is self publishing/independent publishing "better"?

MMcDonald64 said:

And some authors are fine with that wait period, but I am not. It's not just about getting the book out there, but also about real time information about how my books are doing. I don't think I could get used to waiting months, or even years, to find out what my sales numbers are.

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What's interesting about this is that I think I'm the opposite. It's similar with information about my agent submissions. I check in every couple of months and see how it's going and get vague updates. I actually prefer not knowing each time he sends out or receives a rejection and so on because I'd just stress and worry over it.

Similarly, I think I'd just obsess over sales data and constantly be checking it and freaking out and wondering if a slow day meant a slow forever or if a good sales day was the beginning of a trend or wonder what caused the variations over time. I'd prefer just getting a periodic statement because then I can't obsess over it.

Goes to show how everyone is different in these regards.

MMcDonald64 said:

Traditional is also correct. I don't think one is 'more' correct than the other.

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You would be wrong. Codicology is a specific academic study of books, book-making and book publishing. "Traditional" is meaningless in that it can be used to refer to any kind of written dissemination.

MMcDonald64 said:

And some authors are fine with that wait period, but I am not. It's not just about getting the book out there, but also about real time information about how my books are doing. I don't think I could get used to waiting months, or even years, to find out what my sales numbers are.

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I note that my initial response is you can have it fast, cheap, or good. Pick two. This is an aphorism you hear quite a lot in the production departments of printers, publishers, and software companies.

But absent of the snark derived from experience, let me be anecdotal.

My most recent commercially published book was contracted in February of 2011. It's about the iPad 2. The iPad 2 was released on March 11, 2011. Now, I have two co-authors, but still, we had a final ms. by April 12, and had returned galleys by April 19. The book was for sale on May 8, 2011, in print and digital forms. I spotted it in a local bookstore on May 12. This is a book with well over 100 color images; I've known this publisher to have even faster turn around on other, larger books. (You can see the publisher's page here).

I received an advance, and a bonus for meeting deadlines, and will be receiving royalties for sure on at least the electronic editions.

And in the meantime, I've written other things.

Second Anecdote:

This requires some background. I have some experience in publishing in both editorial and production.

MacAllister wanted to publish an anthology by AW members of spec fic/SF/Horror/Fantasy, with illustrations.

You can read about it here:

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=220668

It took longer to produce than my commercially published book, because the actual production team was tiny, and had lives, and moved and was sick, and had a hardware failure in the midst of it all.

I really don't think one is "better" than the other interms of commercial / trade publishing, or self-publishing.

But it does depend a great deal on the book, the writer, the skill set and expectations.

Medievalist said:

My most recent commercially published book was contracted in February of 2011. It's about the iPad 2. The iPad 2 was released on March 11, 20011.

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Wow, I knew publishing was slow, but I never expected 18,000 years to publication

I don't know if either is better, but I suspect that, for a while at least, there will be a trend of authors trying to get books published in print through agents and publishers, and turning to self-publishing when and if that doesn't work. Ebooks have been around for a while but I think that most authors, even those in their twenties, have spent more time reading print books than ebooks and see print as more prestigious.

I enjoy the psychology of trying to market my own book, but I have a couple of psych degrees, and I expect that many authors find the marketing and promotion aspects of the trade very tedious.

kaitie said:

What's interesting about this is that I think I'm the opposite. It's similar with information about my agent submissions. I check in every couple of months and see how it's going and get vague updates. I actually prefer not knowing each time he sends out or receives a rejection and so on because I'd just stress and worry over it.

Similarly, I think I'd just obsess over sales data and constantly be checking it and freaking out and wondering if a slow day meant a slow forever or if a good sales day was the beginning of a trend or wonder what caused the variations over time. I'd prefer just getting a periodic statement because then I can't obsess over it.

Goes to show how everyone is different in these regards.

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Yep. Good thing we have a choice.