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MyClipboardIsMyViolin replied to the topic Traditional vs Self Publishing in the forum Writing Level & Journey Plans Discussions 7 years, 1 month ago
In my mind, the biggest advantage of traditional publishing is that, if your book isn’t ready to publish, they won’t let you! That’s awesome for a first-time novelist. (Of course, some traditionally published novels stink, but chose a reputable publisher and your chances are pretty good.) Oh, and you don’t have to pay for your own editor. That’s nice. The biggest advantage to self-publishing is the way higher royalties. As long as you’re good at marketing, your chances at a career are better in the self-publishing world.I think the disadvantages for a indie publishing bid is the up-front cost. Some of my research suggests that you have to pay for printing and other marketing expenses, which can run up to $15,000 up-front. While POD companies may allow you to evade that monetary expense, they don’t cut you enough of a profit and you lose money on each book when promotion expenses are factored in. (Am I working with outdated information here?)
I got this from The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing by Marilyn Ross and Sue Collier – I checked the 2010 version from the library – I should probably get a newer version. Here’s a breakdown behind that $15,000 sticker shock, from page 135 of the book (scary):
Cost of Sales
$1814 Editing and Indexing
$1695 Cover Design
$2173 Interior Design and Typesetting
$7216 Manufacture (this is the printing cost)
$1,152 Shipping
$14,050 Total
This moolag is real – my college literary magazine has a $15,000 budget, most of which goes toward printing. And that’s before you throw in marketing stuff like website hosting.
Also, it is very difficult to get your book in Christian Book Distributors if your work isn’t traditionally published. See this article: https://authorchristopherdschmitz.wordpress.com/2016/09/29/how-do-i-get-my-christian-book-listed-on-cbd-christian-book-distributors/
Also, you kinda need a book distributor to get your work into Christian bookstores, which is important for Christian publishing – unless you don’t care about that route and want to go completely Internet and rogue. Here’s an article on that: https://marketingchristianbooks.wordpress.com/tag/book-distributors/
I get skeptical of the people who say that you can just print your book on Amazon and market it on Twitter and call it a day. I think those people have big groups of friends or something. Either that or their book isn’t selling.
Make no mistake: the publishers aren’t going to market your book. You’ll have to run your own social media and write your own press releases to get buzz. But at least the traditional publishers will get you listed in the right places and ensure that you have a fighting chance. Otherwise, you’ll have to do the hard work of fighting the machine yourself, and it may be easier in the end to get someone else to do it for you.
Further, the amount of Christian literary magazines for publishing short fiction and poetry is actually fairly small. See here: http://www.thereviewreview.net/publishing-tips/flesh-made-word-five-lit-mags-defined-christ One of them I looked into the sub guidelines and found them to be an absolute ripoff. Someone recommended me a Christian Writer’s Market Guide, which might help in finding what you need…
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