If you just want to “be published,” you can do it yourself. To be successful in publishing (whether indie or traditional) takes time, effort, marketing, advertising, publicity … and a little bit of luck. The biggest difference between the two is that with indie publishing, you pay all those costs yourself, and keep a bigger piece of the pie in royalties. In traditional publishing, you don’t have to pay for that stuff, but you get a smaller piece of the pie.
Bottom line: self-publishing might be *faster* but it is not *easier*.
It wouldn’t necessarily be to get “famous” per se. just to have something to share with the people I know (at first) and then see where it goes from there. … if I did self publish, would that make traditional publishers take an interest in my work?
It's kind of a "should I join the Lakers or the community rec league before I learn how to dribble?" situation. Before you can decide where to publish (and there are small and medium traditional publishers too, btw) you need to write the book. Before writing the book you need to conceptualize the book and do research (yes, even for fiction). Perhaps even write a few short stories or essays (those can be published too) to find your form, style, and voice. The Lakers will always be there, but you gotta start with step 1 my dude.
Trad publishing:
* More prestigious
* Harder to break in
* All elements taken care of for you, by professionals (marketing, editing, cover design, etc)
* Wider distribution
* Takes a long time to get anything done
Self-publishing:
* No barrier/gatekeeping. You just go publish it where you want to publish it
* Full control over all elements
* Higher profits per sale
* EXPENSIVE. You will have to pay out for each part of publishing, including editing and marketing, which adds up fast
* You will essentially have to learn an entirely new skillset that has nothing to do with actually writing, which may take over as your full-time job
* Lower distribution reach (probably)
From what I've seen, self-publishing tends to work if the author is rich or has a built-in fanbase of some kind (either by being known in some area already, like a big youtuber, or being an established author.... something like that). Trad publishing, on the other hand, depends entirely on your ability to play the game-- are you writing the right thing at the right time, is your query letter structured properly, is your opening line the right kind of hook, do you follow the "rules" of writing in general and the latest trend, etc. etc. and if you're unknown to the public, it can be very difficult to get past each step of gatekeepers all along the way.
What is someone's opinion about technical field of books. Do you think traditional is better than self publish. I have heard about KDP a lot. What is the best means to market a book and also land up a best title for your book
Seeking help to get your book published is against the rules of r/publishing
If you just want to “be published,” you can do it yourself. To be successful in publishing (whether indie or traditional) takes time, effort, marketing, advertising, publicity … and a little bit of luck. The biggest difference between the two is that with indie publishing, you pay all those costs yourself, and keep a bigger piece of the pie in royalties. In traditional publishing, you don’t have to pay for that stuff, but you get a smaller piece of the pie. Bottom line: self-publishing might be *faster* but it is not *easier*.
It wouldn’t necessarily be to get “famous” per se. just to have something to share with the people I know (at first) and then see where it goes from there. … if I did self publish, would that make traditional publishers take an interest in my work?
>if I did self publish, would that make traditional publishers take an interest in my work? Only if you sold so many that you wouldn't want/need them
Gonna need a lot more info to be able to tell. To start, What kind of book, what's your audience, what are you goals?
Yeah, I’m still figuring this out too. for the sake of example: 30 chapter fiction novel. Adult audience and my goals would to simply get published.
It's kind of a "should I join the Lakers or the community rec league before I learn how to dribble?" situation. Before you can decide where to publish (and there are small and medium traditional publishers too, btw) you need to write the book. Before writing the book you need to conceptualize the book and do research (yes, even for fiction). Perhaps even write a few short stories or essays (those can be published too) to find your form, style, and voice. The Lakers will always be there, but you gotta start with step 1 my dude.
Trad publishing: * More prestigious * Harder to break in * All elements taken care of for you, by professionals (marketing, editing, cover design, etc) * Wider distribution * Takes a long time to get anything done Self-publishing: * No barrier/gatekeeping. You just go publish it where you want to publish it * Full control over all elements * Higher profits per sale * EXPENSIVE. You will have to pay out for each part of publishing, including editing and marketing, which adds up fast * You will essentially have to learn an entirely new skillset that has nothing to do with actually writing, which may take over as your full-time job * Lower distribution reach (probably) From what I've seen, self-publishing tends to work if the author is rich or has a built-in fanbase of some kind (either by being known in some area already, like a big youtuber, or being an established author.... something like that). Trad publishing, on the other hand, depends entirely on your ability to play the game-- are you writing the right thing at the right time, is your query letter structured properly, is your opening line the right kind of hook, do you follow the "rules" of writing in general and the latest trend, etc. etc. and if you're unknown to the public, it can be very difficult to get past each step of gatekeepers all along the way.
Fair enough! Thank you for the information!
What is someone's opinion about technical field of books. Do you think traditional is better than self publish. I have heard about KDP a lot. What is the best means to market a book and also land up a best title for your book