TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING:
Traditional publishers will often pay an advance for your work ... if they accept your submission. This type of publishing is not a reality for 98% of authors. Unless you are world famous and have a massive "platform" (more than a million online followers), you likely won't get through the door. If a publisher invests in our manuscript, it may take a year or more to see your work published. This is still the "gold standard" in terms of being published, so depending on your vision, It may be worth it to try.
The drawback, besides the risk of a host of rejection letters and un-answered queries, is that the publisher owns your rights and at least a portion of your royalties. Once they buy your manuscript, you no longer have 100% control over what happens to it.
Your best bet in getting published traditionally is to hire a publishing agent. We know quite a few good ones; contact us for more information.
VANITY PUBLISHING:
Vanity publishing will charge authors a premium to publish their book. Authors will pay with money for certain; often a contract will require you to sign over book rights and royalties as well. Traditional publishers will pay an author for the right to publish; vanity publishing will charge the author. The final product is substandard as vanity publishers often publish almost any manuscript they receive, as long as they receive their payment. Some vanity publishers run legitimate businesses but many are actually scams to be avoided.
The drawback to vanity publishing is that you often have little control over the process. The costs are often between $3,000 and $10,000 and the return on investment is not often there. Editing maybe minimal or non-existent, while formatting and design can lack quality. Something else to be wary of is that should you want to re-publish your book or utilize its information, the rights you signed over to the publisher as part of your contract could prevent you from doing so.
SELF-PUBLISHING:
Self-publishing is more accessible and less expensive than ever before! Write, edit, re-edit, proof-read, format, design a cover, create front and back matter, elicit beta readers for feedback, get an ISBN number, up-load, and you're published. If that seems overwhelming, it can be. It is possible to put out a high quality book as a self-published author. When you self-publish, you retain 100% of your rights, royalties, and control.
You can publish on-line on sites that will distribute your book to Amazon, Apple, Barns and Noble, and many other outlets. There, you can make your book available to brick-and-mortar bookstores and libraries. They distribute in paperback, hardback, e-book, even audio book. Both you and customers can order books that are printed on demand.
The drawback to self-publishing is a lack of checks, balances, and professional assistance in place to monitor the quality of your work. Most self-published books look self-published and lose credibility from the moment a potential reader sees the cover. You may end up hiring specialists for parts of the process that you are unfamiliar with or uncomfortable with handling yourself. Finding someone to edit your work — something even the best authors need — can be daunting. All of this can be time consuming and overwhelming. Publishing with a publishing house gives your books a credibility that self-publishing does not.
Should you choose to self-publish, our master class covers the how-tos of self-publishing and you can contact us for individual services that we offer for editing, formatting, and more.
HYBRID PUBLISHING:
Hybrid publishing combines elements of traditional and self-publishing. A publisher works with the author throughout the entire publishing process. The author maintains final say, control, royalties, and rights. The author chooses services like editing, ghost writing, cover design, ISBN purchase, back and front matter, publishing, and pays for the services that they utilize. Authors can price their books, republish them, make any changes, and retain all of the proceeds.
The result is a professional, high-quality publication while partnering with a reputable publisher.
The drawback in hybrid publishing is that you, the author must pay for services. In the long run you pay less for services than you lose in potential royalties to other forms of publishing. A typical book deal with a traditional publisher nets authors 10-15% in royalties for a hardcover, 8-10% for a paperback, and 25% for an e-book. With hybrid you make 100% forever.