Self-publishing vs. traditional publishing

I'm new to this forum, so this may seem like a basic question. I just finished the first draft of my first book. It's a 100,000 word action thriller and I'm trying to figure out if it is worth going the traditional route of finding an agent and then a publisher, or should I just self-publish. Based on what I have read, it seems finding an agent can be emotionally draining. Does the traditional route still provide a significant benefit? I would appreciate any advice. Thanks

1/24/2013

Teniffog...

Six years ago I signed several contracts to have

four different books published, In the end I realized even though

they we're published for "FREE," I had to promote them. As for

self publishers you have to pay them to get published. Now you

yourself can be a publisher, I have and I have several books on

lulu.com , I did print books and E Books ( E Books are very popular

right now.) I did E books on Kindle, Nook ( Barnes & Nobel ) and on

Smashwords I've done very well lately on the E books, On LuLu you

can do both, I did it , I figured you can get both types of customers.

Check them all out....There's also a great E book creator called :

Calibre E Book Maker, it works great and simple to use.

Cheers..Joe...

Thanks for the suggestions. I will research those.

One advantage of seeking an agent and publisher is that it provides a perspective as to whether your book is sellable. We all think our books are great and so do many reviewers, yet when we set out to promote them the sales are not as expected. Publishing your own book may also set you up for disappointment when the sales don't roll in no matter how gregarious you are in promotion.

Quote :

One advantage of seeking an agent and publisher is that it provides a perspective as to whether your book is sellable.

That's always been my view. I use responses from publishers and agents as a litmus test of my project's commerical viability. I generally defer to them. If they think it won't sell, then I drop it.

I say generally because not always. My current project with Wiley was rejected by another large publisher. He wrote me a two-page letter telling me why my project was a bad idea. I thought his reasoning and rationale was poorly thought out and continued to query it. That same person turned down my first textbook 7 years ago, a text Cengage published and is now a standard in the program it's targeted to.

So, publishers and agents aren't always right, either. But they probably are most of the time.

alj wrote:

LC wrote:

Quote :

One advantage of seeking an agent and publisher is that it provides a perspective as to whether your book is sellable.

That's always been my view. I use responses from publishers and agents as a litmus test of my project's commerical viability. I generally defer to them. If they think it won't sell, then I drop it.

I say generally because not always. My current project with Wiley was rejected by another large publisher. He wrote me a two-page letter telling me why my project was a bad idea. I thought his reasoning and rationale was poorly thought out and continued to query it. That same person turned down my first textbook 7 years ago, a text Cengage published and is now a standard in the program it's targeted to.

So, publishers and agents aren't always right, either. But they probably are most of the time.

A sound approach. Know what the experts are saying, and consider it thoughtfully. In the end, reserve the right to make up your own mind.

Quote :

A sound approach. Know what the experts are
saying, and consider it thoughtfully. In the end, reserve the right to
make up your own mind.

I'm hoping this book will become a standard in its field, after which I'll mail him a copy of the sales report with his rejection letter. lol (vindictive much?)

Before people put fingers to keyboards they need to write out their aims and plans to get there. Then go do some research to see if it's feasible.

Writing is easy, writing well hard, selling it harder and making a living from writing is at the very top of the list.

IMO online is the present and future, you don't need publishers to tell you if it's good, assuming they can find the time to look and reply. I know the publishers I sold to didn't get to open most of the work sent in by strangers and that's what you are until they know you.

Self publishing online can work very well, if you can self promote. If you can't, it's something you need to learn. This is how easy it is to get people to see your work online. Buy good traffic, that's people clicking on an advert. See the right hand panel. The catch is having something the people will buy. It's easy to get 100,000 people to see your wares. Having something 100 will buy is the hard part.

This is what many don't realise when publishing.

lulu.com Go to the books section, see some of the books, click on the cover and ask yourself. Why should I buy this?

Unless the writer does the promotion, the chances of getting bought are slim.