How To Publish A book: Self-publishing VS. Traditional Publishing

Aspiring writers who seek to get the voice in literary industry have their own distinctive goals and guidelines to follow along the way.  Most importantly, they all first need to have a craft well done and be published before they can pursue their paths towards becoming successful authors.

Your next concern will be as to how and where are you going to start. You’ve got 2 options before you can be called an author: either you will start securing a contract from an established publishing house and do the traditional publishing; or you can work with a self-publishing company to get your book published.

Whichever way you feel comfortable in pursuing; still, there is always a need for you to know the basics on how to self-publish your book and how to publish it the traditional way. So here is the overview of both.



TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING

You’ve got the book and now you’re ready to have it published. Consider these basics steps on how you can do the traditional way of establishing yourself as an author in the market.

• Identify the right category for your book

Classifying the right category for your book helps you decide whether which company or publisher you would like to send your book proposal to. In an instance that you want your non-fiction book be published traditionally, you will need to submit a book proposal along with sample chapters of your book to publishers which deal the specific genre of your book. Also, you need to include the description of your book and your potential readers. In cases of fiction books, it is a must that you complete first your manuscript before contacting any publishers and send them a query letter stating your high interest to get your book published.

• Secure a contract

Granting that you have found an agent who can help you publish your book or the right publisher of your book, you should next consider acquiring a contract with them. But of course, it only happens when they accept the book proposal you sent them. After all, publishers have the full discretion whether to accept or reject your proposal. If your book is lucky enough to be considered for publishing, they will send you a contract.

• The publisher prints, publish, and sell your books

Acquiring a contract from a publishing company is a great payoff to all your hard work in traditional publishing. Once you can secure one, the publisher will start printing your manuscript and publish it. The publishing company will also take in-charge of marketing and selling your work to different bookstores, distribution, and warehousing for your book. Traditional publishers also help an author promote his books for 3 months before an author has to do book promotions by his own.

SELF-PUBLISHING

• Complete your book

Well, of course you need to have your manuscript complete as the foundation of your journey towards self-publishing. Having your work complete means that from the cover, text, design, and formatting– you should see to it that you have all what you think it needs to be ready. In self-publishing, you are responsible for your every action. You need to make sure you have edited your work a couple times before moving forward. You might need the help of professionals for fees. These include professional editors and self-publishing companies offering essential services.

• Print your book

When your book is ready, you can start printing your work or contact a self-publishing company to do it for you. You shoulder the expenses in printing. Some publishing companies have different service levels in publishing your work such as black and white and colored. Of course, their prices differ based on the quality.

• Market your book

In self-publishing, you have all the control on what kind of promotional materials you can apply for your book. When it’s already published, your next step is to market your book so that you can start gaining the profits from your endeavor. You can start from simple platforms to market your book such as community forums and exhibits where you get the chance to talk about yourself and your work. You can also take advantage of any book marketing services offered by different self-publishing companies.

Whether your option is the traditional way or self-publishing, there is a common responsibility addressed to authors in both ways—promoting your book. Either way, you take the responsibility of kicking some promotional effort to get sales. Traditional publishers do offer help any author promote his/her book such as sending your book to reviewers and securing some media ads for you in a specific span of time. In self-publishing, you get all the control of time, money, and effort to promote your book. The span of time of your book exposure online is also not limited.

At the end of the day, it is still your choice as to what way you think that best fits the kind of book you have. Take your steps as early as now and get published.