what do you believe is better???...?

Question

Get a book/novel published by a traditional publishing corp? or Publish it yourself?

I've gotten some opportunities to send in a manuscript of mine or a novel of mine that i wrote to some trad. corps and i was just reading on a self publishing thing and it will cost a sum of money as will getting a traditional publishing house (with the trad. house it'll take longer too)

Benefits: Trad. Corps
*better way to get out book to public
*if makes good sells, "Famous"??
Cons: Trad Corps:
*they may change YOUR work
*they have rights to your book
*takes a long while if they decide to publish

benefits: do it yourself
*rights are yours
*takes less to publish
*keep your book the way YOU wrote it
cons: do it yourself
*difficult to get famous to the public
*problems with getting more copies
ext. little things like that

what do you think???

Answer 1

I think its better to get it published yourself because its YOUR book.

Why should some one else get credit/have rights to something that YOU made?

Answer 2

I am going with Tradition Publishing but that's just my opinon.

Answer 3

A lot of the information that is given here about self publishing is totally incorrect.

You may think that it is an advantage that with self publishing you get to keep the book the way YOU wrote it but I assure you that is a disadvantage. There has only been one author in history who did not require his work to be edited. That was O Henry.

Unless you believe your work is of the same quality as The Gift of the Magi, and I am almost certain it isn't, then the experience of a professional publisher professionally editing a book is beneficial to you. They have done it before. They know how to prepare books to sell. As an inexperienced author, take advantage of the fact that editors know more than you do. I have read self published books that weren't even proofread much less edited and corrected. That is just sad and a waste of money.

The biggest advantage to self publishing is that you can be the worst author on earth and still have a book with your name on the cover - albeit a cheaply made, poorly printed book that nobody buys. Your mother can take it to work with her and brag. Your grandmother can take it to the beauty parlor and show it off.

You don't have to face rejection or the truth about your writing skills. You just send in your money and they print any darn thing you want them to print. That is the blunt truth behind self publishing - which used to be called what it is VANITY publishing. You get exactly what you pay for - a box of books with your name on it - nothing else. They do nothing for you but print your books. You are lucky if they give you an ISBN number - many do not and without that number you cannot even sell your books online.

The disadvantages are overwhelming.

1) You are NOT considered a "published author". If you represent yourself as such to any publishers or agents, they will laugh you right out of their offices. You are a vanity author - nothing else.

2) You will pay for everything - there are more hidden costs than you can shake a stick at. Many authors go broke vanity publishing.

3) Many vanity presses are working on shoestring budgets and they go out of business all the time. Still others get sued more often than doctors get sued. Publish America has so many lawsuits against it, it will take years to clear up the backlog. If your vanity publisher goes belly up before your book comes out, you lose big time.

4) In the event you want your book back to have it published professionally after vanity publishing it, you have to buy it back. Most vanity publishers hold your work hostage.

5) Vanity publishers are notorious for poor quality covers, tons of errors and even books that fall apart in your hands.

6) There is no guarantee that your vanity published book will have a distributor. Don't let them tell you otherwise unless you can get the name of the distributor and check them out for yourself. Without a distributor, your books won't even sell online.

7) Vanity published books do not wind up in bookstores unless YOU go to a bookstore and beg them to carry it. Even then, it is likely the store will take them from you on consignment and repay you for the ones they sell. The money comes out of YOUR pocket.

8) Any and all advertising, marketing etc. comes out of YOUR pocket. If you want anyone to know about your book so you can sell copies, you have to pay to advertise it. More money out of your pocket. Starting to see why people go broke vanity publishing?

9) The average vanity published book sells less than 100 copies. I have personally checked several vanity press books by contacting the distributor and inquiring how many copies were sold. Often the answer is less than 50.

10) Only NINE books in the history of vanity publishing have become best sellers. One was The Celestine Prophecy. I believe the other 8 were non fiction books. Can't remember all the names.

As you can see, and as anyone here knows, I am no fan of vanity publishing. It is a crock. I strongly urge you to visit Preditors and Editors website and Absolute Write Water Cooler's Bewares and Background Checks forum and research the name of any publisher before you send them a dime or a page of your work. If the name is not listed, contact Dave K at Preditors and Editors or Victoria Strauss and James Macdonald at Absolute Write and ask for information. You can also subscribe to the Writers Weekly.com newsletter for free. They have a column called Whispers and Warnings.

We are writers -- when people do us wrong - we write about it. It isn't hard to figure out who the baddies out there are.

As for e publishing - that is your call. There are legit e publishers out there, however unless you can again find a way for people to know your book is out there, it isn't going to sell. Personally, I could never see myself buying an e book, so I don't sell e books. I have turned down e book contracts before. Not interested. To me, a book is a thing with a cover and pages, not words on a screen. But that is for you to decide.

Hope that helps. As always here, I am being completely open and honest with you. These are the facts and don't let any self publisher tell you otherwise. I might also warn you that frequently self publishing companies "salt" forums with fake posts glowing about their company. I have seen many so called "sockpuppets" in this forum and others too. Don't let them fool you. Self publishing stinks. Pax - C

Answer 4

Depends on how much money and time you are willing to spend.