For
those of you have not read my previous blog you probably should have. Anyway in
this article I will feature the Writing and Publishing industry
The
World of Writing and Publishing, Have you ever opened up a 300 page book and
wonder, how did the Author write this? Well let me tell you it is no easy task,
even writing a 50 or 100 Page book is quite a challenge.
Writing vs
Publishing
So
what is Writing and What is Publishing? Aren’t they the same thing? Well not
quite. Writing is the artistic practice of putting one’s thoughts down on
paper. As a writer you try to craft a message or a story to tell others. This
can be done in various forms through a letter, story, memo, article, blog post,
a poem, or even a song.
Publishing
is the end product or writing, publishing is the business process in which your
writing is deemed marketable and is made available to a wider audience with a
certain share of the proceeds made available to you. In short it’s when your
writing is good enough that people have to pay for it.
Traditional
Publishing vs Self-Publishing
So you have finally made a decision to
publish your work. How do you go about it? Well previously there was only one
route via a traditional publisher. But now thanks to the internet all that has
changed. There is also the option to self-publish and become an indie author
(name for self-published authors).
Should I use a Traditional
Publisher or Should I use self-publish? Here are the main differences to help
you decide
Self-Publishing Process:
·
You can publish at any
time
·
You pay for cover
design (& choose it)
·
You pay for editing
·
You pay for formatting
·
You upload and publish
yourself
·
You get full
royalties: 60% on Amazon for print books
·
You keep all rights to
your book
·
You can update or
republish at any time
·
You can publish as
many books as you want, as quickly as you want
·
You can write and
publish a book in as little as 90 days
Traditional Publishing Process:
·
Need to query an agent
·
Agent has to accept
representing you
·
Agent has to sell your
book
·
You get an upfront
advance (typically under $10,000 for first time authors)
·
Your advance often has
to be “paid back” with book sales the equate it before you earn new income
·
You rewrite, write, or
edit your book
·
The publishing house
has the book rights
·
They create the cover
·
They professionally
edit it
·
They format it in all
version
·
They publish it
·
You get between 10% –
12.5% royalties
So you see the biggest
differences between self-publishing vs traditional publishing are the time it
takes to publish, creative control, and the royalty rate you’re paid per book. So
Hence, it may be worth your time and energy considering the Self-Publishing
industry. Now here are the major companies that offer this services
|
Company |
Purpose |
Purpose |
Benefits |
|
Amazon's KDP |
Retailer |
Upload and sell your book on Amazon's platform, Kindle Direct
Publishing |
Robust platform that dominates the U.S. self-publishing space |
|
Barnes & Noble Press |
Retailer |
Publish your book on Barnes and Nobles online and physical
bookstore locations |
Exclusive retailer that has competitive royalty rates and a
convenient POD service |
|
Kobo |
Retailer |
Upload and sell your books on an international platform |
Powerful for selling books internationally. Open platform that
supports the most popular formats |
|
Apple Books |
Retailer |
Make your book available on Apple's platform |
Specific self-publishing platform for Mac users |
|
Self-Publishing School |
Educator |
Learn a proven framework to successfully navigate the
publishing process |
Comprehensive courses that teach authors how to build a book
business and includes personalized coaching |
|
Reedsy |
Author Services |
Find quality freelancers to provide book publishing services
like editing, cover design, formatting, and more. |
One-stop outsourcing with comprehensive learning resources and
tools |
|
Lulu |
A mix |
Mainly providing author services, Lulu can also distribute
books and has its own online bookstore |
Easy, convenient process for hands-off publishing, but costly |
|
IngramSpark |
Aggregator |
Book distribution and high quality print on demand services |
A huge distribution network with over 39000 retailers and
libraries. |
|
PublishDrive |
Aggregator |
Book distribution that reaches international markets |
Monthly subscription option as opposed to royalty rate per
book sold |
|
Draft2Digital |
Aggregator |
Book distribution that handles formatting |
Delivers to Amazon, and provides access to International Book
Links |
|
SmashWords |
Aggregator |
One of the original book distributors that is now the worlds
largest eBook distributor |
Ideal for getting your book into bigger markets |
|
StreetLib |
Aggregator |
Italian-based distributor with a strong European presence |
Dashboard is configured in multiple languages, and is
constantly growing |
Conclusion
So
if you are keen on publishing your very own book and are keen to know more
about being a creativpreneur, keep following this blog for more information. For
me personally I prefer Amazon KDP and self-publishing school which I used in my
author journey. What self-publishing platform works best for you? please in let
us know in the comments below. And please check the links below for more
information
Links:
https://selfpublishing.com/self-publishing-companies/
https://findyourvoice.com/the-difference-between-writing-and-publishing/
https://self-publishingschool.com/self-publishing-vs-traditional-publishing/
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