Publish a book professionally
Publishing a book professionally involves choosing one of these three paths: opting for traditional publishers, service providers or self-publishing. Stay with me and I'll teach you exactly how each of these modalities works, leaving you ready to learn about and choose one of the three paths to publishing a book.
Maybe you already know a little about the subject and have done some initial research. But as this concerns procedures that are a bit complicated for most writers, I decided to write this article to make it easier to understand.
If this is your case, follow me.
Before we get into the subject, however, I need you to keep in mind that it is good to take your time to read what I am going to present below. This way, you will be able to understand the three ways to publish a book, and then consider and choose the one that represents the best strategy to be adopted in your case.
Traditional publishers
A traditional publisher works through a system of selecting works to be published. She herself pays all the costs of the process, which includes production and printing, defining all the stages, such as the title of the book, the cover, among other items. In production, several text professionals come into play, such as the critical reviewer, the text editor, the reviewer – a subject that we have already discussed in another post.
But what's the biggest problem with being able to publish in this type of publisher? Precisely because she has a limited budget to work with and receives a large number of originals, she ends up making a very rigorous selection. You will, therefore, bet on works that are supposed to bring you a lot of financial return.
As a result, the chance of an author publishing a book through a traditional (or commercial) publisher is very small. With a little exaggeration: it's almost hitting the jackpot!
Therefore, if you are not an author who has a considerable readership, just like people who become celebrities, your manuscripts will be for a commercial publisher just another one that will probably not be successful.
I don't mean to say that it's impossible, among the three paths to publication, to have your book accepted by a commercial publisher. But it is certainly the most difficult. There are two more things that are important to remember here if you publish with a commercial publisher. One of them is that you will not be able to interfere in the process, as I explained before, and therefore you may be dissatisfied with some things that will be materialized there, in many, many copies.
The other point that may make you uncomfortable is the fact that marketing and sales procedures are in the hands of the publisher. If a great job is not done to publicize your book, it is clear that there will be losses to your work, as you have no control over these processes. In conclusion, publishing a book through a traditional publisher can, in some cases, present more disadvantages than advantages.
I created a list of traditional publishers, specifically for writers who want to choose this path, sending their originals to publishers that don't charge to publish. Understand better how this list works by clicking here.
I also recommend Laura Bacellar's excellent course, called How to find a publisher. There you will understand how traditional publishers work and increase your chances of being published by one of them. Just enter here.
Service provider publishers
Among the three paths to publication, let's now learn a little about this possibility, which is looking for a service provider publisher to publish a book. It works in a very different way than a traditional publisher. If in the first case, all control is in the hands of the publisher, it also means that it bears all the costs.
In this other possibility, when looking for a publishing company that provides services, it is you who chooses the one that seems competent and trustworthy, and will pay to have your book published.
Time is saved in the procedures, as you do not need to wait for a long time for a response from a traditional publisher.
There will therefore be no embarrassment of having your manuscripts rejected nor that enormous anxiety that usually takes over authors. Considering the three paths to publication, here the facilities are concentrated in the fact that you will deliver your manuscripts, the publisher will print them, and you will be able to set the launch date.
The problem is that these publishers will charge you a fortune. Furthermore, their business model is to produce books, not sell them. Because of this, you will hardly see your book in any physical bookstore or even any effective marketing effort to get your book sold.
Many authors tend to complain about the high prices charged for publication and it is quite common for them to later regret having signed the contracts presented by these publishers.
Self-publishing (also called independent publishing)
in the previous article, I already explained a little about independent publishing. In it, you learned about the various stages of work that will make your originals become a book, which includes the critical reading phases; preparation/review; layout; the definition of the cover and its production, all involved in a dialogue that allows you to participate more in the process.
Ultimately, this is, among the three paths to publication, the one in which you can participate most when it comes to publishing a book, so that the book comes out “with your personality”. After all, you are going to pay for the work and you want to see a good result, and you also want to have control over the sale of your work.
When you choose to hire a professional who carries out the independent publication of your book, they will perform the same role as a service provider, but with the advantage of not tying you to contracts and also the production cost ends up being much leaner (you can request a quote here).
Here, you have the possibility of greater interaction with this professional, a more constant dialogue with the aim of responding to your ideas and making your book more attractive to the intended readership.
In this modality, you will be close to all stages of production: the text at all stages, the cover, the ISBN request and printing, among other steps. The difference, however, is that you will have absolute control over your literary career and the total profit from the sales of your books, without intermediaries!
Therefore, in this case, your possibility of return when publishing a book ends up being very high compared to other modalities.
I would like to share with you this video of my friend Laura Bacellar talking in more detail about how to publish a book independently. It's really worth watching:
Conclusion
Self-publishing is an excellent path because this professional will work to ensure you are satisfied.
It's your story, you are the author of the book, and all of this will be respected. This professional responsible for independent publishing will also help you place your book on Amazon (the most globalized digital platform), whether the physical book or the e-book. He will not promise you a world of fantasies, but will ensure that you are able to build your career on your own, without being tied to third parties.
The reason is that a good professional knows how the market works and the production relations of works.
He will work honestly, making use of real possibilities for publicizing and selling books. For your part, it will be very positive if you have a captive readership, or a large clientele, students, relatives, among others interested in the information offered in your book.
Did you like this article? I suggest you take a look at my work done for the main publishers in the Brazilian market and also for independent authors, visiting my portfolio: book covers, book layout e websites.
