Self vs Traditional Publishing: Which *Really* Leads to More Sales + Profit (from a 6-Figure Author)

If you are wondering whether to self-publish or traditionally publish your book — these are the top 5 factors you should consider.

Want to read through some of the facts & figures I reviewed while creating this video?:

◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️

NICE TO MEET YOU!

I'm just getting started on YouTube (so excited to be here!) — but if you're looking for more writing advice and insider tea, check out my videos on:

◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️

WATCH MY FREE MASTERCLASS

The Insider's Guide to Literary Agents: The Top 3 Ways To Stand Out (+ The Top 3 Mistakes To Avoid!):

◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️

FREE RESOURCES

10-Step Guide to Landing an Agent:

Writer Toolkit: (Includes my favorite craft books and links to my Miro outlining template template and an amazing writer Discord community)

Looking for Writing Friends & Critique Partners?:

◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️

HOW TO LAND AN AGENT

Want to learn the exact strategies I used to land 8 agent offers and a 6-figure 2-book deal? Join the waiting list for the second cohort of Query Bootcamp, launching in February 2024!

◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️

LOOKING TO HIRE A DEVELOPMENTAL EDITOR OR BOOK COACH?

Get paired with an industry expert who will help to transform your story and increase your odds of getting a traditional publishing deal. Our editors specialize in all age ranges and genres, from memoir to romance to epic fantasy!

◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️

MORE WRITING TIPS!

[colofthedead]

I spent 10+ years writing an epic fantasy novel, then decided it wasn't unique enough for traditional publishing, so I self-published. It has good reviews on amazon and goodreads. But I have lost money on it, barely recouping the costs for the editing, cover art, paid reviews, and production of the map. The only way to have it sell copies is to sink money into Amazon ads or 'cheap book' mailing lists... and this comes at a loss. I believe the only way to make money via self-publishing is to have a large number of books available (series, smaller romance novels) so people will buy one book and then get the rest. It's not going to work if you just have one big doorstopper.

[eruvandib.]

Thank you so much for this fair and balanced breakdown. Just this week I shared with someone that I have a hope of having my books traditionally published for the reasons you mentioned. I really need a publisher to take the financial risk for me, and I also love the idea of having a team behind me so I'm not having to wear all the hats. (I'm very impressed by people who can do it all themselves, I'm just not that person. :)) The individual I shared my hope with kind of treated me like I don't know what I'm doing and also saying things that I know for fact were misinformation. It hurt for them to act like that, so it was encouraging to watch your positive video and see that there are people out there who do respect both publishing paths and can break down the pros and cons without putting anyone down for preferring one or the other. I'm so glad we have options so that everyone can choose what's best for them and their books!

[BruceWBishop]

Hi Lauren - I listened carefully to your video. Disclaimer: I'm 65, and have been a published freelance journalist for many years. I decided to self-publish my first novel in 2020 mostly because of the uncertainty of the pandemic (no one at the time knew how much it would affect society and the future). I agree with you 100% that it is a ton of work to self-publish a quality book that has to compete with all of the traditionally published ones in your genre. I was fortunate that my debut novel did OK in sales - enough so, that I followed it up with two more in a trilogy. All were self-published and the biggest expense was the book cover designer in each of the three cases. The biggest benefit to me in all this was learning more about how to be a better novelist. I know my work has improved since 2020.

Now I'm almost ready to begin to query literary agents for my fourth book - the first draft of which is almost complete. Then I'll have alpha and beta readers look at it, incorporate their feedback, and then pay for a developmental edit from a professional editor *before* the queries go out the door.

I'm happy to know of your success and I think it's great you're passing on what you've learned in the process. And yes, I did buy an e-copy of your YA book which I look forward to reading. 🙂

[KitchenTableChatsENM]

Lauren! Thank you again for another super informative and thought provoking video. I have been checking for it since you mentioned it was in the editing phase. ☺ For those of us that feel marketing is like getting a root canal, I'm excited for maybe some tips and tricks leading up to trying to get an agent or a book deal. Traditional publishing is super appealing to me for so many of the reasons you mentioned, but allowing them to do the bulk of the marketing is the bling on the ring for me. 😂 Thanks again and take care! -Tatiana

[JanetteGellarRomanceAuthor]

Is that $25, 000 as a trad pub advance a newer number? I've always heard numbers that were A LOT lower than that like 1/3 of what you mentioned.

[danieljulianerickson]

I've spent 40 years trying to get traditionally published and have never received more than a form letter rejection. Self-publishing seems like the only route to me. Please don't say "Don't give up!" on traditional publishing. I mean, 40 years! Shees!

[amber_m_clarke]

Thank you for the encouragement at the end, I totally agree! Don't leave hard work sitting there because agents aren't looking your way.

[pauldaizotti]

I agree with what you say, and its very good advice you are giving i'm only a new author myself i started writing because of a traumatic event happened to me, and to get the anger and hurt i was feeling, my therapist suggested writting and it helped me a lot so my books reflect love and loss i write mainly romance novels and ive had a good response so far but its hard work my book covers on tik tok get around 40, 000 to 60, 000 views, my current book on tik tok has 24, 000 views in 4 days

[JRRobwn]

Marketing is the big one that scares me about self pub.

[jamiepeterson]

I don’t want my IP being under a publisher and don’t want to share profits from books. I also don’t want a literally agent taking their 10 to 20 percent of sales.

[NicholasKeene]

Oh wow, this was great to hear! Do you have recommendations for editors?

[davidmackie]

I like your "David and Goliath" analogy. The entire point of that story is that David should have been slaughtered. Underdogs almost always lose, badly. So, don't purposely put yourself in that position. (Unless you've got a direct line to the Almighty, or unless a large school is paying you to play them for Homecoming.) Put yourself in a winnable position.

[tdd]

This is not controversial. If you ever want a chance at making any money on you book, 99% of authors need to pursue traditional publishing. Authors just need to determine how much control of their IP matters to them.