View Single Post
Old 02-18-2014, 02:13 AM   #82
Yapyap
Guru
Yapyap ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Yapyap ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Yapyap ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Yapyap ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Yapyap ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Yapyap ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Yapyap ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Yapyap ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Yapyap ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Yapyap ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Yapyap ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Yapyap's Avatar
 
Posts: 861
Karma: 3543721
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Estonia
Device: Kindle Paperwhite, iPad 3, Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
With the way publishing still works these days, I'd say there are (at least) two different scenarios and what works for one author (or one type of author), won't necessarily work for another.

For an author who has already self-published, and self-published successfully, having their books discovered and selling very well - already earning a six- or seven-figure yearly income, perhaps - sticking with self-publishing is probably a good idea. They have already made it, they have a name, they have a market and followers, they know what they're doing (clearly), and being able to sell relatively cheaply and keep most of the earnings are things very much in favour of continuing to self-publish.

For such authors, I'd say turning down trad-pub offers makes sense - at least unless they have enough clout to negotiate very good terms (and perhaps have a print-only contract).

For a new author with a "stellar manuscript" who has not yet self-published and is offered a, say, seven-figure advance deal from a traditional publisher, I'd still think that is currently a better way to go. For a new author, for that kind of deal, they're going to get some invaluable experience - even if publishers these days don't spend nearly as much effort on editing or marketing for most of the mid-list books, they do make an effort for the hoped-to-be bestsellers (which a seven-figure advance deal would indicate).

The new author would get editing experience, the new author would get more marketing, get their books into physical bookshops and libraries, and also, I rather assume that there's a much better chance of foreign contracts following (for translations).

There's a chance they might have more success if they self-published - but it's a gamble and there will be things they lose out on.

(And yes, I know seven-figure advance deals/offers are rare - but they do happen, and we're talking about hypothetical "stellar manuscripts" here...)

In the future, ten years from now, with that experience under their belt and their name already known - self-publishing may well make more sense for them, too.

I wonder if it might also depend heavily on genre - it seems to me that adult genre (romance, erotica, New Adult, fantasy, mystery/thriller) self-published authors are currently more likely to do very well on their own than some others. For most children's or YA authors, never mind literary fiction writers, going the trad-pub way might be a lot more sensible for now.
Yapyap is offline   Reply With Quote