Is Traditional or Self-Publishing Right For You?

Photo by Pixabay

I frequently get asked about the best way to get a book published. Following is a quick guide to the practicalities of the sometimes confusing current world of book publishing, based on decades of experience helping dozens of clients navigate that world.

The good news today is that you, the would-be author, have choices that haven’t existed in quite as rich a way in the past. The bad news is that, if you want to publish through a traditional press, the journey is harder than ever.

Traditional publishing is difficult for the first-time author. Let’s say your dream is to get published in the old-fashioned way by one of the big-name publishers. At the moment, there are five big publishing houses left: Penguin/Random House, Hachette Book Group, Harper Collins, Simon and Schuster, and Macmillan. There may be four in a year or so: Penguin is attempting to acquire Simon and Schuster, but for now the deal is blocked for anti-trust concerns.

To approach one of these big five publishers, you need to have a literary agent advocating for you. To get a literary agent on your team, you need to pitch them with an idea for a book, and a plan for selling it, that are sufficiently compelling to persuade them to take your book project on. Both of these hurdles are difficult leaps for first-time authors, since both agents and…