How and Why to Traditionally Publish Your Book

Hello, everyone! In this three part blog series, I want to give you all a “publishing crash course” and go over the three main publishing options available to modern writers: traditional, vanity, and independent. For each one, I will give a basic overview of how the publishing process works as well as the pros and cons of each. In this edition, I discuss the most common form: traditional publishing.

Lay-Person Definition

Traditional publishing is the most widely known form of publication, and it tends to have the “best” reputation in the publishing word. In traditional publishing, an author writes a novel (or story, poetry anthology, etc.) and sells her rights to the book to a publishing house, usually with the help of an agent to act as a middle(wo)man. The publishing house takes care of the product’s production and distribution for the author, but the author still shares most of the marketing burden (unless he is a huge name author).

The Steps to Traditional Publication

1. Write your manuscript. Need I say more?

1A. Revise your manuscript. This may or may not involve the help of a professional freelance editor. However, whether you seek professional help or not, you need to edit your manuscript to the best of your ability and make it as attractive as possible to the people to whom you are trying to sell it.

2. Figure out your target market. If you are planning to traditionally publish, your goal is to sell your product to a higher power, so to speak. Therefore, you need to source out publishing companies and/or agents that sell books in similar genres to yours. A horror publisher will not want your young adult romance book. Likewise, you need to have a clear idea of your target audience so that you can convince potential agents and/or publishers that your book will sell, and therefore, make you both money.

3. Find an agent. An agent is a person who will represent you and your book and help you sell yourself and it to a publisher. In order to get an agent, you will need to write a query letter. This is basically a “sales pitch” detailing what your novel is about, why and to whom your novel will sell, and what credentials you have as a writer. An agent is not 100% necessary in traditional publishing. However, many publishers (especially “The Big Five”) will not take manuscript submissions unless they come from an agent. Small and micro-presses are more likely to take unsolicited manuscripts.

4. Find a publisher. If you have an agent, he will take care of this process for you. However, if you do not, you will undergo the same basic process as searching for an agent. You will send query letters to try and attract a publisher to publish your novel. Again, this is much more difficult without an agent, but it is still achievable, especially at smaller publishing houses.

5. Sign a contract. Once you are accepted by a publisher, you will be given your publishing “deal.” This will be different for each publisher and each author. In short, the author will give away some (or all) of the rights to her book, and in return, the publisher will give the author an advance and a portion of the royalties from the book’s sales. It is important to note two things here:

“Rights” constitute many aspects of a book; the “right” to publish it in e-book format, print format, audiobook format, and in foreign countries.

Also, the “advance” is not a signing bonus. It is merely an advance on your royalties, and it will likely be paid out in several payments. You may get a $10,000 dollar advance given in two payments (for example, $5,000 upon signing and $5,000 upon completion), but you will not see a cent more from your book until it sells enough copies for your percentage of the royalties to surpass $10,000. Your percentage will likely be 10-20% (depending on format). Note that if you hire an agent, she will get a percentage of your advance as well as a percentage of the royalties.

In other words, if your royalty rate were 10%, your book would have to gross $100,000 in sales before your $10,000 advance would be “paid out” and you could start receiving royalty payments.

6. Edit your novel. Once you have agreed upon a deal, your publisher will likely assign you to an editor to help you refine your novel. Once editing is complete, your book will move into the production stage.

7. Cover design. The deal you sign with your publisher will determine your control over the cover design and book formatting. Most publishers either have in-house designers or strong relationships with design firms or freelancers. And, most of the time, your publisher will determine the design of your book, based on what other books in the genre are like and what will be most marketable to your target audience.

8. Distribution. Again, your publisher will handle this process for you. Your book will be sold to bookstores and placed on online retailers like Amazon. It is important to note that bookstores have the right to send back copies of your book. If this happens, it means two things for you:

A) If your royalty payment was figured before the return, it may decrease once the books are returned and not actually sold.

B) If bookstores return copies of your book, it will make your publisher less enthusiastic about publishing you in the future and the bookseller less likely to buy your next book.

However, risks aside, if you have the dream of walking into a bookstore and seeing your book on the shelf, traditional publishing is virtually the only way to have this vision realized.

9. Market your book. Unless you are J.K. Rowling, your publisher will not spend much time marketing your book. At the very least, they will do a press release, maybe set up a few in-person promotions for you, and possibly do a bit of social media coverage. Therefore, you must help your book sell by doing your own social media marketing, maintaining your author website, and connecting with your readers. Additionally, while traditional publisher’s marketing efforts may be fewer, they are substantial, and they can give you better chances at opportunities you would not have on your own, such as foreign publication and movie deals.

Pros of Traditional Publishing

• Most “respected” form of publishing / Comes with prestige
• Once you get an agent, you have a teammate to help you get published.
• Your publisher will connect you to a professional editor.
• Your publisher will handle cover design and formatting.
• Your publisher will handle production and distribution (allowing you to see your book IN a bookstore).
• Your publisher will do at least some marketing for you.
• Traditional publishing gives you the best chance of seeing your books in bookstores and on the big screen.

Cons of Traditional Publishing

• You lose the rights to your creative product.
• You have a lot of hoops to jump through, which can take years.
• You lose control over much of the editing, design, production, and distribution of your book.
• You still have to do some of the marketing yourself.
• The royalty rate is extremely low, and you have to share the profits with your agent, publisher, and book retailers.
• Related to royalties, you have no control over the pricing strategy of your book.
• If your first (and second, third, etc.) book does not sell well, the chances of you getting subsequent deals decrease exponentially.

Who Should Seek Traditional Publication?

Traditional publication is best for authors who want to have a career in writing, but want to focus more on producing art and have someone else help them handle the “business” side of being a full-time writer. Additionally, traditional publishing is the only avenue for those who want the prestige of being tested and approved by publishing authority figures and want to avoid common publication stigmas.

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What are your feelings about traditional publishing? What process steps, pros, and/or cons would you add to this list? Share your thoughts in the comments section!

Your First Novel Will Suck

Imagine a budding writer sitting down to write her first novel. Put yourself in her shoes, or put me in her place, if that’s too painful (Universe knows I hate envisioning myself this way). Now imagine that freezing terror, that sinking gut, that unshakable certainty that whatever you write will, without-a-doubt, suck. 

After all, pretty much everyone in the writing community has been telling you this for years – either online, through interviews about their own career, or in person. It is a fact among writers: the first novel will be bad.

But, hey, Kid, it’s okay. We all go through it. It’s a (w)rite of passage. Just get that steaming pile of crap out on the page and get onto to your second novel. When you’re a best-seller and the interviewer asks you about that first book, just laugh and say, “Oh I was young, I was inexperienced, I had no clue what I was doing!” It’ll be fine.

Now go back to that image of me, sitting down to plot a story. I have a list of novel ideas in front of me, all in different stages of creative development, and all I can think is…which one do I sacrifice to the alter of sucky-ness?

It’s like the writers’ version of Sophie’s Choice: all of these novel ideas, these characters, are like my children. Each contains a piece of me, a tribute to a loved-one, a gripping social statement. Which one can I afford to let suck? Which ones should I save for when I’m a better, more-experienced writer? What if I choose the wrong one, only to realize 10 years from now that I could write it so much better then?

These concerns have been at the forefront of my mind lately for two reasons. One: “The First One Sucks” guarantee was recently reiterated on my favorite podcast, The Rocking Self-Publishing Podcast, which usually dismantles unfortunate writing “rules.” Two: When my wedding is finished, I plan to write my first novel. I’ve got about three weeks until it’s my time. Yikes!

So, I did what I normally do. I shared my concerns with my fiance during what he would call one of my “Kate spirals.” Daniel sat me down, and in true testament to why I am marrying him, fixed everything. He helped me re-frame my perspective in a positive way, and quite frankly, I think we (yes, this involves you!), should change the “The First Novel Guarantee.”

Instead of “Your First Novel Will Suck,” I am proposing the following creed:

Your First Novel Will Be Good (It Just May Not Be Your Best)

First and foremost, know that your first novel will be good. It may not be literary genius, but it will be good. If it helps, do a downward social comparison. Your first novel may not be the best novel ever written, but it will not be the worst novel ever written. There will always be someone better, and there will always be someone worse. I believe this wholeheartedly, not only because the odds are in your favor, but because literature is subjective. Someone, somewhere, will always be perceived by someone, somewhere, as better or worse than you.

Second, let’s face it: we’re not all Harper Lee and S.E. Hinton. More than likely, your first novel will not be immortalized in the literary world, and you won’t be a one-hit-wonder. You’ll write more and more and more. And, maybe, your first novel will be your best work. Then again, maybe it won’t be your best work. In fact, wouldn’t the true definition of sucking be if your first novel were your best work, and the only way you could go was down, not up? (If you feel that is your situation, see the subjectivity clause above).

I can’t say if this new creed will help cure your fear, if you worry about your first novel being garbage. Hell, I don’t even know if it will work for me. But, you know what? It doesn’t matter. That first mountain must be tackled so we can traverse the range. I’m doing it, whether the first one sucks or not. Now who’s with me?

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Have you heard “The First One Sucks” rule? Does it make you apprehensive about your first novel? If you were to amend this “rule,” what would your new rule be?