Self-Publishing VS Traditional Publishing
Hey guys, how's it going?
I have a rant/shpeal to let loose today, so scroll right past this if you don't want to know anything about the topic in the title.
But if you're game, here it goes:
Self-Publishing Verses Traditional Publishing
The thing that some people refuse to admit is this-- THEY ARE VERY DIFFERENT
VERY, VERY DIFFERENT
AS DIFFERENT AS FUJI AND PINK LADY APPLES
Anyway, the online yelling aside, really! They're so different! When you buy a pink lady apple, you don't complain that it doesn't taste as tropical as a fuji, because, well, um.... it's a pink lady! It's not a fuji, so why complain?
That said, here's how my apple-comparison works.
Basics first: There are a lot of different types of publishing out there. Articles, short stories, fan-fictions... you name it, there's everything. From free apps/websites like Wattpad to the best-sellers in Barnes and Noble, you can find books and stories practically anywhere.
However, when it comes to books, full-size books, there are two typical options-- self-publishing and traditional publishing.
Traditional publishing has been around for ages, hence the name "traditional". It starts with finding an agent by sending out fancy requests (query letters) that include the first chapter or two of your book. Then, when and if you find an agent who believes in the potential of your book, they go around to a bunch of different publishers and try to convince them into also believing in your book. When that's done, there might be no publisher interested in your book. Or, there might be a few who want your story... It just depends!
From there, the publisher pays you a chunk of money for your book, and if it doesn't sell a ton, you never see anymore money. If it sells more than they paid you, you get a sliver of money (like 2 or 3 bucks) for every copy sold.
**Keep in mind, I've only researched this method, never actually gone through it**
A traditional publisher will mostly do the marketing for you. They'll put copies of your book in stores and sometimes put its first chapter at the back of one of their other books. They have their own editors who have gone through many years of grammatical-training to become pros at what they do, and they pay their editors to take care of your book. They give you a deadline for all the different drafts, and have to approve of your storylines before you can get started on the second, third, fourth, etc books in your series. They always have veto power to tell you not to write.
Some people swear by traditional publishers. And look at The Hunger Games, The Lightning Thief, Divergent, Twilight... they all went through traditional publishers.
But, on the other hand, there is also Self-Publishing.
Remember what I said before:
THEY ARE VERY DIFFERENT!
Of course, both publishing methods produce books, works of art that have lots of time invested in them. The main difference, to me, is the boss. When I self-publish (which I do), I'm the boss. If I decide to put out a book every three months and a novelita every month, I can, because I have the power. I don't have to wait on an editor or get my stories approved-- the readers approve the stories by whether or not they like them.
This is where that other hand comes in though...
I don't have an editor. No one has to approve my stories. They go from my head to my word document, and then I fix them up and make them as good as I think they can be. But, I haven't been grammar-trained for four years at a university. I haven't paid someone to make it sound as good as it can be. I'm a self-publisher, and all I have is myself. I'm the writer, the editor, the marketer, the publisher (through Amazon), and for my novelitas, the cover designer. When I need a nicer cover, for my full-sized books, I have to find someone to make it (cough, cough, my amazing sister-in-law). If I want to get my book out there, I have to promote it. If I want reviews, I have to ask for them or just pray that someone likes it enough to write a review.
That's what makes self-publishing different from traditional. Yes, there will be a few awkward sentences, because I'm only one person, and one person with 95,000 other words to edit. It's easy to miss a typo or two, even after editing three different times. What I'm trying to say is that self-published books are not perfect, and they never will be, because they are SELF-PUBLISHED.
So anyway, let's join forces to stop people from complaining when a self-published book has a few typos or some awkward sentences. It happens when you don't have a professional editor, so cut self-publishers some slack.
I hope this post helped you understand the difference between the two mainly DIFFERENT types of publishing! Feel free to comment below or email me at sarasummersbooks@gmail.com. Thanks for reading!
-Sara Summers
I have a rant/shpeal to let loose today, so scroll right past this if you don't want to know anything about the topic in the title.
But if you're game, here it goes:
Self-Publishing Verses Traditional Publishing
The thing that some people refuse to admit is this-- THEY ARE VERY DIFFERENT
VERY, VERY DIFFERENT
AS DIFFERENT AS FUJI AND PINK LADY APPLES
Anyway, the online yelling aside, really! They're so different! When you buy a pink lady apple, you don't complain that it doesn't taste as tropical as a fuji, because, well, um.... it's a pink lady! It's not a fuji, so why complain?
That said, here's how my apple-comparison works.
Basics first: There are a lot of different types of publishing out there. Articles, short stories, fan-fictions... you name it, there's everything. From free apps/websites like Wattpad to the best-sellers in Barnes and Noble, you can find books and stories practically anywhere.
However, when it comes to books, full-size books, there are two typical options-- self-publishing and traditional publishing.
Traditional publishing has been around for ages, hence the name "traditional". It starts with finding an agent by sending out fancy requests (query letters) that include the first chapter or two of your book. Then, when and if you find an agent who believes in the potential of your book, they go around to a bunch of different publishers and try to convince them into also believing in your book. When that's done, there might be no publisher interested in your book. Or, there might be a few who want your story... It just depends!
From there, the publisher pays you a chunk of money for your book, and if it doesn't sell a ton, you never see anymore money. If it sells more than they paid you, you get a sliver of money (like 2 or 3 bucks) for every copy sold.
**Keep in mind, I've only researched this method, never actually gone through it**
A traditional publisher will mostly do the marketing for you. They'll put copies of your book in stores and sometimes put its first chapter at the back of one of their other books. They have their own editors who have gone through many years of grammatical-training to become pros at what they do, and they pay their editors to take care of your book. They give you a deadline for all the different drafts, and have to approve of your storylines before you can get started on the second, third, fourth, etc books in your series. They always have veto power to tell you not to write.
Some people swear by traditional publishers. And look at The Hunger Games, The Lightning Thief, Divergent, Twilight... they all went through traditional publishers.
But, on the other hand, there is also Self-Publishing.
Remember what I said before:
THEY ARE VERY DIFFERENT!
Of course, both publishing methods produce books, works of art that have lots of time invested in them. The main difference, to me, is the boss. When I self-publish (which I do), I'm the boss. If I decide to put out a book every three months and a novelita every month, I can, because I have the power. I don't have to wait on an editor or get my stories approved-- the readers approve the stories by whether or not they like them.
This is where that other hand comes in though...
I don't have an editor. No one has to approve my stories. They go from my head to my word document, and then I fix them up and make them as good as I think they can be. But, I haven't been grammar-trained for four years at a university. I haven't paid someone to make it sound as good as it can be. I'm a self-publisher, and all I have is myself. I'm the writer, the editor, the marketer, the publisher (through Amazon), and for my novelitas, the cover designer. When I need a nicer cover, for my full-sized books, I have to find someone to make it (cough, cough, my amazing sister-in-law). If I want to get my book out there, I have to promote it. If I want reviews, I have to ask for them or just pray that someone likes it enough to write a review.
That's what makes self-publishing different from traditional. Yes, there will be a few awkward sentences, because I'm only one person, and one person with 95,000 other words to edit. It's easy to miss a typo or two, even after editing three different times. What I'm trying to say is that self-published books are not perfect, and they never will be, because they are SELF-PUBLISHED.
So anyway, let's join forces to stop people from complaining when a self-published book has a few typos or some awkward sentences. It happens when you don't have a professional editor, so cut self-publishers some slack.
I hope this post helped you understand the difference between the two mainly DIFFERENT types of publishing! Feel free to comment below or email me at sarasummersbooks@gmail.com. Thanks for reading!
-Sara Summers
