donna Querying Series
Self Pub Resources
Author Your Ambition
My YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjvBO4kjuBSYe6Bi3RYQAQA
And Book Series
https://authoryourambition.com/books/
Alliance of Independent Authors
The Indy Author Podcast with Matty Dalrymple
https://www.theindyauthor.com/podcast.html
And if you do decide to self-publish I have tons of videos for you, books that you can get at your library, and this new Author Your Ambition workbook that will walk you through every step of the process. https://1mkwilliams.com/workbook/
Join this channel to get access to perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjvBO4kjuBSYe6Bi3RYQAQA/join
Music from: https://www.bensound.com/ E.R.F.
How You Can Support This Channel and My Work:
👍Like, Subscribe, and Comment on this video!
✉️Subscribe to my monthly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/52c7cd246b5b/authoryourambition
➕Follow me on my other channels: FB | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads
https://www.facebook.com/1mkwilliams/
https://www.instagram.com/1mkwilliams/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14420756.M_K_Williams
☕️Buy Me A Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/1mkwilliams
📚Check out my books and purchase them or request them at your library: https://1mkwilliams.com or https://payhip.com/MKWilliamsPublishingLLC
Author Your Ambition Merch on Etsy:
📖https://www.etsy.com/shop/AuthorYourAmbition
Need help with your book?
📞You can actually do 1-on-1 coaching with me, learn more about the services available here: https://calendly.com/1mkwilliamsauthor/author-coach-consultation
Need help with your author business?
📈 You can book time with me to go over your author business and overcome your current roadblocks: https://calendly.com/1mkwilliamsauthor/author-biz
DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you, but it can help me continue to create and put out more content. Thank you for supporting my channel so I can continue to provide you with free content each week!
MK Williams 