Where Should You Publish Your Projects?
Should You Self-Publish or Go with a Press, Magazine, Client, etcetera?
The song is called “After You’ve Gone” and it’s played by yours truly on the saxophone. I thought you might want some nice instrumental music if you choose to read this. 🙂 It was composed by Turner Layton, Phil Soussan, and Steve Lukather.
If you are a writer, you are probably wondering where exactly you should publish your projects and which would be most beneficial for you.
I’ve tried pretty much everything, so I can give you some tips. To be transparent, I have never traditionally published a book, but I have gotten one article published in a magazine and a short story published in a literary journal, so I have a bit of an idea of what that means for a writer.
To sum up this whole newsletter: You have to sacrifice clout for earnings, or vice versa, unless you are in the top 0.9% of writers.
Traditional Publishing
There are actually many forms of traditional publishing.
These include:
Clients (I’m putting them in this category because you’re not self-publishing)
Magazines
Newspapers
Traditional presses publishing full-length books
If you want to publish traditionally, it’s going to be an even tougher road. It may be more beneficial at first: Ghostwriters can often earn more money upfront than they would on a platform like Substack, but that also means that it’s tough to earn consistently and you never get royalties or credit for what you do. This applies to writing for clients.
You also can’t build a portfolio or backlog of projects, so it’s really a mixed bag.
If you are publishing in a magazine, for instance, this is different. You will be paid per piece, so you have to be exceptionally talented at queries if you want your byline to consistently show up in print or online.
The upside is that you can earn quite a bit upfront. The downside is that it is often inconsistent and you have to query a lot.
When it comes to publishing books with traditional presses, it’s a bit of a nightmare, unless it’s a dream come true—the latter scenario happens about 0.9% of the time. Maybe even less.
If you have a successful book or series—meaning you sell AT LEAST a million copies, you will usually receive 15% of the royalties.
Traditional publishing royalties are around 10 to 15%, while self-publishing royalties go anywhere from 35 to 70%. Authors collect a higher royalty percentage when self-publishing.
—Sarah Yoo
In comparison, self-published authors earn 35%-70% of their royalties on average.
Pros:
More money upfront (at first)
More marketing from the media (in some cases)
Clout
If you make it big, you strike gold
A larger audience
Editing assistance
Design assistance
No credit if you’re ghostwriting (this is a pro for some)
Cons
No portfolio
No backlog
Unpredictable earnings
No credit if you’re ghostwriting (this is a con for some)
A one-time payment (not monthly or even yearly)
You don’t own your audience like you would if you wrote on Medium or Substack
You have little to no control over the marketing
You may have to compromise on your creative freedom
You won’t have royalties if you ghostwrite a book (unless you have a different arrangement with your client)
You are paid per word or per project—not effort, read time, etcetera.
Trad publishing has its place. If you do well, you do really well. If you don’t, however, you’re stuck in a bit of a rut.
Self-Publishing
Honestly, I prefer self-publishing in more ways than one: It gives you free reign when it comes to creative freedom, you can build a backlog, you can have a portfolio to offer to hiring managers, and, perhaps most importantly, you can earn more money more consistently—long term.
There are a few forms of self-publishing:
Books
Blogs
Articles
eBooks
Newsletters
Self-publishing gives the creator control over their work, allowing them to offer it to whomever they want whenever they want, free or paid. This allows readers to enjoy their portfolio and it allows them to cherish the freedom they have in producing content.
If you publish books or eBooks, you can choose the pricing yourself and, at least on Amazon KDP, you can opt for royalties anywhere from 35%-70%.
If you partner with a hybrid publishing house, that percentage can go all the way up to 100%, but, honestly, I’d only recommend doing that if you have money to spare for editing and design services.
You’re probably better off just publishing the book on Amazon.
Nonetheless, there are still cons, especially during the beginning stages.
Pros:
Creative control
You own your audience—meaning that you can post when you want and all your readers/followers will immediately see your work.
You can build a backlog and earn consistent income
You are usually paid monthly or at least yearly—eventually
You are paid for reads, subscriptions, followers, etcetera
You can create and follow your own deadlines
You can earn up to $500,000+ per year if you are a successful creator—long-term
You will receive 35%-100% of the royalties if you’ve written a book or eBook— if it sells
Cons:
If you don’t build a following, you may never get paid for your work
Haters/trolls can be discouraging
The beginning stages are TOUGH because, if you are unknown, you make $0
You have to do all of the marketing—This is difficult, especially if you have a book on your hands
You can either use a pen name or your own name, but your product is yours and yours alone, for better or for worse
Your payments will likely be tiny, at least in the beginning—you might earn $0.01 per month—at most—if you have less than 100 followers.
There are no one-time, upfront payments for short-form projects
You won’t have as much clout as a traditionally published author
You’ll usually have a smaller audience
A Word on Hybrid Publishing
Hybrid publishing is largely a waste of time and money: You shouldn’t ever have to pay someone to publish your book. That said, there is a grey area—you might be paying for editing and cover design services anyways, and, in this case, a hybrid publisher might be for you.
Just make sure they are upfront about their costs. If they’re under $5,000, you might consider them as an option. Otherwise, it’s probably best to just publish your book on Amazon or B&N Press.
There you have it: The pros and cons of traditional publishing versus self-publishing. I prefer the latter myself. I enjoy creative control and higher income potential, although I’m just starting out.
Nonetheless, the road is rocky and unpredictable regardless of which path you tread.
What are your thoughts? Do you have a preference?
I enjoyed reading your thoughts on this, Sarah. Thanks for this post. I agree with a lot of what you said. I did wonder a little about where you got a couple of figures. The million copies seems kind of high to me but who knows. A friend who has traditionally published 26 books said most publishers invest at least $30k to produce one book, so that would require a lot of sales to break even. Also the $500,000 income potential figure would certainly be unusual for any writers. I have quite a few friends who have traditionally published. I think I heard once that the average writer maybe earns $8000 per year (and those are “successful authors”) so many writers teach writing courses, do coaching, speaking and have other sources of income. Not to be discouraging, but not that many writers are able to earn a prosperous living just writing. If people have other experiences, I’d love to hear about those. I have known some full time writers who do make good income but it’s not so common. Some of the writers who earn a lot have capitalized on the writing dreams of others and sold masterminds or other things to those wanting to be published. Anyway I am glad more options exist nowadays and I liked your lists of pros and cons. Take care and happy writing!
Hey Sarah, this is a great post! I love how you outlined the specific pros and cons of traditional vs. self publishing as most new writers may not know what direction to go in first hand. I published an ebook for a client recently and the creative control was much more important to him than a marketing plan he may not have control over. It’s important to set your own priorities when deciding which route to take. Thank you so much for posting this! Your newsletter is awesome by the way! Just subscribed! :)