Traditional publishing: what are you sacrificing?
Every writer dreams of writing the Great American novel. Having it perfectly edited (quickly edited) and have an agent fall madly in love with it and in turn the traditional publishing company pick it up. You are elated when they send you huge advance for your great American novel which ends up on the New York Times bestsellers lists.
No matter what you say. As a writer these are the things that you want. You can say you just write because it is a passion of yours. You can say that you write for the readers, but deep down, that is not why you writ. You want the same dream that all writers write for. As writers, we are professionals. Writing is our job and it’s only human that as a professional you want to move up the professional ladder or be at the top of your professional game. I mean what professional wouldn’t want to be the CEO even though they are just a lowly mail boy now. Writers are no exception.
Yet to accomplish this… what do you have to sacrifice?
I listened to an author at a conference recently. She said that her first attempt at publishing with the traditional publishing company ended with a book she wasn’t very passionate about. First, they requested a title change. As a writer that’s hard. You have someone tell you that the title you thought so long and hard about using that you fall in love with it needs to be changed. Let’s say that you are willing to let that slide as long as the content is not touched. Well, that is not true. There have been instances where content has been changed to please the publishing company.
Let’s say you can suck that up trusting that they are just trying to make your book better. Then they do the unspeakable.
They made her change her name. If that was me, that would be the last straw. For this writer , it was the last straw.
When she wrote her second novel she took her chances with a smaller company where she produced a piece that she was proud of.
There are advantages to self-publishing and traditional publishing. Traditional publishing companies can get you money right away through advances. They can also put your book in the hands of some of the best editors. They have the finances to market your book beyond your wildest dreams. This sounds great. Getting paid for someone to do the hard part for you marketing and selling your book.
What writer wouldn’t want to choose that over the hard work it takes to sell and market your own book.
But yet is it worth sacrificing even just a little? As an author your book is your baby would you put your baby in the hands of a stranger that wants to change its name and then on top of that make you change your name? When you get that baby back it may not look like the same baby you did when you handed it over. You have to decide what works best for you
This is your story and only you can make that decision. Remember there are plenty of authors who are happy with traditional publishing companies who have done right by them and has helped to produce novels books that the author proud of.
But as with everything, they are advantages and disadvantages and you must ask yourself.
What are you willing to sacrifice?
Traditional publishing: what are you sacrificing?
Every writer dreams of writing the Great American novel. Having it perfectly edited (quickly edited) and have an agent fall madly in love with it and in turn the traditional publishing company pick it up. You are elated when they send you huge advance for your great American novel which ends up on the New York Times bestsellers lists.
No matter what you say. As a writer these are the things that you want. You can say you just write because it is a passion of yours. You can say that you write for the readers, but deep down, that is not why you writ. You want the same dream that all writers write for. As writers, we are professionals. Writing is our job and it’s only human that as a professional you want to move up the professional ladder or be at the top of your professional game. I mean what professional wouldn’t want to be the CEO even though they are just a lowly mail boy now. Writers are no exception.
Yet to accomplish this… what do you have to sacrifice?
I listened to an author at a conference recently. She said that her first attempt at publishing with the traditional publishing company ended with a book she wasn’t very passionate about. First, they requested a title change. As a writer that’s hard. You have someone tell you that the title you thought so long and hard about using that you fall in love with it needs to be changed. Let’s say that you are willing to let that slide as long as the content is not touched. Well, that is not true. There have been instances where content has been changed to please the publishing company.
Let’s say you can suck that up trusting that they are just trying to make your book better. Then they do the unspeakable.
They made her change her name. If that was me, that would be the last straw. For this writer , it was the last straw.
When she wrote her second novel she took her chances with a smaller company where she produced a piece that she was proud of.
There are advantages to self-publishing and traditional publishing. Traditional publishing companies can get you money right away through advances. They can also put your book in the hands of some of the best editors. They have the finances to market your book beyond your wildest dreams. This sounds great. Getting paid for someone to do the hard part for you marketing and selling your book.
What writer wouldn’t want to choose that over the hard work it takes to sell and market your own book.
But yet is it worth sacrificing even just a little? As an author your book is your baby would you put your baby in the hands of a stranger that wants to change its name and then on top of that make you change your name? When you get that baby back it may not look like the same baby you did when you handed it over. You have to decide what works best for you
This is your story and only you can make that decision. Remember there are plenty of authors who are happy with traditional publishing companies who have done right by them and has helped to produce novels books that the author proud of.
But as with everything, they are advantages and disadvantages and you must ask yourself.
What are you willing to sacrifice?