Here’s the Right Publishing Path for You.

OK, so: That’s a trick headline.

I don’t know what publishing path is right for you. Most of the time, I’m dropping into your inbox to share how traditional publishing works because that’s what I know. 

However, I’m not against self-publishing as an avenue for authors — or working with a hybrid publisher either. Both can be appropriate for authors and often, even a better choice than traditional.

There isn’t a singular choice that is best for everyone. 

That’s why my goal in offering free information is to help you make the right choice for YOU.

And what choice should that be?

In my professional opinion — that depends on what your goals are. 

Some folks want to create a large impact and are comfortable building a large audience and infrastructure in their business and life to support all of that. For these folks, traditional publishing is the best option because:

• The distribution a traditional publisher offers can support and fulfill their goals of selling 20,000+ books to their existing audience

• An advance helps to pay for help from people like me to get the book written and ready for publication

• Another route simply wouldn’t match with their brand aesthetic and vibe (i.e., hybrid or self-publishing would feel amateurish or low-rent)

Other people want to stay niche and serve the audience they have — which is totally fine.

Self- or hybrid-publishing can be the right choice for authors who:

• Just want to get their book out there

• Want to control the timeline and distribution, and have creative control

• Are OK with selling fewer copies of their book

That said, marketing messages from these publishers can be misleading. 

Many self- and hybrid publishers make a big deal about rights and profits without mentioning that you may not make your initial investment back. (In those models, authors pay to get their book published and costs vary a lot.) 

The truth is that most authors who publish through these methods don’t sell many copies of their book and therefore don’t make much profit from their book. 

So the promise of keeping 100% of the profits/revenue?
Doesn’t matter as much when those numbers are low.

And no matter what publishing route you take, remember this:

You’re going to have to market, promote, and sell your book no matter what.