So just how does traditional publishing work, and why it might not work for you.

I field numerous calls and enquiries every week from businesspeople wanting to have their book picked up by a traditional publisher and seeking advice on how to do this.

I half-jokingly often reply, "Why would you want to do that? Have you thought about your goals and the other options?" The usual reply is one of two comments: I only want to be published by a 'real' publisher OR I don't know what other options there are.

In this article I pull back the covers of the traditional publishing world - the good, the bad and the seriously frustrating.

So, just what is/who are traditional publishers

Traditional publishers are publishing houses are sometimes referred to as mainstream publishers. These are the names you're probably familar with depending on where you live. Think of MacMillian, Simon & Schuster (owned by Paramount Global), Hachette, Penguin Random House, Wiley, Bonnier, Bloomsbury, Harper Collins, Bertelsmann, Éditions Gallimard, Faber & Faber.

Of course, there's been a lot of consolidation in the traditional publishing world over the past 10 years. The Big Five, as they are known, are Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Random House, and Simon & Schuster. They dominate by revenue.

In 2022 the US Justice Department blocked a merger between Penguin and Simon & Schuster, saying it "could substantially lessen competition in the market for the U.S. publishing rights to anticipated top-selling books."

This said, the traditional publishers have carved up the world into geographical areas in terms of the 'right' to sell books in those areas, so there's all kinds of rights deals that publishers do to access different markets.

I think it's a rather archaic system and approach that has spawned an industry with that many layers (all clipping the ticket) and in some cases an entitled cultural elite of publishers, editors, agents and commentators who arbitrate on what is good writing/who is a good writer, or not, when really, is mostly about whether they can make money from a book and how much money.

How does the traditional publishing industry work?

This might be the most shocking thing you'll read – not in terms of anything being particularly shocking but in how staid and stiff it is. Let me take you on a writer's traditional publishing journey.

1. You've written a book - or most of a book, you're now ready to send it to a publisher as you've always dreamed of being 'published'.

You research the publishing companies from your Google search and see that some of them have an online submission process...but some don't.

FIRST. Most traditional publishers DO NOT accept unsolicited manuscripts. They MIGHT have an online submission process, but that's really not going to get you far.

To get noticed by a traditional publisher you need to find an AGENT, as in a Literary Agent. Finding one of those is harder than flying to the moon and they will 'clip the ticket' (ie take a cut of your royalties) for the privilege.

IF you gain the attention of a Publisher or Commissioning Editor they will send your manuscript for assessment to see if it 'fits' with their list, and how much work they'll need to do to make it fit into the style/popular genre/zeitgeist of the time. This means, they will expect you to take on feedback, potentially rewrite your manuscript with the help of their editor. In a way this could be a good thing, however, if you're not up for reworking your work..it ain't going to feel good.

IF you are taken on, and believe me, this is a BIG IF, you and your book will be slotted into the publishers book process and timing and this usually means a 12-18 month schedule. You might not care about this, however, if you were planning to utilise your business book as part of your business and personal branding project, this timeframe is probably way too long.

2. The monetary return

As the author/creator of your book you might think that you'll receive a reasonable amount of money in royalties on each copy of your book.

Think again. You might 'earn' between 5-7% of the RRP of your book, paid six-monthly in arrears. WHAT?! I hear you say. How come?

Well, here are the parts of the traditional publishing business model...each taking their cut for the services they provide. Don't get me wrong, each of these groups clearly deliver a service and need to be paid, and for a long, long time, this was the only option business book authors (and all other authors) had.

Agent (gets you in front of a publisher and take a % of the deal you get)

Publisher (edits, proofreads, cover design, internal page layout, printing, some marketing, royalties management)

Distributor (gets printed book from publisher to bookshops, and 'markets' to bookshops, and then picks up 'unsold books' when the bookshops return them)

Bookshop (sell books, usually on 90 days, sales or return)

Author (you) YES, you are the last to be paid by your publisher, usually six-monthly in arrears.

The end result of all this is that the author (you) only get 5-7% of the RRP as your cut.

Still, for some people the prestige of being published by a 'traditional publisher' is something they want and will pursue until they get completely disillusioned and turn to self publishing.

And this is why Amazon started with books...they realised they could cut out the distributor and bookshop and offer, cheaper books to customers directly.

Self publishing rises

Then came the early days of self publishing... where people created books using the early days of xx and yy. Many were pretty ordinary to be honest, and that's where self publishing got somewhat of a bad name in terms of the quality of the printing and the quality of the writing.

About 15 years ago, when I started The Book Adviser, there was a tectonic shift self publishing, and it coincided with content marketing and the likes of Joe Pelizuzu, the Content Marketing Institute, and others as well as the rise and rise of thought leadership and business owners, entrepreneurs and executives writing and publishing their own books.

Content became king and books were, and still are, the ultimate content play.

AND, the best things about self publishing is the following.

• You get to keep ALL the money from your book sales if you sell your books from your own website, or a lot more than 5-7% if you sell through Amazon, iBooks and other platforms.
• You can build your book community and engage with them directly if you sell your book directly as you capture email information (Amazon does not provide this)
• The timeframe from finishing your first draft to publishing/launching your book is way quicker...4-6 months rather than a year or longer.
• You can sell bulk copies to whoever you want at what any price you want, as opposed to negotiating with your publisher who then takes most of the money from such sales.

Amazon quickly moved from moving print books to Print on Demand (POD) books and eBooks through their own platform, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), and they dominate the self publishing market.

Now there is a wide range of Print on Demand and eBook offerings as well as audio books. These include IngramSpark, Lulu, Barnes & Noble Press, Apple Books, Designnr, Publish Central and Vivid Publishing (in Australia)

And a wide range of eBook distributors: AppleBooks, Kobo, GooglePlay Books, KDP, Kitaboo, Amazon, Hoopla, BookBaby and many more.

Of course all these take their cut, you seemingly can't take the publishing model out of publishing, but it's much less of a cut, you get your money quicker (in most instances) and you don't need an agent as you are the Publisher.

Traditional v self publishing for business book authors

Of course, most of the traditional publishing world is focused on fiction, gardening, cooking, and biographies because they sell.

Business books on specific topics are niche and while there are some well-known business book publishers (many of which operate as an imprint of the major traditional publishers), the reality is the world of business book publishing is a niche area (even if there are the global phenomenas of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Simon Sinek, Brene Brown, Tim Ferris etc).

Depending on the market you are in print runs of 3,000 - 20,000 may well be regarded as 'good selling books'; 10,000-100,000 as best sellers. With Amazon the number of books you need to sell to become a best seller varies widely and is no where near any of these numbers. I've written about this before. (link)

Marketing your book

A core part of book publishing is the marketing of you and your book. Traditional publishers used to go to great lengths to support their authors with a publicist, launches, tours, advertising, marketing and more.

You are the focus of their attention for 2-3 months, until the next author's book is being launched. The better you perform the longer your support might go, but it tails off pretty quickly.

These days, even if you do work with a traditional publisher, they will expect you to do most of the marketing (and pay for it) and pay for a publicist if you want them on longer than their allocated time. You'll also need to cover your own travel and accomodation costs, social media/content marketing and other costs over the medium to long term.

My point here is that whether you have a traditional publisher or your self publish you are on the hook for the marketing and promoting of it. So why wouldn't you sell your book directly or through platforms that deliver you the email address of the people who bought your book (so you can build a relationship with them rather than simply a one-off book sale transaction), more money sooner, and that you are in control of?

Your ego or your life

Yes, this is a bit dramatic. My point here is about encouraging you to focus on the purpose of your business book, and there might be several.

To write and publish a business book takes a level of ego...you think you have something worthwhile to share to the world, a specific group of people. GREAT.

There used to be one way to do this, traditional publishing. There's a certain cache to this, even now. But if you're fixated on this cache you might miss the people you actually wrote your book for, and that would be a real shame.

If you have a specific question, comment.

If you would like to have a conversation about your business book idea, draft manuscript, self published or traditionally published book that hasn't achieved what you wanted it to, or were promised book in a FREE 45 minute book discussion with me.

Read some of the articles I've written about this in more detail:

Business book publishing and marketing

Publishing your business book

Marketing your business book

Look at our website for more information

If you've made it this far, thank you.

I am a 'business book tragic'. I research, write and publish them and I advise/mentor businesspeople around the world on their books.