So the average author approaches publishing wanting a major publisher to accept their work. Why not, right? They have written a work that they believe is the next American classic and a major publisher buying the work is affirmation that their work is worthy; I get it.
However, let's review your options.
Traditional Publisher: If you're lucky you'll get an advance on your royalties of $5,000 or less. The publisher will not promote the work aggressively, so you will have to burn the candle on both ends to sell the books in order to recoup the publisher because otherwise, you'll have to pay the $5, 000 advance back.
So question: If you had to work 50 hours a week selling books, wouldn't you want to keep all of the money instead of receiving a 3-5% royalty check 6-12 months later?
Self-publishing:
The majority of great American writers were self published. I strongly advocate self publishing, not because my company produces books for self-publishing authors but because I understand the true power in the process.
1. When you become an author, you become a business. Who starts a business and immediately sells it off for little to nothing? Build your business--your sales record and major publishers will knock down your door with 6-figure offers.
2. More control: Control your message, your brand, your price, your marketing, and retain control of your income.
3. Make more money: If a traditional publisher charges $29.99 for your book and you get 3% royalties, that means you'll make $0.89 per book. If you self publish and sell that same book for $29.99 you'll keep $29.99. Let's imagine you paid $5 per book on production, then you netted $24.99 per book. I'm sure you can live with that.
Happy selling!
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