Guest Post : Self-publishing vs traditional publishing? It’s a Hard Decision By Charles Prandy

 

Today's Guest Blogger is Suspense Author "Charles Prandy" whom you can find @ http://www.charlesprandy.com/.

Charles was born on November 14, 1973 and grew up in Derwood, Maryland, a small city about twenty-five minutes outside of Washington, D.C. His neighborhood was typical of small town suburbia; he had great friends, played sports and got into mischief. He graduated from the University of Maryland University College with a degree in Legal Studies. He attended Wesley Theological Seminary for two years, and it was there that he got the idea to write his first novel, The Last of the Descendants, which was published in May of 2008. Shortly after the release of The Last of the Descendants, Charles began working on his next novel, The Avenged, the first in the Detective Jacob Hayden series.

He’s currently working on the next novels in the series and will continue to write until his brain goes numb.  

 

Self-publishing vs traditional publishing? It’s a hard decision

By Charles Prandy

So you’ve written a book. That’s great! It’s one of the hardest things to do. Now comes the next question: to go the traditional route or to self-publish. There’s pros and cons to both, and determining which one is best for you is not that easy.

My very first novel was published through a small traditional publisher. I submitted nearly two hundred query letters to get that one “Yes”. Nearly every agent and publisher who responded, rejected my book which is typically what happens when you are an unknown writer. Agents and publishers receive hundreds, if not thousands of query letters every day so it’s difficult to really stand out amongst all the other writers who are just like you. However, if you do get signed by a traditional publisher, here’s a couple of things to consider. Once you sign the contract, your book will be released anywhere from 12 to 18 months later. And publishers have the final say regarding your book. If they want to scrap any aspect of your book, they can.

What traditional publishers can do for you

A traditional publisher already has a marketing team, graphic artists and editors on staff, so that can save you money. The larger traditional publishers can get your book into stores across the nation, and perhaps the world, if your book warrants such exposure. A huge benefit with being signed by a large traditional publisher is that your book will get reviewed by the major review companies.

But what about self-publishing?

So, you ask, why not go with a traditional publisher? If you’re an unknown writer, it’s hard to get them to notice you, but not impossible. So what other options are out there? Self-publishing is a great alternative to traditional publishing, especially with advances in technology that make it so easy to get your book into the hands of the public instantly. However, like traditional publishing, self-publishing has its pros and cons. First, when you self-publish, you’re the publisher. 

You’ve become more than simply a writer, you’re now a CEO. You’ve got to think like a business owner and make critical decisions that you normally wouldn’t have to make if you signed with a traditional publisher. Those editing and marketing budgets that a traditional publisher ate up because they have in-house staff, now falls on you. You have to make sure that you hire editors to make sure that not only is your book free of grammatical errors, but makes sense to the average reader. There’s already a stigma (that’s loosely changing) that self-published writers aren’t as good as their traditionally published counterparts, so everything you write will be closely scrutinized by your readers.

Nevertheless, in my opinion, one of the biggest advantages the self-published author has is being able to have total control over his/her book. You have the ability to tell your editor, that you hired, that you should keep that clever phrase in the manuscript because it defines who the character really is. You have control over how you should market your book, or how the cover art should look. Remember, as a self-published author you’re also the CEO. You have the ability to price your book competitively with other books in your genre. 

Exposure is crucial

Having said that, there’s also a major hurdle that most self-published authors face: getting reviews. Most of the big review companies won’t consider reviewing a self-published author, and the ones that do charge an arm and a leg. However, there are review sites and blogs that will look at self-published authors without charge, but they get so inundated with review requests that chances are they’ll pass up your book because of their backlog. Nevertheless, be persistent because eventually you’ll get bloggers and reviewers to read your work.

Now what?

So, should you go with a traditional publisher or self-publish? Both are great options. I think a book’s ultimate success comes from the author. Like I mentioned earlier, a traditional publisher has a budget that the writer doesn’t have to pay out, but that doesn’t mean that the writer can just lay on the couch and do nothing. There’s still going to be additional costs that the writer will incur. Remember, a traditional publisher has a certain budget, and if you’re a new writer, chances are the publisher won’t go over that budget. So in the end it’s still up to you to go the extra mile and get readers interested in your work.

Good luck and keep writing.