In the last blog, I provided an overview of self-publishing a book versus traditional publishing and some key considerations for authors. Now I am going to get more granular on the differences between self-publishing a book and traditional publishing. I'll also touch on how much it costs me to self-publish my books so you can develop a baseline budget.
What's the difference between self-publishing and traditional publishing
To self-publish, you're doing everything—the writing, editing, formatting, cover design, uploading it to platforms, marketing, and advertising for your books. You retain all the rights to your work and can offer them for sale on any platform unless they have specific exclusivity options (more on that when we talk about self-publishing on Amazon).
If you want to publish traditionally, you can pitch your book in two ways. You must either find an agent to represent you or send your book to publishers with an open submission window (in that case, you don't need an agent). I have only known and spoken with authors who have done the agent route. But I have submitted books to publishers with an open submission policy. We’ll start with the lesser-known path to me.
How to get a literary agent to publish traditionally
First, you need to have something written. I am talking about a COMPLETED manuscript. You should have at least gone through several edits to reach a place where you feel comfortable presenting it to someone and can explain it easily. Don't worry about if it's formatted or not. If you have to format something, it's to accommodate what the agent wants to see or the publisher.
To obtain an agent, you'll need to write a query letter. What the heck is that? It's a letter that conveys to the agent why you think they should represent you. You'll usually provide your background, pitch your story, and offer any bonuses (like you have X amount of followers on social media or have X amount of subscribers). For the latter, these things help, but as with anything, they aren't a make-or-break factor.
Really, you need to do some research on your end to understand why you are even querying them. Don't waste your time and theirs by just sending out a bunch of letters hoping for a bite. Be more methodical. Search for agents that represent books and genres that align with what you are trying to do. Once you filter down to these agents, you should see if they accept queries and have any special requirements. As with anything you do as a writer, expect a lot of rejection and not a lot of feedback.
Once you land an agent, they'll help you get in front of publishers you would not have access to otherwise. Generally, agents don't cost you anything upfront but work on a commission. The industry benchmark is 15%. But you gain access to the bigger names and their expertise to navigate a deal if and when they land your work somewhere.
Submitting your book without a literary agent
I personally did not seek an agent when I tried to publish traditionally. Call it impatience, pride, or just not wanting to have another person take a slice of the pie (as a musician, dealing with bookers made me a bit jaded regarding "middlemen" in my eyes). I had a fantasy novel written at this time and looked around for anyone with an open submission policy that didn't require an agent.
I found a few fantasy publishers with that policy and submitted my book as required. It was a lot of work, even cutting out the agent step. Each publisher wanted different things as part of the submission. Some asked for an author bio, and others asked for a synopsis of the plot rather than the entire manuscript. Some only asked for the first ten pages. I even sent the whole thing a few times (bound and printed on 8.5x11 inch paper in some cases!), but every submission required conforming to their requirements. Some were digital submissions, and some I sent via FedEx.
After I sent it, it would be months before I heard anything. In all instances, I got all no's. And there was no feedback either. They are too busy to provide feedback to everyone, so they don't at all. In hindsight, I think my book was too complicated and did not fit cleanly into the fantasy genre. Part of landing these deals is having the right book, at the right market conditions, for the right publisher or agent looking for it. We can argue over what's a good book versus a bad book. For them, it's one that they know will sell—period.
This brings me to my next point. Say you do all these things right and land a book deal. You must come to terms with realities as an artist giving your work to someone. Once you sign that deal, the book is no longer "your" book per se. It enters the machine, and you'll be bound to meet deadlines and deliver a book to their standards and what they want to sell. The feedback will be ruthless but not mean. It's intended to whip the book into shape to prepare it for the market. Granted, take what I have to say on this matter with a grain of salt. I have only heard how this part of the process works. I have not gone through it myself, so I recommend consulting anyone you might know in the industry or writers who have gone through it.
But, I can say, just like the music industry and record deals, if you want to retain all the creative rights to your intellectual property (and thereby do whatever you want with it), you need to own it yourself. That's where self-publishing might be the better route. But it's not easier. In many ways, it's just as hard, if not harder—especially considering the time and money you'll need to invest.
Assessing self-publish book costs
First and foremost, you’ll have to spend a lot of your time doing it. When I wrote my first book, I completed it and published it in three months. I wasn't working then, so I spent two to two and half months writing and editing it, and the remainder of the time I spent formatting and preparing it for Amazon and Barnes and Noble (that took me two weeks to figure out, I also designed my own covers).
Three months is lightning fast and not feasible for most who work full-time jobs. I wrote the second book in three months as well. I landed a job at the tail end of this book, and thus, my next book took seven months to finish. So the main expense you have to consider is TIME. Do you have the time to commit to this? If you're passionate about it, you'll find a way.
Once you've committed to doing this, you need to consider the monetary costs. Here are the top things you'll pay for:
Software: writing a book requires a word processor. Other book-writing tools exist (Scrivener and Plottr, for example). You might also want Grammarly to help with basic editing as you write. And if you have a graphic art background, you might wish to use Adobe to design your covers. I did this for my first editions. It got the job done, but I eventually opted to pay a professional to make them more eye-catching (covers matter. It's the first thing someone will see and judge your book).
Let's say you buy the non-subscription version of Microsoft Office ($150), a premium subscription for Grammarly ($30/m), and just Photoshop ($20/m). That would cost you $750 in the first year. Grammarly has a free version, and you don't necessarily need Photoshop, but it gives you an idea.
Paying an Editor: If you need editors and want to hire a professional to help you design the book covers, that also costs. For an editor, that will vary. You can find editors on the cheap on platforms like Upwork, but you get what you pay for. Based on industry standards and what I've seen online, you can expect the following:
Basic Proofreading: $1000>
Copyediting: $1000-3000
Developmental: $3000+
Paying a Graphic Designer: You don't want your book to look DIY. That means of all places to invest, I would say you should spend it here. Depending on your genre, you'll need to find an artist that does this kind of work and fits the style. You don't want your book to stand out like it doesn't belong. You want it to stand out with eye-catching art, but the person that reads fantasy knows what fantasy cover art should look like. So make sure you vet the artist and define what you are looking for upfront. You need to be their coach to get what you want from them.
Illustrations versus vector-file-based art will cost more. For my books, since I write in a military-type genre, I was fortunate not to need illustrated covers (though one day I might pay for them). Most of the books I saw in my related genres featured a military vehicle, so I rolled with that because it fits my books perfectly (each book is titled after a war machine in my story).
That cost me less than $400 to get a designed cover. That's the front cover for the ebooks and a full spread for my print books. I used Barnaby Oakley of Crossfade Productions. He also does the artwork for my band, so I had the benefit of knowing someone I had worked with before.
Your Author Website: If you are serious about this, you must have a professional-looking author website. Many easy-to-use website services allow you to build your website with their templates. For example, I use Wix for my website. Here's a breakdown of what I pay yearly (rounded):
Wix Premium: $260/y
Domain: $60/y
Business Email: $60/y
Email Marketing Service: $144/y
You can also find ways to cut corners here. As for any indie author, the email service is critical for building my newsletter (I'll discuss this in future blogs). You might be able to find it cheaper with someone else, but I like to keep my life simple by keeping it all in Wix. I don't want to have to juggle multiple tools.
Marketing: Lastly, we come to the most costly aspect of self-publishing a book. Because we live in a world of algorithms dictated by platforms, you have to pay to play to get your book in front of people. In other words, until you can build up your readers with your own newsletter, you must pay money to make money.
How much you spend on marketing your book is entirely up to you. The two platforms I have had some success with include Bookbub and Facebook. David Gaughran has excellent tutorials on running ads on these platforms without spending hundreds of dollars and breaking the bank (see resources at the end).
I would not bother with Twitter or Instagram except for update posts when you release something new. If you publish on Amazon, you can use their ad platform, but each platform you use will require you to learn how to use it. So find someone doing it with success in the indie author world and educate yourself before you waste your hard-earned money.
This is scary…how do I do this self-publishing thing?
I just threw A LOT of information at you and some scary numbers. You can cut costs depending on your budget and commitment level (is this a hobby, or do you want to do this for real?). Find friends to do you favors (keep in mind friends might not give you hard criticism), or learn to do as much of it yourself. I often find that it's always a balancing act of money versus time.
I constantly ask myself whether I spend more time learning to do it myself or do I just spend the money to have a professional do it. Time is precious to me, and thus, I have leaned toward finding affordable yet professional options for certain things. But you need to assess what makes the most sense for you.
If you haven't already, please consider joining my newsletter if you want to receive my regular writing updates (including when I publish a new installment in this series). Also, stay tuned for more blogs in this series as I talk about the different platforms, how to publish on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and more advice from my experience so far to help you navigate becoming an indie author.
Resources:
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