A Look at Traditional Publishing: Cons (Part 3 of 3)

While traditional publishing offers credibility and support, it’s not the perfect fit for every writer. The process is slow, competitive, and often demands compromises.

Potential drawbacks from collaborating with a traditional publisher could affect the writer’s choice of publishing route based on priorities that conflict with traditional publishing’s standard operating procedure.

Because so many individuals have an interest in the success of the book, there are many individual points of view, some carrying more weight than the author, which is reasonable from the perspective that the traditional publisher is fronting all the expenses associated with releasing what they hope is a product that will recoup its investment. Authors must accept editorial changes or specific marketing strategies (or lack thereof) that might not align with the author’s vision or ideal. A publisher might change the title of a book. Yes, they have the right to do that. Though most publishers try to include authors in decisions out of courtesy, any author preference can be overridden by “the boss,” such as cover art design or any other aspect, without the author’s approval unless specifically negotiated by contract in advance.

Traditional publishing is a bit like snail mail. It takes time. It can take several years from the initial overture of a query to the publication of a book, which can delay income for the author (other than the advance) and, if a product needs to be on the market now because it is a hot topic or an author needs that step to go to their career next ladder, it may delay the momentum of the author’s goals or miss the opportunity of the moment to strike in the market while the topic is hot. After signing a contract, it is not unreasonable for a book to take twelve to twenty-four months before the author finally sees her book on a shelf or for sale online.

While distribution is better than a self-published author's, the traditional publisher’s royalty rates on paper can look frustrating. Traditionally published authors typically receive five- to fifteen-percent royalties on their books. Of course, if you sell more books through the traditional channel, you’ll still make much more money with this lower royalty rate. A self-published author tends to keep up to seventy percent of their eBook sales, for example, compared to approximately twenty-five percent through traditional publishers (though some traditional publishers will offer as much as fifty percent). The author must ask herself how many books the author thinks this title will sell through the author's abilities to self-market or traditionally through the skills of a major firm to market, and what sort of projected income or prestige will come from a traditional model versus another. Most traditional books do not make back their advance, so for most authors, what they receive as their advance is usually the extent of the money they will receive on the publishing portion of their book. Please note that most books in any publishing model do not generate net profit—traditional, self, or any of the other models.

There is tremendous competition for a spot in the traditional publishing world. It is the land of big guns (or, at least, those the publishers think will be big guns). Gaining a seat at the traditional publishing table is usually preceded by numerous rejections to the author’s agent (and thus the author), as only a tiny percentage of queried manuscripts result in manuscript sales.

There are many well-founded and justifiable complaints from authors that they are not receiving the marketing budget that other authors are receiving. Mid-list and lower-list authors are usually the ones who are most vocal. Traditional publishing is a business. They certainly love what they do, but the end result is to publish books that make money. If a book or author grows “legs,” then all resources will be directed to send those legs into a “run.” Because of a principle of sound marketing investment, publishers reasonably allocate most of their marketing resources to their proven racehorses (the bestselling authors or potential bestselling authors), leaving mid-list and lower-list authors to promote their books largely on their own. The traditional publisher will collaborate with any author, but the promotion tasks and expenses fall on the shoulders of the author; however, if the author’s efforts produce results, then the big muscle of a traditional publisher will step in and send those legs running if possible. Traditional publishers want a racehorse, and they will invest in that racehorse, but before that happens, the racehorse must prove itself, or the publisher must have powerful spreadsheets to support the feeling that this book or author is going to come out of the gates with vigor. For example, book tours and social media ads will initially fall upon the back and responsibility of the author, who may spend his entire advance on his promotion. If you want to know what a publisher truly thinks of the quality and salability of your book, look at what they offer in terms of a promotional budget. That will tell you more than any promises, accolades, and encouragement given to you by your editor.

Traditional publishing begins with a business deal between the author (via his agent and literary attorney, if both are present) and the publisher. The business deal hopefully will culminate in a contract. By choosing to “lease” the rights to the title to the publisher, the author will, by design, sign away and give publishers control over specific rights (e.g., rights to a series or rights to a particular geographic territory) for a set time. It’s a bugger at times trying to get those rights back. Even out-of-print clauses have their loopholes. A good agent and literary attorney on the front end are necessary. As long as the publisher has control of whatever rights the publisher has been given, the author cannot do anything with those rights, which leaves the author totally at the mercy of the traditional publisher’s interests. For this reason, it is always good advice to follow the author’s literary attorney and agent’s recommendations regarding what rights to sign away and what rights to keep for the author’s team to exploit separately away from the focus of the traditional publisher.

With publishing of any kind, the author has no guarantee of sales. Period. Even with the racehorses that the traditional publisher thinks they have, they could invest a fortune in publicity and marketing only to see the book flop. Without traditional support, there are even fewer guarantees of high sales and, thus, high profits for both the publisher and the author (and the author’s team). It’s nearly imperative that a debut author recoup their advance. Not to recoup an advance figures highly in a traditional publisher’s decision to renew a contract for the next book. It also plays an exalted position in another traditional publisher’s decision to take the second book of an author who has been dropped by their debut traditional publisher. Being dropped by a traditional publisher because you do not meet your advance tells any publisher—the one you have or the next one you may need—that you are a financial risk. Nobody wants a liability on their team. The numbers rule, even to the author’s ultimate career detriment.

WHAT SHOULD AN AUTHOR DO?

Every writer needs to evaluate her goals. She needs to be honest with herself about what she is willing to live with, where she is willing to compromise, and what she is willing to gamble. Much of this is based on the author herself, but a large part is based on the manuscript quality. Good books will rise. The author needs to be fair with herself and know her book can compete with the quality of the best books on the market before she commits to playing with the Big Kids and going with traditional publishing. Traditional publishers are ideal for authors who wish or require the ego validation of being with a Big Gorilla. Traditional publishers are perfect for those authors seeking the potential of wide distribution and writers who like team sports and appreciate a traditional publisher’s professional support. What’s not to like? The pressure to be the best, the loss of creative control, and the lower royalty rates (that could, remember, still produce more money if the manuscript grows legs). If the author has a team or the time to follow one of the other publishing paths in production and marketing, one of the different publishing paths might outweigh that of foregoing the camaraderie associated with a traditional publisher. There is, however, a vast gray area that we have not discussed regarding traditional publishers. There are two oversimplified kinds. There is the large traditional publisher and the small traditional publisher. These offer pros and cons within themselves. 

Choosing the right publishing path depends on your career goals and priorities. For some, traditional publishing is the dream; for others, a different route may be more rewarding. The key is to evaluate your options carefully and decide what aligns best with your vision as an author.