Traditional vs. Self-Publishing vs. Hybrid: How to Think About Your Publishing Path

Writers are book lovers. Loving books practically goes hand-in-hand with writing well. So, when we decide to write a book, most of us harbor daydreams of landing an amazing publisher with a good reputation and getting that stamp of approval from an editor from the ivory tower of the literati.

Unfortunately, it's this dream that often keeps a would-be author bound up, making no progress on their book.

If a new author decides to traditionally publish, they'll need to write a proposal, land an agent, go through the book-selling process... and then write the book... and then market and sell the book. From beginning to end, the process takes two years, often three. Traditional publishing poses all kinds of restrictions and stopping points that require other people to approve, buy, or support the book. Most of those stopping points are hard to achieve on your own, which is one of the reasons so many would-be authors stall out.

If they decide to pursue self-publishing or hybrid publishing, the path is entirely different. Hybrid or self-publishing generally moves at your pace. You hire the production team or do it yourself, and you generally set the timeline.

Unfortunately, most people don't know this. Because of their dream and because they don't know about the other options, they assume that traditional publishing is the best way for them to go.

When I ask new clients which path they plan to take, I get answers like this: "Well, I figured I would traditionally publish because I don't want to do all of the marketing myself," they'll say. Or, "I want my book to be everywhere, and I need a traditional publisher to do that." Or, "I was hoping for a big advance."

That's when I know I have a little bit of bubble-popping to do. That's not my favorite part of the work I do—no one wants to dash anyone's hopes and expectations. But far too often, new authors come into the writing and publishing world with ideas that don't match reality.

Below, I'm going to share with you the most common myths of traditional publishing. Please keep in mind—most of my experience has been in nonfiction, so this advice may be a little less applicable to fiction. These are not hard and fast rules and every author's situation varies greatly. Regardless of how you're positioned as an author, it's important to keep this in mind as you consider what's best for you and your book.

“Traditional publishers offer an advance that will pay for the cost of writing the book.” 

Most of the general public has heard about author advances. But what they’ve usually heard are the examples of outliers—those advances that paid out hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars. What first-time authors don’t understand is that six-figure advances account for an extremely small percentage of the total advances paid out every year. You have to have serious star power or a well-established name to get an advance in the six-figure range.

As writer Karen Russell explains, "Very few of the thousands of books that are published each year will be profitable — not for their publishers, and not for their authors. Seven out of ten titles do not earn back their advance. Most writers will not receive royalties."

Most advances range between $10,000 and $30,000. No matter the size of the advance, they’re paid out in quarters over the course of about two years. So, if you get an advance of $20,000, you would get a $5,000 check upon signing the contract, another on submitting a completed manuscript, another on the publish date, and the last one about a year after the publish date. Five thousand dollars is not a negligible amount of money, but it’s not enough to cover your living expenses, nor is it enough to cover the “cost” of writing the book.

“Traditional publishers will market the book.”

This myth is hard to let go of. “Who else is going to market it?” you wonder.

The answer is you. You are the chief marketer of your book.

Gone are the days when publishers did the lion’s share of the work to market and sell your book, but the general public hasn’t caught up to this reality. Now, publishers look for people who they think can sell thousands of their own books—hence their search for authors with a well-established platform. A good friend of mine, marketing genius Clay Hebert , likes to say this about the dynamic: “If you need the publisher, the publisher doesn’t want you. If the publisher wants you, you don’t need them.” 

Once you get the deal with the publisher, you will be expected to spend a considerable amount of time and money (remember that advance?) on your marketing team and strategy. Publishers do very little to help market the book and often are not up-to-speed on current marketing trends (and will not admit that out loud). While they offer some auxiliary help, it is up to you to sell the book. 

“If my book is going to be widely available, I have to traditionally publish.”

Up until recently, this was true. Publishers had the lock on wide distribution. That’s no longer the case. There are a variety of distributors you can hire who will take care of the process for you, and you can choose how you’d like your book to be distributed. 

“Traditional publishing will offer me the best possible editors to choose from.”

Publishing, like every other industry, has tightened and cut its staff to the point where editors have to wear dozens of hats within their organization. In addition to shepherding multiple books at a time through the process, they have to manage the egos and emotions of their authors, develop relationships with new authors, work with in-house designers and typesetters, convince their salespeople that your book is the next big thing, and a myriad number of tasks. They are typically wonderfully devoted to the world of books (because who would take a job that pays below next to nothing in New York City if they didn’t love it?), but they are stretched thin. On top of that, newer or lesser-known authors will typically get the most inexperienced editors in the house.

“A traditional publisher will help me bring my creative vision to life.”

Maybe. But this should not be the main reason to sign with a traditional publisher. When you sign on to work with a traditional publisher, you lose exclusive creative control. Your publisher might decide to veto your opinion when it comes to your cover, and they are not known for their design prowess. Or, they might tell you to cut a large portion of the text because it doesn’t fit their vision for the book. They might ask you to write to an entirely different audience than the one you intended. They typically get final say over the title and the cover. Sometimes this results in a better product for the reader—they’re not always wrong. But if you’re going for creative control, this isn’t the place to start. 

Perhaps even more alarming than losing creative control in the design and production of your book is the sale of the copyright. When you work with a traditional publisher, you sell the rights to your writing. That means you no longer have control over how it’s used.

Let’s say you want to use excerpts to promote your book. Your publisher owns your writing and may say no. Let’s say you want to use your book as the basis for your blog posts over the next year or two, a totally natural thing to do. Your publisher owns your writing and may say no. This is usually a very big deal breaker for most authors, especially those who need to use their content in creative ways to market their business. 

This might sound like gloom and doom, but getting clear about the reality of the situation usually leads writers to feel a sense of clarity and freedom about how to move forward. After all, traditional publishing requires a completely different set of steps than hybrid or self-publishing.

When I share this news with new clients, they have a moment of disappointment. And then a new-found excitement creeps in. If they decide to let go of the idea of traditional publishing, they realize that they get to set the rules of the game... and that's exciting. Knowing that the latter two options are equally viable—if not better—frees them up to move forward. Hopefully, it does the same for you, too. 

To find out how to work with me to write your book, go to sarastibitz.com.