My experiences in traditional publishing vs. self publishing: which is better?

With the timing of your cats jumping up, I have now decided that they are called Bloomsbury and Hyperion

When I took writing in high school, my teacher got upset that all of my stories ended with cliff hangers. She loved what I wrote and wanted to know how they ended. She finally asked me why they all ended that way. "Because I wrote it this morning and ran out of time before I had to come to class." She wasn't sure if I was kidding or not. I wasn't. 😅

One benefit of traditional publishing that may be worth mentioning is the possibility of translation rights sales to foreign markets. That is something publishers and agents are well set up to do, but it is a lot more difficult for indie authors. Of course most traditionally published books do not get translated to other languages, so it it is far from a certain thing, but at least the possibility is there. And if you are not writing in English and want to reach a world wide audience, this might be the only way to do it.

I made friends in indie publishing years ago. Some people I've known for going on 20 years. I don't think it would be as easy now, but that's because everyone seems so scattered. They all used to blog and be on Facebook and carry on long, complex conversations in comment sections.

I've been very fortunate to have a group of writer friends from all over the world. We help each other with our stories and just chat about books and writing, friends really do help in the creative process for me

Thank you for another excellent video. I self-published my first book and have done better than I had hoped, although VERY FAR from sports car money, LOL. It was also a huge amount of work, which I continue to market. I am now finished edits to my Manuscript and hopeful to get an agent and publisher... a star-struck dream since adolescence, but I am probably dreaming. If the agent thing doesn't work out in a reasonable amount of time, I will self-publish again. I have learned a TON about marketing my book, but my dream of being a "REAL" published author persists. So thanks for the clear-eyed comparison.

Great video 😊 As an indie author from Scandinavia who writes in English, I really feel the struggle of connecting with other writers. It's hard when we all work from our own caves/homes 😆

Words written per hour vary depending on the project. Shiny new fanfiction idea? 1-2k words per hour. Even faster if it's a spicy scene. Boring article I've been paid to write and need to friggin get out? 0-1 words per hour. (mostly kidding but also kinda not)

This is interesting. I have always wanted to be traditionally published but I've fallen in love with writing Choose Your Own Adventure styled stories which I don't believe would be picked up these days for traditionally publishing.

Regarding the speed of writing: I learnt that Paul Auster was writing only half a page most days. He said that he writes because it’s the most difficult thing he could imagine.

Do you plan on making a video on what your editing process is for your self published books? I’m very curious about that.

I enjoy your honest, calm way of talking about things. You’re on the point, you don’t do a lot of flashy self promotion in your videos; I thank you very much for your insight. ❤ I queried a book two years ago and (expectable) nobody wanted it. I need to keep going on polishing it, for sure, but I still want to give traditional publishing a try - mainly because I don’t do social media and I haven’t got a clue about marketing. Besides, editors and cover designers are quite expensive if you have to pay for them yourself. But I also would be happy if there are just three people out there who read and love my books - and if no agent/trad publisher is interested, I will never find out - so maybe selfpublishing is the final step.

So fascinating to hear your experience with both sides! Would love to see a video on how to set up a pen name and link that to amazon etc for self publishing :)

I think the advance they give you is how much you should trust their word. If they only give you $5,000 but promise the entire world’s gonna read it, well then they’re lying. If they give you $150,000 of an advance, they NEED to sell your book just as much as you do and will definitely market your book to the best of their ability.

I struggle with social media. I get so distracted by it and I overthink it a lot. I get so shy to strike up conversations because I feel like I’m bothering people. I’ve always been able to push past my initial shyness in person because once you jump into a convo, typically I’ll get more used to chatting. But on social media it can feel to much like speaking out into a crowded room. Sure, a lot of folks might hear you but they all feel like you weren’t speaking to them directly, so no response in needed. I know because I am guilty on both sides! I miss having community. I am need of friends that share my interests and have passion for the same things.

Thank you for all the helpful information!!!

THE LIVEJOURNAL DAYS. 😭

Another insightful video - thank you! I decided to become a writer when I first heard of self-publishing, back in 2012-13? Something like that. Traditional publishing was never an option for me, I find that time and energy needed to query would be better spent building my mailing list, marketing, or even writing the next book. I'm yet to test this theory, though 😅 small children and full time job didn't mesh well with being a writer 😄

Creative control is plenty enough reason to want to be self-pub. If you write something that blows up on Amazon, they'll call.

by marketing, did you mean : My arch nemesis?