Traditional publishing vs. self-publishing?

Most of the conversations I have with authors are about whether they should self-publish or try to get a traditional publishing deal. We talk about the advantages of each, how the royalties work, the control over the product, the marketing expectations and a hundred other details. But for some authors, the question is not which to use as much as when and why to do one or the other.

I read a great interview with Michael J. Sullivan, a fantasy novelist, who has been published by one of the Big Six publishers but is choosing to self-publish his next novel. During his interview, he talks about being a "hybrid" author, as in an author who chooses to publish in both ways. Here are three big issues he's dealing with and how he thinks about them:

1. Royalties & Discoverability

Early on I learned the incredible earning potential of self-publishing, but there was still a pretty substantial portion of the book buying public that was left untapped. Libraries and bookstores are still important for discoverability, and while it is changing rapidly, there are still some who would never consider reading a self-published book. I estimated that my readership tripled in the first year after my transition.

That's a huge growth in readership! I love the way he talks about understanding that self-publishing will mean higher royalties per book, but chose to take a publishing deal when it was offered to expand his audience in libraries and large bookstores. Now he's taking that audience with him when he goes back to self-publishing on his next book.

That's savvy.

2. Crowdfunding Options

I was initially concerned that I wouldn’t earn that much, so I placed my goal at $3,000... Well I hit the $3,000 in just 17 hours, and it earned $30,857 in less than thirty days... In this case, the readers have assumed the roles of both “gatekeeper” and “financial backer.”

Awesome. Not only does Sullivan have the savvy to bring his audience with him no matter where he publishes, he knows how to get the word out and create interest in a crowdfunding campaign. He got 10x what he was looking for in his Kickstarter campaign. Great for him, and great for all the readers who will get the book six months before it's technically published. What a reward!

3. Focus on the Readers

I appreciate that when the interviewer asked Sullivan how he decided between self-publishing and traditional, and whether he thought manuscripts rejected by traditional publishers were fit to be self-published, his answer was about the readers and strongly reminding us all that if you can get your words out there, readers will come to it and in some cases even make traditional publishers take another look.

There is only one group of people qualified to make the determination of whether a book is worthy of publication…and that’s the readers... Every major publisher passed on The Riyria Revelations when I first submitted them (before self-publishing).  They have sold more than 250,000 copies between self and traditional and the series is still on Amazon’s bestsellers lists more than a year and a half after its release.  The books didn’t change between the rejections and Orbit’s acceptance, the only difference the second time I submitted, was that the readers had vetted it.

Read more of Sullivan's interview over on Digital Book World.

Image courtesy of finemsequi via flickr