If you’re writing a book, I know you’re asking: what’s the best path to publication? I know this because writers ask me all the time: how do I turn my idea (or rough draft, or pages of scribbling) into an actual book? How can I get published?
Basically, there are three paths to take your manuscript to a published book: self-publishing, hybrid (also called vanity) publishing (this one has a thousand variations), and traditional royalty publishing.
I call myself a publishing adventure guide. I write a lot about self-publishing, but today I want to lay out the basics about traditional or royalty publishing. And bust some myths in the process.
Self-publishing is just that: the author is also the publisher. Traditional publishers contract with authors to create books, and the publisher pays the author to write the book. The traditional publisher makes money selling books—not by charging the author anything. (Vanity publishers, by contrast, make money by charging the author to publish their book for them.) Traditional royalty publishers are a business with a staff of editors, designers, and other production specialists to get the book from start to finish.
So how do you get a royalty publishing deal, and what can you expect if you take this path to publication? To answer that, let’s look at four myths about royalty publishing, and contrast those myths with the actual facts. (I’ve had a more than a dozen books traditionally published and been at this for a couple of decades. I’ve also self-published and helped others do it.)
(Royalty publisher contract)
Myth: I can just send my manuscript to publishers and they’ll make me an offer.
Traditional publishers are extremely selective about which authors they work with. You must come with great writing, a saleable idea, and a strong platform (meaning you bring an audience with you).
Nearly always, you cannot get in the door at a traditional publisher unless you have an agent. Some smaller independent publishers might take unagented work, but it has to really shine to get a green light.
So one, you don’t send the full manuscript, and two, you don’t send it to the publisher. You send a query letter and proposal to an agent. If they agree to work with you, they submit your proposal to the publisher.
A reputable agent will not charge their clients anything, other than a 15 percent commission on their book deal. They get paid only when the author does.
Also, if you are writing non-fiction, you would submit a book proposal, not the whole manuscript. If you’re writing a novel, you’d still likely have a proposal and query letter, but they’d still want to see the full manuscript before making an offer.
Myth: You make a lot of money if you get a publishing deal.
A royalty publisher pays you. That’s true. But not a lot—at least when you are a newbie. A royalty publisher often pays a contracted author an advance, anywhere from a few thousand to over six figures (typically for celebrities or very successful authors), before the book is published (and in the case of non-fiction, before it is fully written). Authors typically receive part of the advance upon signing the contract, another portion once they submit an acceptable manuscript, and the last portion when the book is released, although contracts vary. (Some publishers might not offer an advance to debut writers, but they won’t charge you money to publish your book.)
The advance, however, has some strings attached. First, if you do not actually write the book, or don’t produce a book that the publisher deems acceptable, you must pay your advance back. So if you promise a World War II historical romance, but actually write about a space alien adventure, you’ve not written what is called an “acceptable manuscript.” Or if the quality of your writing doesn’t match what was in the sample chapters of your book proposal, you’ve again not written an acceptable manuscript, and you not only don’t receive the rest of your advance, you usually have to pay back the part you already received.
The second “string” attached to advances is this: an advance gets paid back with book sales, like a draw on a commission. Say you get a $10,000 advance. (For a book that probably took you a year to write.) Your agent gets 15 percent, which means your advance is now $8,500. (Don’t quit your day job just yet.) Your contract will spell this out, but every book you sell will pay you a small royalty (10 to 20 percent of the sales price, typically). But before you start collecting royalties, your book needs to “earn out.” Meaning if your book retails for $20, and you get $4 as a royalty, that $4 gets deducted from what the publisher has already paid you. You have to basically pay back the advance with book sales (in this example, sell 2500 books) before you get paid additional funds. If you do earn out, your agent will get 15 percent of subsequent royalties you earn. (And yes, agents are worth every penny of that commission.)
Most books don’t earn out (only about 25 percent do). And depending on your contract, your royalty might be less (say, if amazon sells your $20 book for $10, you get the royalty on that price. Again, don’t quit your day job). This makes it take even longer to “earn out.” Publishers still make money on books that don’t earn out, and you don’t have to pay back your advance if you don’t earn out.
Myth: I don’t need to edit my book, the publisher will do that.
Traditional publishers employ editors and designers, who work on the books their employer has contracted. They do not charge authors a fee for completing this work. Because the publisher keeps the bulk of the profits from book sales, they have capital with which to pay their employees. So yes, a traditional publisher will provide editing services.
However, this gets tricky. Rookie authors should have someone to edit their book before they submit it to an agent or publisher, simply because it increases the chances of a publisher saying yes. If you’ve written a book, you need a careful self-edit, followed by a professional developmental edit, before you submit it to an agent or publisher. Most traditionally published books go through multiple rounds of editing. In fact, you should actually start by writing a book proposal, which includes two or three sample chapters, and they should have it edited before submitting it.
This blog post explains why every writer needs an editor.
Confusion arises when vanity publishers or so-called hybrid publishers say that they are “publishers” but charge a fee for editing, typesetting, printing or other production costs. There are hundreds of companies that do this, and typically, they’ll work with anyone willing to pay them.
Myth: If I get a royalty publishing deal, the publisher will do all my book marketing for me.
Publishing houses typically have staff who work on marketing, or they sometimes hire outside marketing or PR companies to work on their titles. The publisher pays for those services, so that authors don’t have to. However, the publisher’s marketing efforts supplement what the author is doing and has already done prior to even getting a contract. The author is the one who does most of the marketing. Always. No matter what path to publication you choose, the author must market their own book. They work together with the marketing team at their publisher.
I have had many aspiring authors tell me they are seeking traditional publication because they want someone to market their book for them, because they don’t want to do it.
After I pick myself up off the floor, where I fell from laughing so hard, I tell them, that’s not how this business works.
In fact, aspiring authors must do a ton of marketing up front, in order to get a book deal. Before they approach a publisher, they must build a platform that enables them to engage with an audience (through speaking, newsletters, blogging, podcasting, social media, whatever) because publishers require that from the authors they sign. They want to know that they are going to be able to sell your book, and who is going to buy it. To get a deal with a publisher, you need to bring an audience with you.
In other words, if you just want to write, but not have to market what you write, you should simply not seek publication. (Which is fine. I think there’s value in simply writing.) Because no matter what publishing path you take, the person who does the most work in marketing their book is the author.
A word about hybrid publishers
Some publishers, called hybrid publishers, may offer you a book “deal” and even offer you “royalties.” But if they expect you to pay for production costs like editing, design, etc., they are not a traditional royalty publisher. If they require you to buy services like an author website or a certain number of books, they are a hybrid (aka vanity) publisher. If they promise to make you a best-seller (before even reading your book), run fast in the opposite direction.
For some writers, a hybrid publisher is the right path, but you should read any contracts with any publisher very carefully before signing on. Some hybrid publishers, for example, will say they pay royalties if you sell a certain number of books. But what happens if you don’t? Some charge their authors if they don’t hit certain sales numbers, or have other hidden fees.
Traditional royalty publishers make money selling books. That’s how they recoup the investment they’ve made in their authors. Hybrid publishers make money selling their services to authors. They’re less motivated to help you sell your books because they already got paid.
For authors who write exceptionally well, who have a strong platform, and a saleable idea, traditional publishing can be a wonderful path. I’ve had more than a dozen books traditionally published. But every year, it gets a little harder to break in. For many writers, self-publishing is a easier, faster path to publication. (This blog post spells out the steps to self-publishing.)
If you’ve writing a book and would like a free consultation on finding the right publishing path, I’d love to hear from you. This is not an offer to read your full manuscript, but a chance to have a meaningful and honest conversation in which I’ll give you some free advice and suggest next steps. Just visit https://keriwyattkent.com/contact-us/ to request your free consultation.