Traditional Publishing vs. Self-Publishing: Which Is Right for You?
- Christina Crosland
- 23 hours ago
- 11 min read
Is it better to publish traditionally or indie style? The answer isn’t what you might think.
What really differentiates getting published by a traditional publisher versus just doing it yourself? And which publishing journey is best?
While you might be hoping for a definitive answer, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all when it comes to publishing, and no one can say which is best for you except you.
So, to traditional publish or self-publish? Here is a quick refresher of each option:
Traditional Publishing
A traditional publishing company edits, designs, and publishes your book for you, and the control is in their court. The major publishers that are known for high-quality books are the “Big Five” publishers—the most famous and prolific in the industry. Those five are Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Hachette Book Group, and Macmillan Publishers. Many other independent publishers and academic presses also publish quality books. So, when considering traditional publishing, make sure to look at smaller presses too.
Self-Publishing
Self-publishing is when the author publishes the book themself, making them their own private publisher. Control is in the author’s hands, and they decide who edits and designs their book. The quality of the book is entirely dependent on the resources used by the author. The author publishes through one or many different printing platforms such as Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, and Draft2Digital. It’s beneficial to weigh each printing option.
Also worth mentioning is that there is a third way to publish: hybrid publishing. Hybrid publishers tend to be a middle-ground, utilizing both aspects of traditional and indie publishing. Hybrid publishers do many of the same tasks as traditional publishers while also allowing the author more control but requiring upfront costs.
For the sake of this tip, we won’t discuss hybrid publishing other than to say that, if considering this option, be sure the publisher you choose is not actually a vanity press. When considering any publisher labeled “hybrid,” check reviews and the site Writer Beware.
Now, a little bit of guidance in the ever-pressing dilemma of traditional versus indie publishing. We will break down the pros and cons of each in the following areas: attainability, process, timeframe, cost, freedom, marketing, and sales.
1. Attainability
How hard is it to become traditionally published versus self-published? This is one of the biggest ways in which traditional publishing and self-publishing differ from one another. While self-publishing can be done by just about anybody with internet access, traditional publishing has a rigorous gatekeeping strategy.
Traditional Publishing
Traditional publishers publish only about 1% of all book submissions (SelfPublishing). That means, if 1,000 writers send in a manuscript, only 10 get a contract. With the amount of submissions that publishers receive on the daily, they rarely rely on the slush (aka submission) pile. In fact, larger publishing companies rarely allow submissions unless through a literary agent. And many agents and publishers spend only about 30 seconds looking over a submission before they make the decision to toss it or keep reading.
Any potential book deal for a traditional publisher also has to pass marketing and sales vetting, which means that authors without an already established following are less likely to be considered. Getting one’s foot in the door of traditional publishing requires careful and consistent networking, and even after all of that, a book can be rejected simply because it doesn’t follow the most current market trends or resembles a book already picked up by the publisher.
Self-Publishing
Self-publishing can be done by anyone who can upload a manuscript onto an online publishing platform and doesn’t require any vetting. But because anyone can become self-published, this ease of access leads to an extremely oversaturated market with stiff competition to gain readers. Believe it or not, around 700 or more books are self-published every day (Jnana’s Red Barn)! Self-published books can become lost in the sea of other good- (and sometimes very bad-) quality books, making it difficult for readers to find yours.
2. Process
The process of publishing a book can differ wildly depending on the publisher or the self-publisher. But it could look something like the following:
Traditional Publishing
Writer finishes the book and asks alpha readers for feedback before revising.
Writer hires editors and reviewers to help prepare the manuscript for submission, which may include steps 2–6 listed under self-publishing.
Writer writes a query letter and synopsis and sends them to agents and small publishers.
AI (often) screens submissions. If submissions pass the AI screening, agents and publishers review them.
Promising queries get a request for the rest of the manuscript, which the writer sends.
If an agent requested the manuscript, the agent may respond with interest in taking the writer on as a client. If agent and writer agree to work together, the agent then pitches the book to publishers.
A publisher might accept the book deal and offer a contract to the writer.
Writer reviews the contract with their agent and/or attorney, and contract terms are agreed on and signed. The rights of the manuscript transfer to the publisher.
The manuscript is edited by in-house editors, and changes are made or accepted by the writer.
The cover is designed by an artist chosen by the publisher, and all promotional materials are produced.
The book is published and stocked in online and physical bookstores.
The author takes part in the book’s marketing and publicity before and after publication.
Self-Publishing
Writer finishes the book and asks alpha readers for feedback before revising.
Writer hires a developmental editor to help with major story development. Editor and writer work together to establish a compelling story.
Writer can ask beta readers to give detailed feedback on the plot and characters before revising further.
Writer hires a line editor to clarify wording and strengthen dialogue and then goes through each suggestion to accept or reject changes.
Writer passes their manuscript on to a copyeditor for a fine-tooth review of grammar and punctuation.
Writer may choose to hire a sensitivity reader for any characters or content that address sensitive topics.
Writer may start a Kickstarter campaign and organize a launch team of ARC readers.
Writer readies the book for print by getting the manuscript typeset and the cover designed.
Writer sends the typeset book and cover to a proofreader for a finallast check of any formatting mistakes or final errors.
Writer sends proofread documents to the typesetter and cover designer for them to make the changes.
Writer receives the final corrected files and sends them to the printer or /publishing platform.
The book is reviewed by the publishing platform and officially published and stocked in the applicable online stores.
The author continues to grow a fan base, get reviews, and market the book.
3. Timeframe
The time that it takes from the end of a first draft to the actual publication date of a book can vary widely, but overall, self-publishing can happen faster than traditional publishing. Here’s a quick look into what you might expect either way. These timelines are based on a novel-length book.
Traditional Publishing
Finding an agent to represent your book can take anywhere from a couple weeks to years, depending on how many agents you send a query letter to, how long they take to respond (at which point there’s another round of querying), and how many revisions you do before querying again. A response, good or bad, can take weeks or months to receive, and interviewing and signing with an agent after a positive response can take a couple more weeks.
At that point, working with the agent to make their requested revisions will likely take a couple months, after which the agent can begin the submission process. Plan for the agent to hear back from publishing companies within four months, and any contract to be received and negotiated within another two months (Lucinda Literary). Once a manuscript is accepted, it will be in house for one to two years from its contract signing date to launch date. In total, plan for at least two years from querying to launch date—and that would be fast.
Self-Publishing
For a book of the same quality as a traditionally published book, you’ll need to plan for the full editing process. Finding an editor can take weeks to months, depending on what your budget and desired qualifications are and how full the editor’s schedule is. Developmental editing generally takes a couple of months if your revisions are done quickly, and several months if not. Plan for at least a month of line editing, a couple weeks for you to review the editor’s suggestions, and then a few weeks for the copyedit. For any beta reads between editing stages, it’s generally standard to provide beta readers a month to get back to you with feedback. Paid beta readers may be faster. Sensitivity reading will also add a few weeks.
After a final copyedit, professional typesetting can take a few weeks, at which point a final proofread will add on a month or more for the proofreader to edit and the typesetter to make the changes. Other things to plan for after the line edit are obtaining an LCCN number, which takes two to four weeks, sending your launch team of ARC readers all or a portion of the book a couple weeks before your launch date, and getting a cover design, which can take weeks to months depending on what kind of cover art is requested.
After submitting your book to the printer, plan a month or so before you receive author copies of the book to review for binding issues or other glaring mistakes. In all, a self-publishing timeline can take about a year.
4. Cost
Cost is an area where traditional and self-publishing are very much on opposite sides, and, when only looking at the price, traditional can give a strong pull. But make sure to weigh cost against each of the other areas in order to determine which route is right for you. Cost-wise, here’s what to expect.
Traditional Publishing
Any editing done before querying is paid for by the writer. Finding an agent is completely free. They are paid through the book’s royalties just like authors. After a manuscript is accepted by a publisher, the cost of production (editing, designing, etc.) is covered by the publisher. This includes some advertising, although it has become more common for the cost of promoting the book to be shared with the author (Literature Times). Also important to remember is that an advance received after signing a contract must be paid back in sales before the author receives any royalties. This means the author cannot make any more money until the publisher has made the advance back.
Self-Publishing
While the amount spent to self-publish a book is highly subjective and entirely up to the author, advice for those planning on hiring professionals for the full process is to budget at least $8,000. This can include developmental editing, line editing, copyediting, typesetting, proofreading, cover design, and ISBN numbers. Other costs to consider are sensitivity readers, beta readers, a website, audiobook production, rights to use any copyrighted material, and finally, marketing and ads after publication. Remember, self-publishing is a business investment. Read more about what that means in our tip, “Your Book Means Business—Treat It Like One.”
5. Freedom
While the cost factor is in favor of traditional publishing, self-publishing clearly wins when it comes to authorial freedom.
Traditional Publishing
Signing a contract with a traditional publisher largely gives the rights of the book to the publisher. How much of those rights and for how long is dependent on the contents of the contract, which is why it is extremely important for authors to have the help of an agent and even an attorney who specializes in publishing when reviewing and rebutting a contract. Many an author signed too quickly and found that their book no longer belonged to them in any way, shape, or form.
Even for the careful signers, it’s standard that the publisher gains the rights to the print book, e-book, and sometimes other formats, and the publishing company maintains control of all design and marketing elements. And while input may be taken from the author about preferred designers or illustrators, the publisher will rarely work outside of their established list. They also have a large sway in the actual content of the book, sometimes requiring major rewrites.
Self-Publishing
Self-publishers are their own boss. They have full rights to their books, which means creative control over the content and presentation of the book and any other formats the book may be published in, as well as any sequels or fan fiction. Self-publishing means complete ownership. Authors choose what’s in the book, how the book looks, and what is created from the book. The only exceptions are any included photos, art, or other copyrighted material used within the book. All rights to use photos, art, lyrics, etc. must be purchased from the applicable sources.
6. Marketing
Things get tricky with marketing nowadays, because it looks a lot different from how it used to. Here’s where both traditional and self-publishing turn out to be roughly the same, with traditional offering some perks after publication.
Traditional Publishing
Nowadays, publishers expect querying writers to already have a platform and following, or at the very least, a plan for starting and promoting one. Few publishers are willing to take a chance on someone completely unknown unless they themselves are also less known. As opposed to in the past, publishers are now taking a back seat when it comes to marketing their books, putting most of the responsibility into the author’s hands. In fact, publishers only spend about 2% of their revenue on marketing (Author Media). Author brand is everything for traditional marketing, and creating that is up to the writer.
That being said, traditional publishers come with a few marketing perks, such as access to bookstores, awards committees, literary reviews, and mainstream media (Book Barker). They also help with some promoting and marketing costs.
Self-Publishing
As you probably guessed, marketing as a self-publisher is entirely in the author’s court. They must create their own author brand by having a strong platform and an established following. This generally requires social media interaction, active engagement, and consistent, paid ads. Any book signings are at the expense of the author and harder to obtain. Some authors hire a marketing specialist to help. Through networking, hard work, and popularity, it is also possible to get access to bookstores and mainstream media.
7. Sales
Sales can be all over the place, whether published traditionally or not. There’s really no way to guarantee that a book will sell, despite best efforts. But if anyone were to know which books will sell when, it would be traditional publishers. That being said, here are the facts:
Traditional Publishing
Surprisingly, 19% of books published by the Big Five sell only a dozen copies (AuthorMedia). So yes, even a traditionally published book can flop. However, traditional publishers have a much easier time getting books into bookstores, libraries, trade publications, and foreign markets. The traditional publishers’ industry recognition can also lead to speaking invitations, faculty appointments, and adaptation interest, which all lead to more sales (Book Barker).
As for royalties from the sales, those can range from 5% to 25%, depending on the contract. Of course, that’s only if the advance has been earned back by the publisher, which many books never accomplish (SelfPublishing).
Self-Publishing
Self-published authors have the ability to raise funding through pre-publishing platforms like Kickstarter, which allows them to make sales before the book has officially been published. Kickstarter is also a great way to gain readers and a following before publication and more guaranteed sales. But the average self-published book will sell fewer than one hundred copies in its lifetime (Spines).
However, success is not off the table for self-published authors, and when success happens, the benefits of the higher royalties shine through. Depending on the printer and platform used, self-published authors can earn 35% all the way up to 70% in royalties for each sale of their book (K Publishing).
When deciding whether to traditionally publish or publish on your own, you must consider all the factors and how they each align with your goals. If a quick release is your top priority, it might be best to go with self-publishing. But if you want prestige for your book, then traditional publishing would be a more promising route. Similarly, if cost is an issue, traditional publishing will get you higher quality for less. But if you want complete copyright and creative license, then self-publishing is for you.
The task of weighing these options is not easy and can’t be taken lightly. Luckily, you’ve got a team of editors at Ever Editing on your side to help with your decision. If you’re self-publishing, we can get you through the entire editing and typesetting process to self-publication. If you decide to traditionally publish, we can help you prepare your manuscript before sending query letters. Whatever route you choose, Ever Editing has the resources and support you need to meet your goals.