Last week we took you through five myths about self-publishing, so now it’s only fair we take a look at how the other half lives!
Myth #1: It’s your book; you’re the boss
Your book is your baby. You carried it inside of you for months, and after the long and painful process of bringing it into the world, you might want to be the one to name it.
When you hand off your manuscript to a traditional publisher, it becomes theirs. They have executive power over cover design, layout, and title. Even if you really like the name “Andromeda,” if the publisher believes “Kelly” is more likely to be asked to prom by the New York Times, that’s the name they’re going with and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Of course, the people who name your book are professionals, and there might be a good reason they want to veto your book title.
Myth #2: You made it! Now you can quit your day job
Most first-time authors with a traditional publisher will earn an advance of $1,000-10,000 (future royalties may or may not happen, depending on your sales). On the low end, that’s about enough to pay for the coffee you bought while writing your book.
In the best-case scenario, you’d still be better off behind a counter slinging lattes to struggling authors like yourself. Starbucks even has health insurance.
Bottom line: your book is your baby, not your livestock. Writing, regardless of how you publish, isn’t a career you should be looking at with dollar signs in your eyes.
Myth #3: Your publisher will launch a huge marketing campaign
Most large presses reserve the lion’s share of their marketing budget for the biggest names on their list (which probably will not include first-time authors). Most small presses have little-to-no marketing budget at all. Either way, yes, you’ll get support, but you’re probably not going to get a book tour.
Many traditionally-published authors shell out their own money for advertising, just like self-published authors (except the latter gets more bang for their advertising buck – they can make ten times as much for each book sold). A good mid-list author can expect to sell 10,000 copies, which will probably be enough to earn out their advance and make some royalties on top.
Myth #4: If you get an advance, your book is guaranteed to be published
It’s less of a myth than an assumption: if a publisher has paid for a book, why wouldn’t they actually publish it? But, especially if publishers are doling out a pittance for advances, they may not be too invested in your work. After all, they’re not the ones who spent years writing it.
USA Today bestselling author Dean Wesley Smith claims to have sold seventeen books that never went to print. It happened to Jane Austen, too.
If you do publish traditionally, we recommend you make sure that your contract specifies that the publisher put the book out in within a certain time frame (usually eighteen to twenty-four months). Get those rights back!
Myth #5: Once you publish a book, you can count on it happening again
So your book didn’t sell as well as your publisher wanted it to. But you’re an author, and you’re not going to give up just because your first novel underperformed.
You and your publisher are like family now, and you know they’re just as excited to get back on the horse as you are, right?
Not so much. If your first book doesn’t make a fat stack of Benjamins for your publisher, they probably won’t want your next book. Their friends won’t want your book either. A single dud and you can be unceremoniously booted from that elite club of traditionally-published authors.
This happens to mid-list authors all the time. And while some of them throw away their typewriters, the more ambitious of them turn to our old friend, self-publishing.\
Do you have any other traditional publishing myths to bust? Sound off in the comments!
As I’ve heard from numerous other writers, both fiction and nonfiction, these myths are just what they are–false beliefs. In fact, the best summation I heard was the 90/10 rule–10% of the authors at the Big 5 publishing houses get 90% of the attention. These rest compete for scraps…and the industry wants to know why authors are chomping at the bit to go hybrid or 100% independent!