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The upside (and downside) of traditional publishing

books writing Jan 29, 2024

We continue our discussion on making & marketing your own book. In the previous talk we discussed myths & misconceptions about self-publishing.

Let’s go further and talk about traditional publishing in this video.

And, remember…

Whatever route you choose to go, you STILL MUST write the book.

You outta know

First, there are five realities you need to know about traditional publishing.

✅ Your publisher will get you some PR, placement in stores, etc., but...

✅ You still have to market your own book.

✅ You might or might not get an advance... which will need to be paid back AND there may be other expenses you incur.

✅ Yes, you may need to hire help.

✅ You probably WILL NOT own the rights or IP / intellectual property.

The price

The two major costs— time and money— come into play here.

Let’s talk “time” first…

Assuming you’ve already penned the manuscript, self-publishing “wins” with speed-to-market. If you have the PDF of your book in hand, you can upload the book NOW and begin selling it within the day.

In other words, YOU are the only variable.

Last year, I spoke to a traditional publisher on behalf of a client. I was ghost-writing the book, and they promised that if I had my finished manuscript to them by the end of the following month (45 days later, well within the time I could finish it and have margin to spare), they could “rush” the book and release it within 9 months.

In my experience, that’s ultra-fast.

(We chose to self-publish that book, by the way, and earned tens of thousands of dollars within just a few weeks. The book STILL generates revenue today.)

On another project, we used a hybrid publisher. They did the editing and had final copies of the book back to us, in our hands, in less than 3 months.

The other major cost relates to money.

Notice the graphic below— and the seven categories outlined on the far left.

Writing the book is free— if you do it (yes, I understand “time” is a cost). Financially, you could hire a ghost-writer (if you do, don’t skimp on the cost).

Editing carries a cost as well…

… as does cover design, formatting the book, promoting the book, creating a web platform, and marketing the book…

… unless you do these yourself.

So, who does what?

Now, a traditional publisher will absorb some of these costs— but not all of them.

You STILL need to cover #1, the most expensive item on the list.

But you’ll ALSO need to do promotion, social media, and more…

… and, unless you have certain assets in place (an audience, an email list, etc.), they might not publish your book.

Plus, you’ve got to reach clarity on what you’ll do and what they’ll do— and that’s all contained in the contract. As the details vary greatly, you need a legal adviser (and more cash) to review it.