Many factors affect the decision for a new author to seek a traditional publishing deal or go the self-publishing route. We’ve got some numbers that may help you decide.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
I’ve been writing about this topic for almost ten years now, but it’s a question thousands of aspiring authors continue to ask themselves (and me via email):
Should I try self-publishing or should I chase the dream of traditional publishing?
Table of Contents:
• You earn more money per sale when you self-publish
• You need to drive sales either way
• Self-published authors get to market ten times faster
• Less time means more money
• Self-publishing is a sure thing
I don’t usually default to math to answer questions about the publishing industry, but in this case, the numbers I’m about to present add up to one clear answer. There’s no need to get your calculators out — the math is easy. I’ll start here:
$24,480 vs. $5,242
This first comparison is borrowed directly from a past Digital Book World conference presentation that still applies today. Let’s take a sample author and compare two writing scenarios during the same timeframe. To keep things simple, I’ll only consider eBook sales.
You earn more money per sale when you self-publish
Our author could decide to write and self-publish four short books or novellas at 25,000 words each. Assume she charges $2.99 for each eBook. With a 70 percent royalty rate paid by Amazon, she would stand to make a little over $2 on each sale. (By the way, she could make even more if she sold her books direct-to-reader through BookBaby Bookshop, but that’s a story for another day.)
On the other hand, she could write and sell one 100,000-word novel to a traditional publisher — the same amount of work but closer to the word count traditional publishers might expect. For the longer book, she could expect to sell it for $6.99.
For both writing scenarios, let’s assume our sample author has 3,000 fans who will buy everything she writes. Here’s a chart illustrating the side-by-side comparison:
As you can see, these numbers give self-publishing a considerable edge — she’s able to equal 3,000 sales from traditional publishing earnings with sales of just 642 books.
You need to drive sales either way
Remember, we’re only considering eBook sales in this comparison. If our author decides to publish printed books (or audiobooks) — as she should! — her profits would go up substantially.
Skeptics might point out how difficult it is for self-published authors to find those 3,000 devoted fans, and they’re exactly right. But the same can be said for traditional publishing.
Like it or not, it’s nowhere near a given that a new author will be provided the necessary book marketing and promotional muscle to find readers. Traditional publishers have been cutting payroll substantially over the years — only top-of-the-list authors are commanding viable marketing and sales support nowadays. New and even mid-list authors are expected to do the lion’s share of promotion and marketing for their titles.
Self-published authors get to market ten times faster
One other factor not considered in our self-publishing vs. traditional publishing comparison shines light on an often-overlooked dimension of earning potential. That’s in our next set of numbers:
2 vs. 20
These are the average number of months it takes for self-published (two) and traditionally published books (twenty) to get to the marketplace.
Once your manuscript is finished and you elect to self-publish, you can expect to see your book in all the online retailers — Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, and the rest — within two months. And that includes the time needed for a thorough professional editing job. (You are going to have your book professionally edited, right?)
Meanwhile, it can take 18–24 months for your book to see the light of day at the end of the traditional publishing process. Of course, that’s assuming you’ve already completed the time-consuming task of finding a literary agent and publisher willing to take you on as a new author. That alone could take months or even years.
Less time means more money
The axiom “time is money” has never been more accurate than in today’s book publishing environment. Back to our eBook comparison of traditional vs. self-publishing: think of the additional novellas (or books) our author could self-publish in those 18 months. It’s a slam dunk that her earnings would be 2x to 3x more.
Speaking of a slam dunk, that’s the essence of my final set of numbers to help guide your choice:
100 percent vs. 5 percent
Unless you have the next Fifty Shades of Twilight Hunger Games as your first manuscript, your chances of being “discovered” by sending dozens of query letters to traditional publishing houses face long odds.
The verdict: Self-publishing is worth the investment
For some of the most successful authors, it took years to find agents and publishers willing to give a rookie author a shot. Traditional publishing is adapting the same mentality as Hollywood in green-lighting films — they want a sure thing! That’s why there will surely be a Guardians of the Galaxy XVI in the years to come. The Big Five publishers can’t afford the risk of new, untested authors.
The fact is, most new authors will never come close to a traditional publishing deal. Even the most optimistic outlook would put the average writer’s chance of landing a deal at five percent.
Meanwhile, self-publishing is a sure thing — the proverbial slam dunk. Once you’ve decided to go this route, your book will be available to millions of potential readers. Plus, you maintain creative control over your story. Nothing is stopping you from reaching your goal!
All these numbers add up to one thing: self-publishing is the best publishing option for today’s new authors. So get that book finished soon and join the millions of writers who have made the journey.Still figuring things out? Learn how to self-publish a book here!
I agree that the total profit from self-publishing will give you a greater margin of profit from each book sold. I wish, though, that your Indie Math table showed a more comprehensive tally of not just profit on books sold, but cost of production. A self-published book costs the indie writer fees for editing, illustrations and cover, graphic royalties, registration fees, and interior book design in most instances, if done on a professional level. Traditional publishers do these for free. Even the small amount of marketing that traditional publishers do now, would have to be added onto the cost for the self-publisher. These amount to potentially thousands of additional dollars to be subtracted from the overall earnings as a self-publisher. As it stands, your article does not show the entire picture of costs vs. profits for a book.
HelloMr Steven Spatz, My name is Patty Hall Fenner i have a book that i need help getting published it is a book about my Native American father and grandfathers a book about “Many Horses” A Blackfeet Indian that ran thousands of herds of horses on the Blackfeet Nation that was later captured, and the Army made plans to breed them to Army thoroughbred studs for the purpose of breeding Army remount horses to hunt the natives. My grandfather and his brothers would break these hard to ride
remount colts then they would have to trail these broke Army remount horses from the Old Agency where the Blackfeet Natives were held as well as the captured horses of Many Horses and Chief Joseph. I am so lost and i need your guidance you seem like a well-rounded man and understand i am totally out of my element in trying to create this book for my dad before he passes away, my father carries his grandfather’s name of “Many Horses” and i do not want this story and history to go untold my grandfather’s Many Horses and Chief Joseph deserve this story told but i don’t know how to do it please help me, a lost daughter with a great story to tell, thank you for your time luv patty hall fenner Blackfeet name is Beaver Eyes after my Blackfeet grandmother Josephine Mountain Chief
It’s absolutely true that it’s tough to get a book deal these days, and there are advantages to self publishing, but to give the full story in comparing potential profitability, it seems necessary acknowledge that a TRADITIONAL PUBLISHER PAYS THE AUTHOR FOR THE RIGHT TO PUBLISH their book (however meager a sum) while THE AUTHOR PAYS THE SELF PUBLISHER TO CREATE THEIR BOOK plus the self published writer must also pay for services such as developmental editing, copy editing, jacket or cover design, publishers’ fee. Those services are all handled by the staff of a traditional publisher, and the writer also receives professional advice/expertise, and the distribution, visibility, the benefits of the publisher’s reputation/good will. ( Whether self pub or Traditional, authors invest in marketing/promotion, so I have not included that.). It would be very helpful to see a comparison the different business models and potential profitability which also considers these factors, reflects those costs, as well as the differences in income, royalties, etc you have already shared. Thank you.
Steven,
A most interesting and apt comparison as the heart of this piece! I’ve been a BookBaby author for years now, and have always been happy with BB’s services and professional acumen.
Don’t be sexist, though. The only time you use a personal pronoun in this piece, it’s “she” all the way. Why? “He or she” is appropriate and is neither sexist nor awkward.
Thanks for this thoughtful and important article!
A wonderful “just the fact’s ma’am” summary of self and traditional publishing. The same goes for publishing agents. For my first novel, I wasted months trying to get an agent. Finally, I got one. More months went by as her efforts were fruitless. I finally exited my relationship with the agent, went with self-publishing, and my novel took off (even if that took time as well.) Well done with this piece!
I am ready to commit to a self-published book. It would not be a text-laden book but rather a photo book of western landscapes and wildlife with text blocks revealing the compelling stories behind the images. I envision it as being more substantial than a coffee table book, yet appealing to coffee table book buyers who seek inspiration in the natural world and deeper understanding of changing environments. Does BookBaby offer high-end paper and inks for photographs in a printed version of the book? Are professional editors available through BookBaby?
You are very convincing and positive toward self-publishing as a way to earn money.
HOWEVER
if I would not already retired, I would not give up my day job based on my royalties from Book Baby or my other self published books.
Based on my own experience, I disagree with you.
The best sellers in self-publishing are the “how-to” and certainly not memoirs