How to Decide to Self Pub or Trade?

I think it goes beyond just genre. I would ask:

What are your goals, professionally, personally, financially for this book?--specifically (tangible outcomes, dates).

What is the target audience for your book?--Age, nationality, culturally, what other books do they read, what other interests do they have, what are the themes?

Howdy, and welcome.

There's a third path, of course. Hybrid publishing, along the lines of Booktrope, and a few others. It's traditional in that you've got a publisher behind you, but it's non-trad in that everyone gets a cut of the book's profit.

If it's truly not a hot market for traditional publishers (and I don't follow markets well enough to know what's trending), then that sort of answers your question, doesn't it?

You might research some of the books on this list to see who published them. It was the first hit for a Google search of "YA historical fiction."
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/young-adult-historical-fiction

I just signed with them, and there are a couple of other AW members there as well, so take any endorsement with a grain of salt.

I think Entangled is another hybrid.

One article from my research: http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidvinjamuri/2014/01/08/how-hybrid-publishers-innovate-to-succeed/

Things to consider when looking at a hybrid: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/...-all-hybrid-publishers-are-created-equal.html

Keep in mind thought that any publisher that wants you to pay up front is not a hybrid, they're a vanity press, and you should run.

With self-pubbing, you're fronting the money for a cover, for an editor, and you're completely on your own with marketing. At Booktrope (I'm with their Gravity imprint), I've got some 250+ other writers who can help me with marketing. The cover artist, editor, proofreader and book manager have all been vetted by other people, and so I get to choose from a select group of people. Since no one gets paid until the book sells, we're all pushed hard to put forth our absolute best effort.

No, Entangled doesn't follow that publishing model.

And, for clarity, kyWrite, this is not what people generally mean when they talk about hybrid publishing. For most authors, being hybrid means an author publishes some books through publishers and self-publish other works.

I sincerely hope the people trying to use the word 'hybrid' to refer to something different find another word to use, as this word is already taken.

There is also Kindle Scout

https://kindlescout.amazon.com/about

Kindle Scout is reader-powered publishing for new, never-before-published books. It’s a place where readers help decide if a book gets published. Selected books will be published by Kindle Press and receive 5-year renewable terms, a $1,500 advance, 50% eBook royalty rate, easy rights reversions and featured Amazon marketing.

You should also consider whether or not you want to be a publisher, with all that that entails. If you want the best for your book, that will mean substantial time (and money) spent getting the book edited, finding an artist who can do a commercially sound cover, trying to get reviews, figuring out distribution, etc etc It's a big undertaking if you want to do it right.

You could search for a small press that specializes in historical or historical YA and maybe tap into their market. It may be hard to find an agent for this project if it's too niche (you can try first of course), but then you could trunk it and try to get representation with something else. Your agent would then be able to sell previous works you've done.

I understand that most small publishing companies don't require you to have an agent. You can submit manuscripts directly. They may have a shorter time frame than big publishers on getting books into the world, also, though I really don't know anything about that. I'd suggest you give this route a try, unless you're really interested in doing all the work of self-publishing (like shadowwalker said.) You could put a time limit on it, say, query publishers for a month or two, and if no one bites, go for self-publishing. The fact that you said you're not sure if you'll write another book makes me think that you wouldn't want to spend time learning all the related marketing techniques.

This is a decision I am struggling with too. There are pros and cons to both sides and it really depends on what you want to do. If you want to get your book out there so you can tell people you published your book, then SP probably is the way. If you want to put out the best quality product, then TP is probably the way. Hybrid publishing sounds like a good middle ground, from what little I know. The only thing that bothers me about it is you won't get a very high percent. To me, a writer, I feel like I/we do the most work in actually creating the product in the first place, so only getting 35-40% of sales seems low when not TPing.

From what I know, most teens don't read ebooks. Self publishing is almost entirely ebook based, and generally not worth the cost of getting it out in print as well. I would steer clear of SP for any YA fiction (that's why I chose to stick to TP). Especially because YA fiction is such a hot market for TP. Teens don't need ebooks or ereaders because they have hundreds of books geared to them.

On the other hand, I don't think your book is too niche. I followed the last #MSWL and there were plenty of agents, some of them specializing in YA, looking for HF from POC cultures and non-Western settings. I think you could find an agent for this book, and that agent could find you a publisher.

HistoryLvr said:

If you want to get your book out there so you can tell people you published your book, then SP probably is the way. If you want to put out the best quality product, then TP is probably the way. Hybrid publishing sounds like a good middle ground, from what little I know. The only thing that bothers me about it is you won't get a very high percent. To me, a writer, I feel like I/we do the most work in actually creating the product in the first place, so only getting 35-40% of sales seems low when not TPing.

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I think you're working under a few assumptions that are misguided at best, or based on inaccurate data.

1. SP books can be of equal or superior quality to TP books. I'm not sure if you're referring to physical attributes like paper quality or editing/cover, etc., but in all respects, the best SP books can compete with TP books. It all depends on how much work the SP author is willing to put into his/her product.

2. Just taking Amazon as an example, you get 70% of list price for royalties for e-books priced at or above $2.99. The 35% royalty applies to books priced below $2.99. For print-on-demand books, the royalty is whatever you determine by setting your own list price.

3. I'm not as familiar with TP contracts as I used to be, but I believe 10-15% of net would be in the normal range...maybe less, depending on the publisher.

WriterBN said:

I think you're working under a few assumptions that are misguided at best, or based on inaccurate data.

1. SP books can be of equal or superior quality to TP books. I'm not sure if you're referring to physical attributes like paper quality or editing/cover, etc., but in all respects, the best SP books can compete with TP books. It all depends on how much work the SP author is willing to put into his/her product.

2. Just taking Amazon as an example, you get 70% of list price for royalties for e-books priced at or above $2.99. The 35% royalty applies to books priced below $2.99. For print-on-demand books, the royalty is whatever you determine by setting your own list price.

3. I'm not as familiar with TP contracts as I used to be, but I believe 10-15% of net would be in the normal range...maybe less, depending on the publisher.

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Most larger publishers pay royalties based on cover price, not net, so % of net wouldn't really apply to them. The smaller publishers I work with pay 40-50% of net.

I think some people are confused about hybrid publishing. Hybrid publishing is when an author does some self-publishing and some traditional publishing. My literary agency, Trident Media Group, does hybrid publishing. They assist their authors with self-publishing and also rep us to traditional publishers.

Also, I agree with JetFuelledCar. There is definitely a market for YA historical fiction. I would take the time and try to find a small publisher or an agent. I started with small publishers and eventually landed an agent who is repping me to the Big 5. Just believe in yourself, write what you love and write the best books you can write.

popgun62 said:

I started with small publishers and eventually landed an agent who is repping me to the Big 5. Just believe in yourself, write what you love and write the best books you can write.

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It's really inspiring to hear this sort of thin, especially since I decided to go with a small publisher - there is still hope for me yet. Good advice too about writing the best books you can.

Captcha said:

Most larger publishers pay royalties based on cover price, not net, so % of net wouldn't really apply to them. The smaller publishers I work with pay 40-50% of net.

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Ah, okay--that makes sense then. I sit corrected...

As someone who regularly chats with friends and colleagues who are agents and editors at trade publishers, the chance of being picked up by a trade publisher with no platform and just one book is incredibly slim. They can only take on a couple of new authors every year. Look at it like a business from the 'publishers' perspective. It's less risky to take on a new book by an established author, or a new author with an established platform. It's just business, not personal.

A new author with no platform, makes it an incredibly hard sell for the in-house editor, pitching to the sales team who makes the decision. It's deemed as too risky and the publisher needs to make money.

Instead...

Do what many authors are doing, which is self-publishing, making sales and having the publishers come to them because the author now has a proven track record of sales. That's all the publisher cares about. Sales or the potential of sales.

Now the question is, if you're making those sales numbers, why would you want someone dipping their hand in your pocket after the hard work is done?

AnthonyP said:

As someone who regularly chats with friends and colleagues who are agents and editors at trade publishers, the chance of being picked up by a trade publisher with no platform and just one book is incredibly slim. They can only take on a couple of new authors every year. Look at it like a business from the 'publishers' perspective. It's less risky to take on a new book by an established author, or a new author with an established platform. It's just business, not personal.

A new author with no platform, makes it an incredibly hard sell for the in-house editor, pitching to the sales team who makes the decision. It's deemed as too risky and the publisher needs to make money.

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And yet it happens all the time.

AnthonyP said:

Instead...

Do what many authors are doing, which is self-publishing, making sales and having the publishers come to them because the author now has a proven track record of sales. That's all the publisher cares about. Sales or the potential of sales.

Now the question is, if you're making those sales numbers, why would you want someone dipping their hand in your pocket after the hard work is done?

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Sure. If you're making those sales.

But before that, there's the editing, the covers, the PR...and no guarantee of success.

My logic for choosing self-publishing went a little like this: the book is ready now. I can have it up and for sale now, and the next one out in time for Christmas if I self publish.
Or, if I try traditional publishing, it might take me months to find an agent (if I can at all.) Then the agent has to find a publisher. Then I have to rewrite based on the editor's thoughts. The first book might be out in two years? The second at least a year after that - if they had enough faith in me/ I made enough sales for them to go for book 2. And after all that I may hate the cover, or end up doing something to the story that didn't fit with my vision for it.
Will those extra two years' sales make up for the (reportedly small) amount of marketing a publisher would do for me? I'll never know.

LSMay said:

My logic for choosing self-publishing went a little like this: the book is ready now. I can have it up and for sale now, and the next one out in time for Christmas if I self publish.
Or, if I try traditional publishing, it might take me months to find an agent (if I can at all.) Then the agent has to find a publisher. Then I have to rewrite based on the editor's thoughts. The first book might be out in two years? The second at least a year after that - if they had enough faith in me/ I made enough sales for them to go for book 2. And after all that I may hate the cover, or end up doing something to the story that didn't fit with my vision for it.
Will those extra two years' sales make up for the (reportedly small) amount of marketing a publisher would do for me? I'll never know.

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Yes LSMay, all good points regarding the turnaround times. Definitely something to consider for authors.

Don't forget to factor in the cost of self-publishing and the value of an advance in trade publishing.

AnthonyP said:

They can only take on a couple of new authors every year.

<<snip>>
A new author with no platform, makes it an incredibly hard sell for the in-house editor, pitching to the sales team who makes the decision. It's deemed as too risky and the publisher needs to make money.

<<snip>>

Do what many authors are doing, which is self-publishing, making sales and having the publishers come to them because the author now has a proven track record of sales.

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I'm sorry, but this is so over-stated as to be - well- kind of rubbish. In fact, it's so overstated, I'm inclined to wonder if you're about to offer the board your assistance in steering them towards a low-cost publishing package that treats you like family.

Yes, publishing is a business. No, that doesn't mean it's a closed shop. Trade pub and self pub are both legitimate choices for different books or different authors with different approaches.

It's not the case 100% all the time. I think that's common sense. What I described is very common and an accurate description of how publishing companies work. Just providing some added insight. I'm all for traditional publishing, if you get in, fantastic! Truly. I have friends who are traditionally published, they just went through the side door, rather than the front which is jam-packed of competition.

More specifically, self-publishing is one of those side doors.

To me, that's smart. There are other ways to get in if you're gunning for a traditional deal. Find ways to reduce the publishers risk to take a chance on you.

AnthonyP said:

Find ways to reduce the publishers risk to take a chance on you.

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Write a good book.

hth