The Unanswerable Question

Someone called this a simple question? Excuse me while I laugh. But I did promise three blog posts specifically to answer questions from three different individuals. I decided at the last minute to tackle the big one first!

I must assume that people who say, “Should I self-publish or seek traditional publishing?” are simply musing to themselves because I don’t believe they could possibly be asking someone else to answer that question. On the other hand, I do see authors getting into heated arguments every day, all day long on social media about that very topic.

One says self-publishing is ridiculous, another person thinks it's silly to believe you’re going to get picked up by one of the Big Five. Still others are small-press published, and very happy. Some are big-press published and very disgruntled. (Or vice versa!)

That’s because there’s no one answer to that question. In reality, it depends on so many different factors that I would not be able to list them in a simple blog post. What I will do, however, is what I promised the person who asked the question: I’ll give you all my thoughts and everything I know about the various options. ( Everything I know… that doesn’t mean I know everything.)

One Size Doesn’t Fit All

The first mistake you should avoid making, is doing something because it worked for someone else. Some people have become fantastically successful in the self-published world, but that doesn’t mean it’s right for you. Some authors are tickled pink with an agent querying for them month after month, results or no results. Others find that process laborious and depressing.

Some authors are happily published by one of the bigger companies, and some are very unhappily published by those presses. Still others have found paradise at a small or micro press, while other authors’ experiences with such establishments are the stuff nightmares are made of. Why so many different results? Back to those zillions of factors that go into the decision-making process.

The Big Five

Of course it’s every writer’s dream. Why wouldn’t it be? However, the grim reality is that it only happens for one percent of authors. If you’re young and you want to play those odds, have at it, sister/brother. Even if you are of a mature age but just don’t feel publishing on your own is right for you and you don’t want to bother with a small press for reasons we’ll discuss later, then go for the gold. It’s going to happen for someone, why not you?

Let’s Get Hybrid Out of the Way Right Now

Don’t do it. Pretty much all I have to say. If you’re going to pay for a service, pay for someone to do all the grunge work of the self-publishing process and then keep control of everything yourself–including your royalties–from then on. Otherwise, you’re simply throwing money away. Self-publish or seek traditional publishing, but stay away from the murky middle.

Small Press Publishing

They do still exist, although many of them are being eaten up by the Big Five, and this is a concern for some authors who are nervous about the Big Five eventually becoming the Big One. But anyway, many small presses get bought out, many declare bankruptcy, and some are wildly successful. The burden is on you and you alone to discover everything you need to know when you’re considering an offer. Here’s some tips from some of the best minds out there:

Making Wise Choices

Just like judging books by their cover, you can’t tell everything about a publishing company by the contract they send you or their website.

Unfortunately, that’s all most authors look at.

It’s not that the website and the contract are not important; they are. It’s just that all publishers have websites stating why they are the best. The bottom line is, you’re only going to get one opinion from a website, and that is the opinion of the person who owns the company–or a representative of it.

As far as contracts, most presses, despite their size, use “assigned rights” contracts, also affectionately known as “ rights grab” contracts. But since we're not getting into contracts right now, I will simply tell you to have a lawyer look at any contract before you sign it.

Advantages and Disadvantages

You may find many small or micro presses willing to speak to you without an agent, and this can be a great thing if you don’t like working with an agent. However, if they WON’T deal with you through an agent, it’s a red flag.

Another benefit is that many small publishers take risks on books that mainstream or larger presses wouldn’t look at. For example, the Big Five typically won’t even take query letters for memoirs or anthologies, unless of course your title is along the lines of, “My One Night Stand With Congressman ******.” If you’re not a celebrity and you don’t have something incredibly juicy to offer, you’ll likely never get a traditional publishing offer for anthologies or memoirs.

That’s not always the case with small publishers. I know of one that takes on a few memoir authors every year, which is unheard of. Naturally, you can’t expect to make the kind of money you would if Random House published your memoirs, but if authors in those genres are otherwise shut out, what do you have to lose?

Personal attention and a feeling of family often draws authors to smaller presses as well. They frequently give you much more time and give your work much more attention than would be possible with a big machine.

In fact, I was surprised to discover that most experts say if this is not the case, something’s wrong. They claim that no one should take a cold and aloof attitude as if they are Harper if…well… if they’re not Harper. So in most cases, you have a much closer, more detailed working relationship with the staff of a small press than you would with a larger company.

Resources, Reach, and Experience

The downside of course, is reach and resources–and sometimes experience. It’s imperative to be realistic, but you should not be lulled into thinking that you don’t have a right to expect ANYTHING. Of course you do. You’re typically giving up all your rights and most of your money, just like you would for Macmillan, but with the advanced knowledge that you are not going to get anything close to what Macmillan can give. Bottom line: what you do get has to be worth what you’re giving up.

An inexperienced staff, limited advertising and promotions, a poor sales record, or ineffectual communication are all red flags. One or two problems in any of these categories does not necessarily mean you’re doomed to failure, but a common thread of issues in all these categories across the board is the sign of a bad situation. Untangling yourself from an unsuccessful business deal is always expensive and time-consuming, regardless of what type of business it is, and publishing is no different.

Click here for what I call a top-notch, outstanding article on this topic.

Back to those important issues: the first one I mentioned was an inexperienced staff. Almost all experts recommend that you avoid signing with any publisher until they have been in business for several years. Otherwise it can be very difficult to gauge the experience level of anyone working there. You can always look at LinkedIn profiles, but let’s face it, when it’s the person himself or herself creating the write up, it may not mean much, and you certainly can’t do background checks on every employee at a company before you sign on.

However, you should beware of staff member profiles that don’t talk much about the person’s qualifications, but rather their favorite color, what they do in their spare time, and who they’re rooting for when the Super Bowl comes around. That’s filler, unless it’s in very small doses, and it shouldn’t be necessary in a professional profile. Ultimately, you don’t want to find that you’ve inadvertently become someone’s on-the-job training.

Authors also cannot afford to overlook the importance of advertising and promotions. Some small presses provide little or no help with these aspects, and some of their marketing plans are downright scary. A friend of mine was published through a small press, which not surprisingly is closed now, and he said their idea of marketing was a “social media blast” on release day, and getting the book on a few blogs that have only a minimal number of subscribers.

That won’t cut it.

That’s nothing beyond what a self published author could do for himself or herself. And the release date is everything. If there’s no action at the launch, there very likely never will be.

This is a problem because the promotional backing from a publisher is the main reason authors choose small presses over self-publishing. If the company can’t or won’t promote your book, you’ll end up doing it all yourself, similar to the way you would if you were self-published, except the majority of your money goes to the publisher. And that just doesn’t make sense. If you’re paying just to put your book on Amazon and give it a presence, go through a reputable self-publishing company like Gatekeeper Press and pay for that service once instead of perpetually handing most of your self-generated sales to someone else.

In other words, the publisher has to be as invested as you are in the success of the project. You never want to be a side thing for someone because you will get side thing results. Here’s a great article about why you should choose a small press with heart, if you do seek publishing through a small press: Choosing a Book Publisher? Choose One with Heart | Silver Tree Communications

One of the best ways to check is to search some titles from any publisher you are considering and see what comes up. Are there reviews? Was there a book tour? Are there YouTube videos? Are there Google ads running? Did the author do any interviews? Is the title mentioned on blogs with more than a handful of subscribers? Did they have ARC distribution? And was there a targeted idea of what to do with ARCs? In other words, was there a stalwart marketing plan mapped out in advance? Did the publisher understand that the release date was everything? Because if they weren’t on point for that date, nothing much is going to happen later. If the publisher is doing essentially nothing, then you’re merely self-published under another name. You’re better off keeping your rights and your money.

Here’s a rather boisterous opinion that’s a little outdated now, but truly worth a read. https://www.reddit.com/r/YAwriters/comments/1khwvy/rant_its_not_a_scambut_its_not_good_either_some/

A person on that post probably said it best: does the publisher have the ability to do more for your book/s than you do? If not, why bother publishing with them? I’m not sure what press they were talking about, but it doesn’t matter, because this is not about any specific press, just some general food for thought from a lot of different sources.

Sales

Although it’s almost the same topic, it’s a bit different so I’ll address it that way. When you publish with a small or micro press, you certainly don’t expect them to be Penguin. However, the hope is that when you team up, your book sales will be greater than they were when you were self published. Otherwise it doesn’t make much sense to pursue a different course than the one you’re on.

At some small presses, though, books never sell out of the double digits, and in some cases do worse than self published books. This happens for many reasons, and it’s never intentional. No one chooses to fail.

The average small press typically has the burden of trying to promote at least fifty books and the money just doesn’t stretch. Whatever the reason, however, you do ultimately need to get sales to make traditional publishing worth it. Check out at least ten of that publisher’s books and compare the numbers.

If the books are ranking in the range of their self published counterparts, that could be a bad sign. Because you don’t need a publisher to do that.

You can buy an ad on Amazon or Facebook–I’ve had some impressive results with Facebook ads–you can put your book on your website, you can tweet your book, and you can get yourself some bookmarks. If that’s all the publisher can do, it may not be worth it.

Finally, if you evaluate the ranking of books previously published by the press you’re considering and a handful stand out as doing great, while the others are mediocre at best or failing miserably at worst, it may very well be a sign that the ones thriving are doing so because of the authors' efforts. No publisher would choose to get traction for only a few books. Just one more pattern to look for.

The takeaway is simple: publishing should result in sales, and if it doesn’t result in sales, it defeats the purpose of why you sought it out to begin with. Again, I am not referring to any publisher specifically, small, medium OR large, but here is how someone found a great small press, and upon review, I think it makes a lot of sense. If I could only give one piece of advice concerning how to find a small publisher, it would be, read this.

Ultimately, make sure you avoid being those authors who were so thrilled to get a book deal that they jumped at the first one who said yes, in the absence of any true evaluation of the company. Don’t be afraid to ask questions if things don’t make sense or ask for changes in the contract. If a publisher reneges on a book deal because you didn’t sign the first contract presented, run. And always, always ALWAYS ask what the specific marketing plan is for your book.

The Unwieldy Path of Self Publishing

One author I know who enjoys my books and I, hers, is Rozsa Gaston. She’s a self-publishing success story, and I’d love to be her when I grow up. Her ranking typically outshines that of books published by any small press, and many weeks it rivals the numbers of books published by large presses. She is proof that self-publishing works. She has no need for a trad publisher.

It doesn’t work that way for everyone, though. Well, naturally it doesn’t. I hate to burst anyone’s bubble or crush anyone’s dream, but self-publishing requires money. Anyone can put a book on Amazon and hope. That doesn’t lead to sales. Posting your book to your social media following will do a little for you, but outside of those few “warm market” sales, your career will grind to a halt.

Not everyone can afford thousands of dollars to promote their books, though. In fact, that’s why most people do what we were just talking about: seek traditional publishing. If you want to stay in the self-published world–and this is absolutely the best option if you want to keep all your money and have 100% control of your work–you have to make a choice: Either be content with the fact that it’s published and work it like a hobby, or make a monetary investment to keep the momentum going.

What I’ve discovered is whether I have thousands to spend or $50 to spend at any given point in time, I have to have an ad running. My books get pretty good ranking without doing weird tactics like putting them into such a tiny subcategory that there’s only one other book there (for the purpose of saying I ranked second on Amazon books.) That stuff is just nonsense. It gets you nowhere. I get good ranking when I spend money. If my books happen to be ranking poorly on any given day, it means I’m not coughin’ up the dough at that moment.

Constantly running ads will lead to consistent sales.

Having done both traditional and self publishing, I’ll probably remain an Indie author. It just makes more business sense for me. It may be completely opposite for someone else. Be very careful about taking advice from unqualified people. Just because something worked for someone else is not a guarantee it will work for you. You may have to do what I did, try different options–except hybrid, run from that–and see what makes the most sense for you.

Finally, I do not agree or disagree 100 percent with any one article I’ve linked to here, but merely trying to offer various viewpoints on a broad topic in addition to my own very lengthy thoughts. And again, I am in the business, so my posts are about all things writing, they are not about any specific company or person, but rather about SUBJECTS within this field.

No one size fits all so I will never head down the treacherous path of giving advice. Rather, I hope what I’ve provided here will be food for thought. Best luck with the outcome of your career decisions whatever they may be. Write on!