So you’ve written a novel. You’ve poured months of your time and a piece of your soul into 70,000 or so words of fiction. Now what? How do you go from here to holding your published book in your hands? This site aims to explain each of the different paths to publication to help you decide which is right for you and to create an action plan to get you started.

Please note that this information is specific to novel-length fiction and that the publishing process has variations for short stories, non-fiction, or picture books.

Video Transcript

So you’ve written a novel, and you’re dying to see it published and out in the world. How does this process work? Where do you start? Who else is involved? Hi, I’m Tara Waddell, and I’m going to give you a quick rundown on several paths to getting your book published.

At the highest level, we have two black-and-white options and a gray area in the middle. First is Traditional Publishing. This means a publishing house pays you for the rights to publish your novel. Authors commonly receive an advance payment when the contract is signed and ongoing royalty payments, which are a percentage of the sales of your book as long as it’s in print.

You need a literary agent to submit your work to the publishing house so the first thing you need to do is write a query letter, which describes your book. You’ll submit this to agents looking for representation. Think of it like a cover letter for your book. Once you’ve signed with an agent, they will submit your book to appropriate editors at publishers. If a publisher extends an offer you like, then you officially have a book deal and after editing, formatting, and promotion, you’re book will be published.

With Traditional publishing you get the benefit of your publisher’s expertise in editing, design, and marketing to contribute to the success of your novel. You get a smaller portion of the revenue and have less creative control over things like the title and cover design, Large publishing houses also do not market all their titles equally, and the author has no say in pricing or sales. However, this is the route most likely to see your book distributed nationwide at bookstores, and there’s a certain clout and credibility that comes with signing with an established publisher.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, we have self-publishing, where the author pays to have their book published. The author controls everything to do with their book. It’s up to them if they want to contract out any elements such as editing, proofreading, or design. And once the book is published, they are responsible for all of the marketing.

The author gets a larger portion of sales revenues, but the books are not distributed as widely. They will not be distributed nationwide in bookstores, but will be available in some bookstores, usually local to the author, as well as online, where many people do their book shopping. Most self-published books are published as ebooks, though many authors use print-on-demand services to make physical copies of their books available to readers.

Due to the fact that anyone can self-publish at any stage of their work and that thousands of books are being self-published every day, (1.68 million in the US in 2018 alone), there is a reputation of poor quality in the writing and editing among self-published books. Also, some genres self-published books perform/are more successful than others./ Some genres, such as romance, have very successful self-publishing potential while others, such as Young Adult see more success among traditionally published titles. There are occasional self-publishing breakouts that go on to sign larger deals with traditional publishers, such as Andy Weir’s The Martian or Hugh Howey’s Wool, but this is far from the norm.

In the middle of this we have Small Presses and Hybrid Publishing. I’ve grouped these together because with both of these categories, the value and support to the author from their publisher varies widely. Small Presses are run as all traditional publishing houses are, with the author being paid to have their work published and a staff of editors, proofreaders, designers, and typesetters to support them. They are able to offer similar functions as a larger press with a more personalized touch. However this is offset by smaller budgets. Not only does this mean less to spend on marketing, with authors filling in the gap with self-promotion, but also not selling into larger accounts, which means you won’t see your book on a Barnes & Nobel shelf or otherwise distributed nationwide.

Hybrid Publishing is a type of small press that offers more control to the author. The author can pay for editing or design services in exchange for higher royalties. It’s meant to offer the same author control as self-publishing while supporting authors with services to help them be successful.

With both of these options, the support and value from the publisher varies greatly, and it’s important to do your research.

One note here. You should avoid vanity presses, where the author pays to have their book published, as these companies make their money from the authors, not the consumers, and are not in author’s best interests. They are often seen as preying on authors desperate to see their book published. 

Now you have a basic understanding of the different paths to publication. Whichever you choose, good luck on your writing journey.

Overview of Each Path & Comparison

Video Transcript