paths to publication


Traditional "trade" publishing
How it works: You write a book, try to find an agent who thinks it can make money, who tries to find a publisher who thinks it can make money. (Some small publishers accept un-agented submissions.) The publisher pays you an ad­vance against future royalties, paid every six months.
How long to see a book after you finish writing: Six months to ten years, or it may never happen.
How much it costs: Nothing, other than possible research costs and office supplies. The agent will keep 15% of what a publisher pays you.
Advantages: High status, minimal investment, easy access to terrestrial bookstores, advance money, respect from book reviewers and other authors.
Disadvantages: Hard to get an agent and publisher. No control over appearance of book, price or even its title. You are stuck with designer, illustrator, photographers and editors chosen by publisher. Pub­lisher may not do adequate promotion. Book may be killed after a few months. Royalties may be tiny, or zero.

Independent self-publishing (printed book)

How it works: You write a book, set up a small publishing company, hire editor(s), designer, maybe an illustrator, maybe a photographer, maybe a publicist, maybe a book coach, get ISBN, Library of Congress number and copyright, pick a printer, conduct marketing and publicity.
How long to see a book after you finish writing:  Days.
How much it costs: $30 to $1,000 or many thousands.
Advantages: Complete control, speed to market, guaranteed publication, possible high revenue, personal satisfaction, money should come in quickly.
Disadvantages: May have to learn a lot, need to find right suppliers, may have to purchase software, may be hard to get reviews, hard to get into terrestrial book­stores.

Independent self-publishing (simple e-book)
How it works: You write a book, and either format it or pay someone to format it as an eBook. You hire editor(s), maybe a designer, maybe an illustrator, maybe a photographer, maybe a publicist, maybe a book coach, conduct marketing and publicity, choose sales channels.
How long to see a book after you finish writing: A few min­utes to a few weeks.
How much it costs: Nothing to many thousands.
Advantages: Complete control, speed to market, guaranteed publication, possible high revenue, personal satisfaction, money should come in quickly.
Disadvantages: May have to learn a lot, need to find right suppliers, may have to purchase software, may be hard to get reviews, some people don’t read eBooks.

​Using a self-publishing company
How it works: You write a book and choose a company to do some, most or all of the work to produce and promote it. You pay them money before they do anything, and earn a royalty on each book sold. You can also buy books to give away or to sell independently.
How long to see a book after you finish writing:  A few weeks to a year.
How much it costs: $199 to $50,000 or even more.
Advantages: Guaranteed publication, minimum work.
Disadvantages: Low status (and possible prejudice), possibility of getting a bad book, little or no control over book appearance, hard to get reviews, hard to get into terrestrial bookstores, books may be overpriced.