First, some definitions.
Traditional Publishing
When a writer submits their work for evaluation by a publisher. If the work is deemed sufficiently professional and fits in well with the publisher’s plans for the near future, the publisher will buy various rights to reproduce the writer’s work. (“Buy” means “giving the writer money and a byline.” Any other action on the part of a publisher is called “royally screwing the writer over big time.” Recommended viewing (NSFW but necessary.) The writer may be involved in design-related decisions as negotiated and agreed upon by contract, but all reproduction, editing, programming, printing, distribution, marketing and sales expenses and responsibilities are assumed by the publisher. May be hard copy, online, ebook, audiobook or any other format.
Self-publishing
When a writer reproduces their own work without binding vetting or evaluation by any outside party. All reproduction, editing, programming, printing, distribution, marketing and sales expenses and responsibilities are assumed by the writer. May be hard copy, online, ebook, audiobook or any other format.
I did it again. I tried to talk about pursuing traditional publication in a writing group. As usually happens, instead of talking about my main point (in this case that trad writers should not self-publish any of their work that they hope to eventually sell to traditional publishers because most publishers refuse to have anything to do with reprints, especially with new writers), the conversation veered first into how to do self-publishing (not remotely anywhere near my point) and eventually into the usual proclamations of why no one anywhere should ever pursue traditional publishing because reasons. Self-publishers frequently complain about there being a “stigma” against them, but, in my experience, in any mixed group of writers, it’s the trads who are going to be consistently and continually silenced.
Bad writers who self-publish are not going to succeed any more than bad writers working trad, but they are going to spend a lot more money, time and effort on their failure journey.
At its worst, the intolerance shown trad writers is driven by fearful novices unable to face the reality that there is such a thing as good and bad writing. If they can pretend that all writing is equal, then they never have to face the possibility that their writing might suck. I call this the “self-publishing delusion,” the idea that self-publishing means never being judged, never having to face rejection. Obviously, this is not the case regardless of the type of publishing pursued. Bad writers who self-publish are not going to succeed any more than bad writers working trad, but they are going to spend a lot more money, time and effort on their failure journey.
Everybody may get to play on the self-publishing field, but only a tiny few are eventually able to claw and climb over the mountainous piles of other self-published bodies to eventually stagger toward the goal posts. When working trad, fewer writers may make it on to the playing field, but at least when we do, the goal is a lot more accessible. And, being weeded out ahead of the game saves trad writers a lot of time, effort and cash. Every rejection a trad writer receives, however painful, is a free evaluation of the marketability of our work. (Some rejections even go into specifics!) Selfies not only have to come up with a substantial amount of seed money for their projects, they also have to be great at marketing and promoting discoverability of their wares -- all in addition to actually writing the stuff. And, at no point is that writer ever freed from his or her unreliable opinion of their own work. Even if a self-publisher hires an editor, that editor is being paid by that writer; a conflict of interest will always exist. To continue with our metaphor, a self-publisher has to buy the cleats, the uniform, the bite guard, the helmet and transportation to all the games only to rarely, perhaps never, get to score even a single point.
Let’s look at the rates of return on a writer’s hard work. I have several sales in my history, but the largest and most recent was the sale in 2023 of a single 5,000-word short story to Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine (AHMM). The “rate base” for AHMM, i.e. guaranteed copies produced in all forms for the purposes of setting advertising rates, is 12,000 issues every two months. (AHMM also is ranked 8th on Amazon for Literary, Sci-Fi & Mystery eMagazines.)
The average self-published book sells 250 copies.
90% of self-published books sell fewer than 100 copies.
20% of self-published authors report making no income from their books.
“According to Scribe Media, the average self-published digital only book sells roughly 250 copies in its lifetime. The average traditionally published book sells 3000 copies.” [Neither are big numbers, but you get a lot more value in terms of reputation, visibility and marketing from that 3K of traditional publishing sales. Hint: When gauging author earnings of any kind, look at averages, not median numbers. People selling self-publishing services will quote only worthless “median” figures, which are skewed by the freakishly high earnings of a tiny number of writers. If you think you can “choose” with complete reliability to be the next Andrew Weir, you’re wrong.] https://markdjacobsen.com/2022/05/24/what-i-learned-self-publishing-a-book-one-year-in/#:~:text=According%20to%20Scribe%20Media%2C%20the,These%20are%20not%20large%20numbers.
Bottom line, with just this single sale of one story to a medium-size market, I reached 120 times more readers than 90% of self-publishers do in the entire lifetime of a book. With my single 5,000-word sale, I was paid more than what 90+% of self-publishers earn in a year for full-length works. In addition, that one traditional sale has provided me access to networking events and other opportunities with professional organizations that are not available to the vast majority of self-publishers. (In order to qualify as an “Active” member of the Mystery Writers of America, the self-publisher must have earned at least $2,000 from their work. Not impossible, but extremely rare.)
Of course, some of the reasons that single sale happened are that I’ve been pursuing this career, consistently, for a damn long time, including hundreds of rejections, picking up a BA in English and writing & editing professionally in all sorts of jobs. Would self-publishing be a complete waste of time for someone with a similar skill set? Possibly not, but that writer would be working a lot harder for a lot less, with a lot less time to spend actually writing. So, no, I don’t think self-publishing is worth it (for anyone other than microniche hobby writers and poets). Maybe you do. I’ll make you a deal. I won’t try to talk you out of your choice if you don’t try to talk me out of mine.
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