Decades ago, the only type of publishing that was reputable and viable was traditional publishing – to submit a book to a publisher, who then handles production costs and pays an author an advance sum of money with royalties to follow. The publisher would market and promote the book, getting copies into all major bookstores and the author would be free to write books.
The option to self-publish in yesteryear existed alongside this and namely involved sourcing a printer to produce X-amount of copies of one’s own book, before selling them, usually at a car-boot sale or local fair. Then, about a decade ago (maybe two), online printer-publisher companies such as Lulu and Createspace, among others, appeared allowing authors to self-publish their work with ease and for free. Suddenly everyone and their neighbour became a writer. Yet the process was still straightforward: you either go with a royalty-paying traditional publisher, or you go-it-alone.
More recently a third option has been thrown into the mix: hybrid publishing. This is where an author submits work to the hybrid publisher and if accepted, the author pays a contribution towards publishing costs. The hybrid publisher then pays the remainder of costs to have the book produced. This type of publishing is often known as partnership publishing. It’s relatively new; as far as I’m aware, it has only been around in the last few years.
For an author at the start of their career, which option is best? Ultimately that decision comes down to the individual. However, I can certainly share my experience and the costs involved, to help others make informed choices. With that in mind, here is my experience of being published traditionally, with a hybrid publisher and through self-publishing.
Traditional publishing:
I have been traditionally published 3 times, each time by a different publisher. I define ‘traditional’ here in the sense that I didn’t pay any money to have my work published; some also include receiving an advance as indicative of traditional, though in this post, my definition is inclusive of only the former, rather than latter.
COSTS: None. The publishers paid for production costs of typesetting, cover art, ISBN, editing, etc.
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Leilanie Stewart 