The Big Damn Writer Advice Column

It’s that time of the week when I answer your anonymous questions about writing and all that stuff connected to it. Every Thursday, I’ll be answering two questions from the Big Damn Writer Question Box.

Q: You have experience with traditional publishing and self-publishing. On balance, which do you prefer, and why? (Personal context for the question: have been published by a Big 5, didn’t have the best experience, trying to figure out whether to keep plugging away at that route or go it alone. But I hope your answer will be useful more generally for people too.)

A: There are pros and cons to both. Being able to release books quickly, and to release multiple books a year, that’s something that self-publishing can offer that Big 5 generally can’t (or, if they can, those multiple release spots are generally held for authors who are guaranteed big sellers). In self-publishing, you have a lot more freedom over content in terms of themes and what elements you want to include. I firmly believe that First Time would never have seen the light of day if I hadn’t self-published it. Other issues include royalties and income; my first contract had a total advance of $18,000, paid out in increments that stretched over three years. My first royalty check came three years after I was initially contracted, and it was something like $15,000. That was 6% of the cover price. I’m not sure what publishing houses are offering now, but I know that I could not write for a living if I made 6% off my current annual salary. Self-publishing, I receive between 40% and 70% of my sales. On the other hand, I have out of pocket expenses for editing, proofing, print galleys, and cover art, so each of my books generally costs between a thousand or two thousand dollars to produce. I also have to pay for my own promotion, and obviously, I don’t have the budget a Big 5 house does. Which can be frustrating when you see someone’s traditionally published book being splashed everywhere and hyped all to hell while you’re out there like, “I have a book coming out next week. I’m begging you to tell your friends.” That happened a few times when I was freelance editing; I would work on someone’s book, it would go to a traditional publisher, they would hit the NYT list and I would be sitting here like, “Oh. My latest has sold twenty-five copies since release week.” It wasn’t a great feeling, but that’s one of the drawbacks of self-publishing. I know writers who’ve spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to promo their books to great success, but that’s not practical for most people.

Don’t rule out the option of hybrid publishing. If you can produce one or two books through a publisher (even a small press) while self-publishing other books, you’ll probably see your audience grow faster and you’ll get the benefits of both traditionally publishing and self-publishing.

 

Bonus Question: Do you have any tips for writing POC? The last thing I want to do is fall into the trap of using overgeneralized tropes.

My advice here would be to seek out resources on this topic that were written by marginalized people. They’re going to have better advice.

 

Wanna see your questions get answered (or just wanna air a grievance?) Put it in the box!