Let’s get something out of the way first.

Self-publishing is not a consolation prize or compromise for those who couldn’t “make it” in traditional publishing.

Both readers and traditionally published authors assume that self-publishing is for writers who aren’t good enough. They insist that selfpub authors are poseurs who were rejected by every literary agent so they gave up.

For many writers, that is true. They did not do their million practice words, thoroughly proof their work, or learn their craft. They wanted instant results.

These are often one-book wonders. They don’t have the stamina necessary to keep going through lackluster sales periods, aggressive reviews, or simple burnout from minimal validation.

We will leave those authors to the side and discuss those who are certain they want to embark on a long publishing journey. How do you choose the right path for you?

I’m a self-published author, but I have nothing against those who pursue tradpub. There are benefits to that route, too. Let’s discuss.

Traditional Publishing

Tradpub authors have certain qualities, personality traits, and needs that may not align with self-publishing. What are those?

Writing to market.

Publishers want books they know can fly off the shelves. They are risk-averse and refuse to waste time on experimental fiction. You may be able to get away with it later in your career, but at the outset, you usually have to play it safe.

This requires a strong understanding of your market and niche. Not only do you need to get a literary agent interested with particular keywords, but you must ensure your first five pages immediately grab the reader. There’s no time for slow, meandering works (like the ones I make) or unusual structures.

Authors who don’t give a shit about trends will not succeed in traditional publishing unless they get really, really lucky. And that typically requires some connections to the literary world before querying. A weird cold query isn’t going to succeed.

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Need for external structure and motivation.

As I discussed in my post about intrinsic motivation, extrinsically motivated people do well in traditional publishing. This model has multiple layers of built-in feedback and demonstrable benchmarks to hit.

Being accepted by an agent is like winning the jackpot: immediate evidence that you’re doing a good job. Some literary agents will work with promising authors to get their projects up to standard before shopping for publishers, but this isn’t guaranteed.

After that, you have support from publishers, editors, and marketers. For many people, having so many cooks is comforting, as each assures you that your project can reach a wider audience. For others (including me), that sounds like torture.

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Willingness to compromise.

Getting a book in readers’ hands the traditional way requires a lot of compromises. Literary agents may request a full rehaul before offering representation, while editors will nitpick every word. You don’t get to pick your cover artist, though you might have input in this. You also don’t get to decide exactly how and to whom your book is marketed.

Those willing to give up some creative freedom in service of the ultimate goal can withstand this kind of pressure.

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Patience and self-confidence.

This is not to say that self-published authors cannot be confident and patient; I wouldn’t be writing a ten-book series if I couldn’t handle some delayed gratification.

However, the journey to release day is often much, much longer for those seeking traditional publication. Some authors have to spend multiple years querying, and they may write several books before one is accepted. Even then, agents have to sell the book to a publisher, and then the publisher decides on a release date, which could be over a year in advance.

Querying can also be brutal on someone’s self-esteem. Getting dozens of rejections hurts, and not everyone can handle that. You have to truly believe you can make it.

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Primary focus is writing, not marketing or logistics.

Tradpub authors don’t have to wear a lot of hats. They are allowed to work almost entirely on their writing rather than editing or marketing; someone else does that.

While presses are outsourcing a lot of their marketing to authors nowadays, they still offer a full suite of services to their authors that self-published writers have to do on their own. These include proofreading, preparing manuscripts for digital and paperback editions, contracting cover artists, managing ARC campaigns, generating sales material, negotiating with bookstores, and a general marketing push.

Presses may expect authors to do some aspects of marketing, such as press tours, social media posts, and interviews. However, there is comprehensive guidance here.

For authors who get overwhelmed by going it alone – or simply don’t have the time and energy to wear every hat – it is very helpful to have this structure from trusted experts.

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Lack of upfront funds.

And finally, we get to the cold hard truth: self-publishing is expensive, with no ROI guarantee. You have to pay for everything upfront and hope you might make it back someday.

In contrast, querying only requires a few upfront, optional investments. You can pay for beta readers, developmental editors, coaches, and Querytracker subscriptions … or you could not. Those who are very confident and experienced may need none of these things; they could rely on advice from seasoned authors, review free resources, and talk to other querying authors.

You will also receive an advance if you get accepted by a publisher. These aren’t typically life-changing sums, maybe $5,000, but that’s still money you got without spending much.

Self-Publishing

And now we get to self-publishing: my realm. Unfortunately, a lot of people get self-publishing all twisted up; they think it’s easy. All you have to do is write an okay book and stick it on Amazon.

Technically true, but unlikely to get any returns. There’s a lot more involved if you want to do it right.

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Unusual, niche, or difficult books.

As I said, traditional publishing is very risk-averse – and fickle. What got accepted last year might get a pass this year, even if the writing is exactly the same. Trends change quickly; publishers are running forecasts to decide what will be hot next year, or the year after that.

So books that refuse to play it safe will not fly. This includes:

• Hard to comp
• Challenging prose
• Difficult to categorize, with no clear-cut keywords
• Unusual structures
• Highly sexual
• Gratuitous violence
• Strange or “quiet” plots

Remember, literary agents are looking at books not entirely on prose quality, characterization, or plot, but also on what keywords they might assign to the work and how they could pitch it to a publisher. They need to immediately identify what audience this would work for and why someone might read it.

Books without clearly definable “hooks” will get a pass no matter how good they are. If you struggle to find clear comps or cannot distill your book down into “this plus this,” you’ll have a hard time querying.

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Need for total control.

You might hate to hear it, but yes: self-published authors often do not play well with others. They don’t want anyone else to touch their book, even if those suggestions may make the book more marketable.

Changing a plot sounds abominable. Removing a scene is torture. Getting nitpicky with word choice makes them explode with rage.

I am firmly in this category. I know my artistic vision and I won’t compromise no matter who tells me what to do. I don’t necessarily like marketing, but I do like having total control over my work from start to finish. Its success lives and dies by my efforts; that’s very satisfying to me.

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Intrinsic motivation and self-discipline.

One reason selfpub authors burn out is that they cannot build their own structure. If someone isn’t encouraging them to write, they don’t. They get choice paralysis about plots and need someone to give them a sanity check.

They also might get extremely demoralized if they don’t get immediate sales because that end goal is the primary objective. These authors want to be famous; lack of interest is soul-shattering.

Self-publishing requires that you enjoy the process more than the result. If you want to make it, you have to write because you love it, not because you want others to love it.

This is not to say that traditionally published authors don’t love writing. However, I suspect that they place a little more emphasis on the exposure they can receive than career self-published authors do.

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Strong project management.

Traditional publishing takes much of the work out of the author’s hands. They do not have to do all the editing, all the ARC campaign management, all the cover design or blurb writing. This is a huge benefit and one that many self-published authors fail to consider when they start out.

In general, the self-publishing process includes the following:

• Outlining
• Drafting
• Percolating (letting the draft rest)
• First revisions
• Beta read
• Second revisions
• Percolation 2.0
• Editing
• Percolation 3.0
• Final pass
• Set release date
• Advertise release date
• Manuscript setup
• Cover commission
• Queue sales pages
• ARC campaign setup
• ARC marketing
• Pre-release marketing push
• Release day marketing
• Advertising
• Advertising monitoring and adjustment

Of course, this is for ebook-only. There are additional steps for paperback publishing, and those doing in-person sales also have to account for that.

Tradpub authors stop at the final pass and skip to querying. In contrast, I am responsible for every aspect of the process. No one is breathing down my neck telling me to do everything in preparation for release day.

Plus, you have to continue to market and advertise throughout this whole cycle, such as through social media and SEO. Good selfpub authors do not disappear for months on end while they’re working, so this often means queueing content in advance.

Authors who are unused to self-directed work and individual project management will struggle mightily to keep everything together. They may skip steps, procrastinate, and then panic as that deadline starts looming.

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Business management.

Traditionally published authors get paid by their publisher; in many cases, the publisher provides them with 1099 forms or other tax information. Because they don’t have expenses after that first investment, they don’t need to track spending, set up a business account, or prepare their own tax returns.

Self-published authors, again, have to do this all on their own. We have to decide what to spend money on, how to track it, whether to set up a business, and how to calculate their income versus their expenses.

At first, selfpub authors may not have to deal with this much because they’re not making money. However, as their income grows, so do their business burdens.

Learning how to run a business is difficult and can be frustrating for some authors, so they give up.

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Initial funding.

Again, people think that self-publishing is free because it doesn’t cost anything to list on Amazon. This is true, but that’s not how to make a good product.

Yes, you’ve got to spend money to make money. Expenses may include:

• Beta readers
• Developmental editors
• Editing software
• Cover artists
• ARC platforms
• Advertising spend
• A website (highly recommended!)

And there’s the time investment, too. If you don’t have the time to market, such as by writing blog posts (hello), managing socials, or tracking your ad performance, you won’t do very well. Self-publishing is a highly competitive field, where you must fight for every sale. Pouring time and money in will ensure you get at least some returns.

For example, I’ve had some money difficulty lately so I’ve paused my ads. Sales plummet! I don’t have the upfront capital right now, which is fine. I’ll save up and start over later; books don’t expire.

I’m also not relying on royalties to pay my bills. That’s when self-published authors get into the danger zone, which is why it’s so important not to quit your job unless you are sure you have a steady royalty income.

Each publishing avenue has its benefits and ideal match.

Traditional publishing is great for those who:

• Thrive with external structure
• Write to market
• Have strong networking and self-promotion skills
• Can compromise with editors
• Do not have the time or money to manage all aspects of publishing

And self-publishing is good for those who:

• Do not want to compromise
• Can work independently
• Do not write to market
• Have strong project management skills
• Have investment capital and ample time

Neither is inherently superior. Neither says anything about book quality.

Traditionally published authors often go, “Someone says this is good so it is good! I got someone to listen to me, so I am better than you. You slapped garbage together because you couldn’t make it in the publishing world.”

Well, a bunch of shit books get published either way, so it doesn’t really say much. It only says you prefer a more structured environment and have extrinsic motivation. Those are personal qualities and not talent indicators.

Meanwhile, self-published authors argue, “I’m an iconoclast and rebel! I’m making real art that speaks to a select audience, unlike those sellouts who pander to a bunch of stuck-up gatekeepers.”

And again, a bunch of shit books get self-published. Choosing this route says you want complete artistic freedom and are more tolerant of risk. Still personal qualities, still not talent indicators.

It’s possible to go from one to the other, of course. Some self-published authors get signed by publishers, and some traditionally published authors decide to withdraw their books and go their own way. This is rarer, but it happens, so you shouldn’t feel locked into either route.

What really matters isn’t how your book got out there. It’s whether you stuck with it, spent the time to polish your work, and kept going when things were hard. Grit over glory, grind over gatekeeping.

I hope this helped you decide which route most speaks to you. Regardless of your choice, I’m cheering you on.