Don’t undermine your great writing with a poorly designed book cover. Read on for six common mistakes!
Your book cover’s impact can’t be understated. It’s the first thing readers see when shopping their next read and as a first impression your cover becomes a crucial marketing tool.
Poorly designed covers lose sales and potential readers. A strong cover connects on an emotional level, urging a reader to open your work and start reading.
And it’s not just the front cover that counts (though that’s what readers see first); the spine and back cover deserves the same thoughtful consideration and have their own elements and design rules as well.
Here are some things to keep in mind as you’re thinking about your book cover:
5 common book cover design mistakes to watch out for
Creating their own covers
Book cover design is an art and a learned skill, so, if possible, you want a team of professionals on your side: graphic designers, illustrators and photographers. Cover Kitchen says: “Creating an effective book cover design boils down to artistic strength and creative strategy. Our team of professional book designers is trained to develop compelling concepts curated to your genre, the personality of your book, and the interest of your readers—all with the goal of driving sales.” If your budget doesn’t include a book cover design team, study books in your genre and create the best one possible.
Link to related book cover article here
Ignoring the competition
As T.S. Elliot said, “Good writers borrow; great writers steal.” Obviously, you’re not going to copy anyone, but get online and hit the bookstore and study covers in your genre. Get inspired, but don’t get too wild: While you always want to be original and interesting, don’t ignore time-tested rules of book cover structure: You’re not recreating the wheel!
Too complicated
Don’t try to cram too many design elements onto your cover or you’ll undermine the main idea you want to communicate. Simple design applies here: if you pack too many elements on a cover, your message is lost, the cover looks sloppy and cluttered, confusing potential readers who will look elsewhere.
Illegible text
Most books are bought online and viewed with a thumbnail-sized cover. Make sure your cover is easily readable; you want clean typefaces, but not boring ones, and don’t mix up many different fonts. Keep your titles reasonably short, this goes for subtitles, too.
Poor quality and weak images
People are visual! While text is an important marketing tool, it’s axiomatic that powerful visual elements grab eyeballs and generate clicks. When creating your book cover, you need striking, high-quality, high-resolution images and illustrations. Readers scrolling a page should stop and engage when they see your cover, so find or create the perfect images matched with strong color choices that convey the personality and genre of your book, and always ensure that you’re not using copyrighted work.
Mismatched cover to content
Your cover must convey a true aspect of your genre and narrative. Don’t try to use design to reel a reader in and then disappoint with a bait and switch. Your book cover must honestly impart the proper tone of your writing, tripping an emotional switch that pulls a reader in and creates expectations (that are later fulfilled).
Great writers leave it all on the page, don’t undercut your chances for success with a weak or poorly designed book cover. Your cover is your most important marketing tool, even more important than a book funnel, so make sure you work with a great design team who understands your needs, your genre and book design essentials!
We are living in the golden age of audiobooks. Thanks to the rise of the Audible app and others, thousands of readers have discovered just how enjoyable it is to listen to books while they’re cleaning the house, out for a walk, or jogging at the gym.
Just how many people are consuming audiobooks? One study from Edison Research and Triton Digital found that around half of U.S. citizens aged twelve and over listened to an audiobook in 2019.
That’s an enormous potential audience, especially for authors who are new on the scene and looking to grow their readership. But is it worth the investment? And how do you go about actually turning your book into an audiobook?
To answer these questions, we spoke with Stewart Storrar, a writer from Glasgow, Scotland. Stewart works with Voquent, one of the world’s leading voice-over production agencies.
Is it worth producing an audiobook?
As an indie author, you know that producing, self-publishing, and marketing your ebook requires some budget. So are the production costs of producing an audiobook worth it?
Getting an audiobook produced isn’t free unless you plan to record it yourself. Even then, you will need the right equipment and applications to pull it off.
As mentioned above, producing an audiobook does open you up to an entirely new audience, which could translate into more sales. Publisher Simon and Schuster said that their audiobook sales rose by 14% in 2018, and those numbers are only growing.
When you host your novel on a service like Audible, you receive royalty payments any time a user on the platform downloads your audiobook using their credits (which come with membership) or purchases it directly. The downside is that you don’t have control over how much your book is listed for or whether it’s offered at a discount price. This means you may get lower royalty rates than you would selling an ebook or physical copies of your book. But on the upside, Audible lends assistance with marketing your book, and audible listeners often go through dozens of audiobooks in a single year (meaning more chances your book will be published).
Of course, as a first-time author, your focus shouldn’t be exclusively on selling more books, but on growing your audience and boosting your name recognition (so you can sell more books in the future). Selling an audiobook broadens your audience and will help you with this goal.
Beyond earning more income from your first novel, producing an audiobook also makes your novel accessible for people who may be visually impaired or unable to read books for certain reasons.
Publishing an audiobook may also open your audience up on an international level. Some people who don’t speak English as their first language may find listening to English far more comfortable than reading it.
So, how does one go about turning a book into an audiobook? Before we can get into that, you need to make an important decision about the type of audiobook you want to produce.
What Are The Different Types of Audiobook Narration?
There are two main types of audiobooks, and which one you choose will be up to you and what you think your audience would prefer.
Option 1: Third-person audiobooks
The third-person audiobook is standard for most nonfiction books, such as e-learning resources, dictionaries, biographies, autobiographies, self-help novels, and so on. An excellent example of this would be a biography narrated by the person the book is based upon; for example, a celebrity might choose to narrate their own biography. Fiction authors can opt for this method, too, if their book is written in the third-person perspective.
Option 2: Acted audiobooks
This type of audiobook has a similar feel to that of a radio drama, in that the different characters in the book have other voices. These audiobook types also have a dedicated voice actor to narrate the story alongside the different voices from a third-person perspective. There are two ways to accomplish this. The first is to hire a variety of voice actors for the different characters. This method is usually more expensive and harder to put together coherently.
A more cost-effective way of arranging an acted audiobook is to hire one voice actor with a wide range of voice capabilities and therefore able to voice all your different characters. This requires knowing how to pick the right voice actor for your book.
The Process from Book to Audiobook
From the two main types of audiobook narration, the process of creation will differ, primarily in the actual production stages. What doesn’t change is the overall process itself.
Step One: Choosing your distribution platform
The first step is determining what platform you intend to use when distributing your audiobook, as this will determine the overall technical specifications for the project. The most common is Audible from Amazon, but other platforms such as iTunes, Google Books, and Spotify do offer Audiobook distribution options. Each platform will have its specific requirements, but good practice is to tailor your audiobook to Audible’s specifications, as Audible is the go-to for audiobooks and will be the place you will more than likely see most of your success. The specifications for Audible will usually be compatible across other distribution platforms too. After choosing your platform and taking note of the specifications you will need to adhere to, the next step is choosing the language you want, and writing the script for the narrator or voice actor.
Step Two: Organizing your book for production
For the audiobook, if choosing a foreign language, you will need to transcribe your book into that language yourself or hire a translator to do it for you. What makes the most sense is turning your book into an audiobook script, then getting it translated, as this will be the most cost-effective way to proceed.
Voquent recently released a blog on scriptwriting, if you are looking for more help on that front. The script itself can be structured in numerous methods, but most authors simply choose to annotate their novel. What this means if you are an author, is adding notes to certain lines or sections of dialogue to help instruct the narrator or voice-actor. This is particularly effective for sections of dialogue that are crucial to character development, their character arcs, and the overall plot – if dealing with fiction that is. If dealing with non-fiction, as an author, you will rarely need to add many annotations (if any) to your book.
It is important to note that for audiobooks, scripting can also mean converting your book into a voice-over script format. This method is rarely ever used as there isn’t much need for it. Its only real application would be for dialogue-intensive novels. Even then, most authors opt to simply annotate their manuscript for their voice actor.
Getting your script ready to go into the production stages is vital, and mistakes in this script can slow down the process later on. With this in mind, the next process is getting your script (or various scripts) proofread and edited. Almost needless to say, Invisible Ink excels at these particular services and will get your masterpiece ready for production.
Step Three: Choosing your voice
Next, you need to choose a narrator voice that will capture the essence of your story for your audio listeners. This is where the type of audiobook you have selected to produce will impact the process. You will only need one voice for a narrated audiobook, and this voice will tend to be a seasoned narrator (the more likely choice if you have a nonfictional audiobook). In contrast, you may need multiple voices for an acted audiobook, but most often opt to choose one talented voice actor instead that can voice all your book’s characters (if your book is fiction). Choosing one voice actor that is capable of doing all your character’s voices is also an excellent way to keep your audiobook production cost-effective.
Helping you find voices is what Voquent excels at, thanks to our expansive voice directory and powerful filter tools to help you find the right narrator match. You will need to think about the delivery style you want, the tone, the pitch, and the pacing, among other things. If you’ve written a first-person narration for your style, then you’ll want a voice that sounds similar to how you imagine your character would sound. If you’re using third-person narration, you want an author who can convey the tone of your novel with the sound of their voice. It may take time to shop around, but most voice-acting services like Voquent give you the chance to listen to samples before selecting a final choice.
Once you have a voice you are happy with, it is onto the actual production itself.
Step Four: Production and distribution
Once you’ve chosen the voice for the narration, the hard part is over. This step essentially requires you to stay in the loop with the production progress and perhaps answer some questions or provide feedback.
The process of getting all the lines recorded and edited for your final audio file will take a few weeks at the absolute minimum. However, every audiobook is different, as is every voice actor and narrator. The time the project takes will vary wildly dependent on word count, how many languages you plan on serving, and how many revisions you want for sections of your audiobook. The process of reviewing the final product is where you will have the most involvement.
In terms of the production itself, the recording will be conducted at a recording studio for the best quality possible, if your budget allows. The recordings and files that are produced are then put together and professionally edited by a sound engineer using state-of-the-art software (such as Pro Tools). After the review process, if you are happy with the file, the next step is to get it ready for distribution.
After you have your completed audiobook file, you need to get it onto the distribution platform you chose at the beginning of this process. Every audiobook distributor has a slightly different process, but generally, this will involve making an account on their platform, filling out your details for tax and revenue handling, and then uploading your files, book cover, and descriptions of your work. The uploading process can take a few minutes or perhaps up to an hour, depending on the file size and your internet speed, plus the time needed to fill out your information and craft compelling copy for the audiobook page.
Getting your book turned into an audiobook can seem like a daunting process, but hopefully, these insights will help you decide what is best for your book.
Nom de plume, pseudonym, pen name… whatever your choice of synonym, at some point in our writing careers we all contemplate choosing a fictitious name to attach to our writing.
If you’re a new indie author getting ready to publish your manuscript, you may be wondering whether you want to plaster your own name across the title, or take the Mark Twain, S.E. Hinton, or George Orwell route. (Yes, all of those are pen names!)
In this article, we will answer these four questions about pen names:
Why do writers choose pen names?
What makes for a good pen name?
How do you go about choosing your pen name?
What are the potential legal issues you need to know about when it comes to pen names?
Why do some writers choose pen names?
“Whatever may be the success of my stories, I shall be resolute in preserving my incognito, having observed that a nom de plume secures all the advantages without the disagreeables of reputation.” ~ George Eliot
An author’s reason for choosing a pen name will vary, but they tend to fall under four categories:
Using a pen name to maintain anonymity
There’s something to be said for anonymity in writing and the security it can bring.
We live in a world where our lives are brandished across social media for anyone to see. For those authors who still toil away at a day job or are presently job hunting, (potential) employers may frown at your choice of genre or worry that you won’t devote the necessary time and energy to your job. It’s happened!
Or perhaps your significant other works in a conservative industry, and the fact that you spend your days writing about serial killers or intergalactic erotica could have a negative impact on their ability to keep and do their job.
Or you may simply be a very private person and prefer the ability to maintain your privacy through a certain level of anonymity.
Using a pen name as part of a brand strategy
To be a successful author, you need to have a strategy for book marketing—and a big part of that strategy has to do with your brand. Your brand is everything that represents you as an author—your writing style, your genre, your book covers, your website, your social media presence, and more.
For some authors, a good pen name is the crux of their book branding strategy.
In the author world, your brand is based on the stories you write, how you want your readers to perceive you, and how readers identify with you and your work.
Keep in mind that your brand comes with expectations for readers: the expectation that when they buy an Insert Name story, they will get what they’re expecting—whether it’s an edge-of-your-seat suspense thriller, a laugh-out-loud satire, or a swoon-worthy romance.
Creating a brand for your pen name will take work. You’ll need to carefully study your audience and other authors in your genre to see what works well for them. Then you’ll need to add your own unique spin on things to stand out—and the right pen name could help you do just that.
Pen names for different genres
It’s not uncommon for authors to experiment with more than one genre. You might start out writing a horror novel, but later move on to mysteries or sci-fi.
If you’re worried that your genres are so different that you won’t be targeting the same readers, choosing to use a separate pen name for each genre will allow you to differentiate your brands and build a separate audience for each one. This is a strategy used by authors like Stephen King (who writes as Richard Bachman) and Agatha Christie (who wrote romance under the name Mary Westmacott).
Many writers, one pen name
In some cases (more often than you might think) multiple writers working together may choose a shared pen name to publish under. This may be the case for a group of friends or a writers’ group.
Often, this method is used by book publishers or book packagers. What are those?
A book packaging company works on books from start (concept development, story outlines, project assignments) to production (writing, editing, cover design) to publication (marketing and distribution) to create stories that readers simply can’t put down. In some cases, book packagers hire freelance writers who are established authors in a specific genre. These freelancers may be looking to expand their writing into other genres without having to create a new brand.
What makes for a good pen name?
Genre fit. Does the pen name resonate with readers of your genre? A name that fits perfectly for a slow-paced cozy mystery may not have the same effect for a hard-boiled thriller. If you’re gender crossing (a male writing in a female-dominated genre, for example), you might choose a female or non-gendered pen name to avoid unintentional bias.
Research. If you’re already a reader in your chosen genre (as you should be!), then you’ll have an advantage here. Think about the names of some of your favorite authors in the genre you’ll be publishing in.
What tone do they have?
What image do they conjure up in your mind?
Can you create a similar tone and image using your chosen pen name?
Think about the persona behind the name—the person you’re presenting to a reader. It’s okay to have a fictitious bio to add some color, but avoid adding in expertise or experiences you can’t back up. While readers are willing to accept pen names, they tend to draw the line at falsified resumes.
Questions writers should ask if they are considering a pen name
If one or more of the above options sounds like a good fit for your writing, it may be time to start coming up with a pen name.
Some authors choose a pen name similar to their own. Maybe they have a common first name (say, Jennifer, but they go by Jenny), so they might choose to make “Jennifer” their first name and a different last name to hide their identity.
Others may choose their initials. For example, S.E. Hinton, author of The Outsiders, is actually named Susan Eloise Hinton.
Choosing an author name similar to your own does have its advantages. For starters, you will find it easier to respond to email inquiries or questions during in-person events if you have a pen name that sounds similar to what you’re used to hearing.
You may instead choose a name that is very different from your own. A pen name is a good chance to go by that name you wish your parents had chosen, or to simply try out a new identity.
No matter what name you land on, it’s vital that you do your research before you make it official. Here are the questions you should ask:
Is the name already taken? Use Google to check out the name you’re considering to be sure it doesn’t already belong to someone famous. Then do the same on Amazon and Goodreads, checking that the name isn’t the same or too similar to others already out there. Not only are duplicate names difficult for readers, but it could end up making it harder for you to make a name for yourself and untangle your work from similarly named authors.
Are there multiple ways to spell the name? It could become annoying if you constantly must spell out the name to others.
Is the name easy to remember and catchy? You want to make it easy for your readers to recall your name when they’re at the book store.
Is the name associated with any cultural issues? You need to be careful to avoid any racial or cultural insensitivity when selecting your pen name. Avoid names associated with a particular ethnic background or culture, unless you yourself are a member of that group.
Are there legal issues associated with pen names?
Using a pen name is a legal and well-established practice in the publishing world, so generally, a nom de plum isn’t going to cause you any legal problems.
However, for tax purposes and when signing contracts, you will need to use your legal name.
There are also steps you will need to take in order to secure your use of your chosen pen name. If you intend to set up business accounts using that pen name (including banking and possibly even a business name), you will probably need to obtain a legal business name. Check with the appropriate local government agency to find out what you need to do.
Keep in mind that whatever pen name you choose, it will become a part of you and the persona you show to the world. So above all, make sure you like it, because you’re going to see it, a lot.
“Perhaps what’s most remarkable about the nom de plume, and rarely talked about, is its power to unlock creativity—and its capacity to withhold it. Even when its initial adoption is utilitarian, a pen name can assume a life of its own. Many writers have been surprised by the intimate and even disorienting relationships they have formed with their alter egos.” ~Carmela Ciuraru
So, go forth and create. Enjoy the anonymity a pen name affords and expand your creativity with the reassurance that your secret is safe.
This article was written with Harry Wallett, Managing Director of Relay Publishing. Founded in April of 2013, Relay has published a catalog of over 750 books, with a focus on YA fantasy, science fiction, and romance, among other genres. They also offer book publishing and packaging services, helping turn creative concepts into full-fledged novels.
After dreaming about your book for years, you finally sat down and wrote it.
Your plot is everything you wanted, and the story itself is a literary gold mine. But what’s next?
Thirty years ago, there was a simple answer to that question—you sent your manuscript to an agent or publishing company and crossed your fingers.
Today, traditional publishing isn’t the only kid on the block.
Make no mistake, traditional publishing still exists, but if you want to bypass all the waiting—and the lower profit margins if your book is accepted—you can self-publish.
But is self-publishing really everything it’s cracked up to be? Which method of publishing is the best way to get your future best seller into the hands of dedicated readers?
In this post, we’ll walk you through what self-publishing and traditional publishing are, the pros and cons of each, and, ultimately, what the best option is for you.
Both options have strengths and weaknesses. Which will prevail for your book?
What is self-publishing?
Self-publishing is when you (the author) bear the full responsibility and expense of editing, publishing, and marketing your book. Authors who self-publish use programs such as Kindle Direct Publishing or Smashwords to publish their manuscripts and get them out to the public.
Self-publishers don’t have to deal with lengthy querying processes, painful rejection letters, or large commission fees. But they do need to handle all their own marketing, hire editors, book formatters, cover designers, and build their own audience.
What are the pros of self-publishing?
Pro #1: You work according to your own timeline
Instead of waiting weeks, months, or even years for an agent or publishing company to accept your manuscript, self-publishing lets you immediately dive into the editing, publishing, and marketing process.
If you’re very eager to get your story out there, you can design your own cover and get the novel live on the major platforms in a day or less.
Alternatively, you can take your time working with an editor, promoting your book before its release, and finding the perfect designer for your cover. With self-publishing, you get to set your own deadlines, and you can extend them as you see fit.
Pro #2: You guarantee the publication of your book
When you go through traditional publishing, there are no guarantees.
You could submit your manuscript to a hundred different literary agents or publishing houses and still get rejected every time. In the end, traditional publishing could sequester your book instead of putting it in the hands of thousands.
Or…
You can publish the damn thing yourself—and to hell with the naysayers and the gatekeepers. Self-publishing puts your book out there and lets it live or die by its own merit. You don’t need anyone else’s permission to share your story with the world, and if it is successful, you’ll have your pick from the flood of traditional publishers who, upon learning the error of their ways, will break down your door with pens and contracts wet with ink.
Sure, a traditional publisher will help you market your book to a wide audience in ways you couldn’t alone, but publishing directly to Amazon or Barnes and Noble’s e-book marketplaces will still get your novel in front of a lot of eyeballs.
Pro #3: Self-published books can be wildly successful
The Martian, written by Andy Weir, was originally a self-published e-book on Amazon. It went from being a $0.99 e-book to getting picked up by Crown Publishing, becoming a New York Times Best Seller, and earning the honor of being the highest-grossing blockbuster from Fox in 2015.
E.L. James’s 50 Shades of Gray, a notorious and much-loved erotic romance novel, was originally a self-published piece of Twilight fanfiction. Eventually, the author eliminated the Twilight references and made it available on her website chapter by chapter for free. It, too, was found by a publishing company, turned into a New York Times Best Seller, and transformed into a hit movie.
Not sure if self publishing can lead to success? Just as E.L. James and Andy Weir how they’re doing.
And these two books aren’t the only examples: The Shack by William P. Young, Eragon by Christopher Paolini, and No Thanks by E. E. Cummings were all originally self-published before becoming massive successes.
Of course, you might not achieve the same level of success as The Shack or 50 Shades of Gray (especially not on your first try!) but one thing’s for sure: All these authors proved that self-publishing can help you build a faithful audience.
Pro #4: Higher profit margins
When you self-publish, the profits are split two ways—between you and the platform you’re selling on.
Many self-publishers go through Amazon (Kindle Direct Publishing)—in fact, Amazon owns 72 percent of the online retail book market, which includes both digital and printed books. Amazon also generates 80 percent of all online book sales.
Amazon offers book royalties of 35 to 70 percent. For example, if you sold your novel for $10 on Amazon, you’d be earning $3.50 to $7.50 per sale.
When an author goes through a traditional publisher, however, the profit for the book is split between the author, the publishing company, the literary agent, and the platform that sells the book.
Traditional publishing companies typically offer 6 to 25 percent of profit (with an average of 10 percent) earned on the book. You may sell more books, but you’ll likely receive lower revenue on each book sold.
Pro #5: It’s easier than ever before
Though self-publishing is as simple as uploading your book and clicking Publish, it does take more effort than that if you want to be successful.
This is a pro and a con—while it takes hard work to get your book ready for its self-publishing debut, it’s easier than ever to take on this challenge yourself, with help from platforms and agencies whose sole purpose is to ensure self-published books hit professional standards.
What do you need to do to self-publish?
If you’re ready to take publishing your book into your own hands, there are a few things you need to do before you can release your first novel on Amazon:
Book editing
To get your book ready for its debut and ensure it is at professional standards (grammatically correct, free of typos, with a cohesive plot and correct syntax), you will need to hire a book editor. Fortunately, there are many professional editors available for hire online.
But how do you choose which one? We’ve put together a quick guide on how to find a book editor for your novel. (You can also submit your manuscript to us, and we’ll provide you with a free sample edit along with a price quote and estimated turnaround time.)
Kindle Direct Publishing also offers great programs for new authors, such as KDP Select. This service makes your book part of the Kindle Lending Library and Kindle Unlimited, services that help readers discover new authors more easily.
KDP Select even helps with marketing. They promote books through discounts and countdown deals. This service does require ninety days of exclusive rights to Amazon, but if you find success in KDP Select, you can re-enroll your book as many times as you want.
Amazon’s CreateSpace makes physical book publishing stress-free. It is print-on-demand, which means you can sell as many or as few copies as you want.
If you choose to go with a service other than Amazon, there are multiple self-publishing companies available:
Lulu—One of the oldest online self-publishing companies around, Lulu retails books through their own bookstore and distributes them to other online stores (including Amazon) and book distributors (Barnes & Noble and Ingram). Lulu also offers both hardcover and paperback formats for print books.
Smashwords—Similar to Amazon, you can upload your own novel, with your custom-made book cover, right to the Smashwords platform for direct sale.
Barnes & Noble Press—Formerly known as NOOK Press, Barnes & Noble’s self-publishing platform offers print-on-demand publishing. But if you self-publish with them, your work will be restricted to their own e-book devices and physical bookstores.
Book design
Don’t like the templates of covers made by your self-publishing company? Want to hire someone else to make the absolutely perfect cover for your book? There are plenty of online book cover designers to choose from.
One of the top names in book cover designs right now is Damonza. They have been vetted by hundreds of authors, and their gorgeous covers speak for themselves.
If, however, you want to hire a freelancer to design your book cover, here is a great article by TCK Publishing to help you figure out how much you should pay and how to find a freelance book cover designer.
Book Marketing
Once your book is on the platforms of your choice, you’ll need to shift your focus to getting it sold. There are many independent book promoters out there who will help you get your book in front of the right people, but this is another cost you’ll have to cover out of pocket if you’re self-publishing.
You can also do some marketing on your own—virtual book tours, social media, and reader exchange programs are all popular options, but they do take time and effort.
Pro #6: Creative Freedom
Perhaps the most enticing aspect of self-publishing is creative freedom.
You get to decide what is included in your book.
You get to decide what types of edits you make to your novel.
You determine exactly what you want your book to look like.
This kind of creative freedom does not exist when going the traditional route. Your agent or publisher will have demands about how you edit your novel, what the cover looks like, and how you market it, and that can be very difficult for some authors.
What are the cons of self-publishing?
Con #1: You are responsible for everything
Since you are the sole person in charge of producing your book, you will have to spend a lot of time and effort on things you may not find interesting.
To be truly successful, you’ll have to either learn a lot about marketing and design or hire someone else to help you.
For some authors, this is an exciting opportunity to expand their skills while maintaining control over their work. For others, the long list of tasks required to self-publish saps the joy out of the writing experience, and may end up preventing them from ever publishing at all.
Even though your profit margin is higher as a self-publisher, getting your book to professional standards can become expensive quickly.
You will need to make a budget for editing, cover design, and marketing.
If your book is 55,000 words (the standard word count on a teen novel—an average word count for an adult novel is 90,000), you can end up with a budget that looks like this:
Book Cover: $100 to $200
Developmental Editing: $800 – $1,200
Line Editing: $1,500 – $2,000
Proofreading: $600-$800
For marketing, Amazon has a minimum daily budget for Amazon Sponsored Ads of $5.00 per day ($155 a month) even if you do not make any sales.
Of course, you can look for ways to skip or save on some of these services. For example, you may want to find alternative, more affordable ways to market your novel (a virtual book tour) or create a book cover (Canva or Photoshop).
This can help you save on the investment needed to self-publish, but remember that readers want a professionally edited book with a well-designed cover. Cutting costs at the start could impact your sales later.
Con #3: Your audience will be limited
With a traditional publisher, you’ll have immediate access to an audience. Publishers have relationships with book sellers who will stock your novel. With self-publishing, you’ll need to build your own audience.
Most sellers won’t stock physical copies of self-published books, and popular book publications are not likely to promote them, so you will need to create your audience using clever book marketing strategies.
Although this can be challenging, services like KDP Select and Goodreads are available to help you find and connect with readers.
What is traditional publishing?
Traditional publishing means submitting your book to a literary agent or publishing company, who will then bear most of the responsibility for editing, marketing, and distributing your book.
Though traditional publishing comes with a wider audience for your book, you must share the control, rights, and financial profit of the book with the publisher.
It’s also important to note that traditional publishing is extremely competitive, and many authors never receive an acceptance for the manuscript, even after months of waiting.
What are the pros of traditional publishing?
Pro #1: Money up front
Unlike self-publishing, you do not bear the financial responsibility of getting your book to professional standards and producing/distributing your book.
So if you’re tight on cash, getting a traditional publishing deal can be very helpful, as most publishing companies will pay authors an advanced royalty, and your up-front costs of producing the book (editing, marketing, design, and distribution) are all covered by the publishing company.
Note: There are some costs involved in the querying process, as many publishers charge a fee for submission (not to mention printing and mailing costs if they don’t accept electronic submissions).
Pro #2: Production help
Instead of you captaining the production of your book alone, a publishing company will provide a team to assist you. This team helps eliminate some of the early stress of ensuring your book meets professional standards.
They will edit your manuscript multiple times. They will design the best possible aesthetic for your book cover and layout. They will help you publish and market your book (often as an e-book and audiobook), then distribute it to various sellers, which lets you focus on the sole reason you became an author: writing.
Pro #3: Street cred
If the publishing company accepts your manuscript, it’ll put its fancy logo on the spine and title page of your book.
But why does that matter?
The symbol is the golden ticket to being sold at major book sellers. In fact, most well-known book vendors won’t even sell a book unless it is backed by a publishing company.
It also creates brand reliability—it lets your future readers know that this book was good enough to be picked over thousands of others by industry experts.
This doesn’t mean that only the best books get picked up by publishers. Traditional publishing involves a lot of luck—there are plenty of famous authors who were rejected time and time again before finally landing on the right publisher’s desk. Many of the best books out there may still be sitting on their authors’ computers, untouched, because their writers grew tired of reaching out to agents and publishers.
What are the cons of traditional publishing?
Con #1: Lots and lots and lots of waiting
Unlike self-publishing, where you work on your own schedule and at your own pace, traditional publishing leaves you at the mercy of others.
To begin, you will need to wait for a literary agent to agree to take you on as a client. They receive thousands of interested clients annually, so it can take months or even years to be accepted.
Even beloved authors like Louisa May Alcott have gotten rejected by traditional publishers.
You’ll also need to grow a thick skin, as you will almost certainly receive multiple rejections. Before she published Little Women, Louisa May Alcott received a rejection letter from a publisher who stated quite plainly, “You can’t write.” Fortunately, most rejections aren’t as personal as that, but you’ll still need to get used to hearing the words not interested.
If and when your book is accepted by a literary agent, you are looking at about a two-year process before it will hit shelves. You have to wait to receive a contract, agree to it, sign it, deliver your manuscript, work on edits and revisions, and wait on the design team to create a proper cover and layout.
In short, self-publishing is often faster than traditional publishing because the author is in control. But we still recommend taking advantage of having complete control and spending as much time as you need working with editors and book cover designers on making the best edition of your novel possible.
Con #2: Limited creative freedom
Just because you are the author doesn’t mean you get a complete say in what is or is not included in your book.
When you sign your contract with a publishing company, you give them the right to help adjust the contents of your novel. They may tell you to lose a certain subplot, change things about the characters, remove entire sections of the novel, or write in plot twists and turns you hadn’t planned on.
Though you can negotiate with them on some of these changes, it’s not uncommon for publishers or agents to set ultimatums—if you refuse to make a change they request, you could lose your contract entirely.
Con #3: Smaller profit margins
All the wonderful help you received getting your book to a professional standard doesn’t come for free.
Any profit you receive on your book will be split among you, your agent, your publishing company, and the bookseller.
So instead of profit margins of 35 to 70 percent (the standard e-book profit margin through Kindle Direct Publishing on Amazon), you will receive a profit margin somewhere between 6 to 25 percent.
If your book becomes a massive best seller, this may not be a big deal. However, if sales are on the conservative side, you may find yourself pining after that greater royalty share you could get from Amazon or other online platforms.
Should I self-publishing or traditional publish?
So which is better, self-publishing or traditional publishing?
Ultimately, it all depends on what works best for you.
If you enjoy setting your own schedule and having complete control, higher profit margins, and full creative freedom, then self-publishing is probably your best course of action.
If, however, you became an author to write; if you have no interest in things like marketing, design, and publication; if you don’t mind sharing responsibility and creative control, then traditional publishing is the path for you.
You can also choose to do a combination of these two processes. You can start out reaching out to traditional publishers, and if you grow weary of waiting or can’t find the right fit, there’s nothing to stop you from taking the self-publishing route later on.
The book is yours, and so, too, is the decision of how you publish your book.
