Don’t Believe These “Truths” About Your Nonfiction Book

As a traditional publishing expert, sometimes I get tagged on social media posts from would-be authors who have questions about their books but no one to ask.

So they naturally ask the Internet. And today I decided to address a few of the most common answers I see that are totally false. 

What’s in bold below are real comments, from real people, posted on LinkedIn. 

Underneath is my take as an expert in publishing who has worked in traditional publishing for 20 years AND who has helped authors both self- and hybrid publish. 

If the sales were high enough, a publisher would come in later. 

This is technically true but “high enough” is A LOT of books. Like millions of copies. 

Given that most books sell far less than that, this outcome is super unlikely for any author. It’s only happened twice in my entire career, and I’ve worked on hundreds of books.

TLDR — This is not a thing that you should bet on. And it’s not true for subsequent books either.

You wrote the book, why give a publishing house any of your money to do the same thing that you can do and keep all of your revenue.

I feel rage bubbling up in me because this is just WRONG. Traditional publishing houses do not take money from authors. 

Instead, they pay you — the author — for the right to license your book, print/distribute/sell it, and then share the profits. 

This commenter is probably confusing hybrid (which is a play-to-pay model, as is most self-publishing) with traditional. 

Don’t get it twisted and then blame the system you misunderstand, please. 

I am going to self publish. You will retain FULL control over your work.

This is true. When you self-publish you retain all control and all rights because you’re not licensing your work to anyone (which is what a book deal is from a legal standpoint). 

However — this is also why a lot of self-published books have terrible covers, are difficult to read, go to market completely unedited, and don’t sell well because the author is likely not an expert in how to structure, write, publish, and promote a book. (If you want to see what I mean — listen to the first episode of this podcast.)

Editors exist because most writers benefit from having someone else review their work before it goes out into the world. Publishers exist because they offer a specialized service that most people don’t need to master themselves (kind of like plumbers or electricians). 

When I see comments like this, I notice fear and defensiveness. 

This is pretty similar to: 
a publisher will steal your ideas 
a publisher won’t let you use your own IP 
a publisher is going to restrict what you do with your own work

Which are all also false statements. 

The business objective of any publishing house is to publish books for a profit. 

Not to steal your IP. Not to restrict you using what made you a viable author in the first place.

The only exception to that would be if you decide to do something — say publish a journal that competes with the book you’re about to write and publish with that publishing house — that restricts sales. Then your publisher may say don’t do that because you’re going to fuck up their investment. But again, that’s rare. 

For Black authors, the numbers clearly show that major publishing houses are not necessarily the best way to get reach. Many Black writers are doing it, sure! I know of a handful who secured book deals, but I still think you should self publish.

I saved the most insidious comment for last. 

Historically this has been true. Most of the traditional publishing industry is white, and in the past they have had no idea how to publish or promote “Black books” because they didn’t know how to reach Black audiences. Hello, cultural segregation.

However. Since 2020, I have personally seen that literary agents and publishers are actively seeking out diverse authors. So much so that it can be easier for authors of marginalized identities (BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, etc.) to land representation with a literary agent and get a book deal than a cis, het, white person.

I don’t know what “numbers” this person was looking at, but it’s not what I see from my position as a collaborator who actively helps BIPOC authors get book deals. 

As this year’s election so clearly shows — don’t believe everything you read on the Internet.

It’s crucial that authors have accurate, truthful information to help them make an informed and aligned decision for their book.

If you agree, I encourage you to share some or all of this email on your social media and tag me (@megstevenson on IG, Meghan Stevenson on LinkedIn) so that I can respond with the truth.