I’m considering a traditional publishing route for my book. What does that look like?
Let’s start with the BIG QUESTION:
What do you want out of a publishing career?
Do you want an agent and to eventually land a traditional publishing deal with one of the Big Five publishers?
Do you want to independently publish your work to keep creative control and more of the money from sales?
Do you want to do both?
How you answer this imperative question will determine your course of action. And it goes without saying: You MUST have a good product no matter what route you choose. There are pros and cons to each, certainly. I’ve done both; I have traditional deals as well as books that are independently published. This means I’m a “hybrid” author, which works for me because I have a little more control over what’s going on with my work. (I’m nothing if not a control freak.)
One thing to remember, too, especially when you’re talking to folks about what’s better, traditional vs. indie publishing—you’d better get very comfortable with marketing. WE ALL HAVE TO DO THIS. Well, maybe not Nora Roberts or Stephen King, but the rest of us are marketing our work through advertising, social media, newsletters and email lists, giveaways, you name it. It’s absolutely part of the game now, whether a publisher puts your book out or you do. The old days of a publisher throwing their marketing coin behind every single book are gone—you’ll notice that only the top 1 percent of authors are really getting huge pushes because those books have had a lot of buzz or sold for a lot of money at auction. Most of us are just writing books, and sure, we get deals, but we don’t get five-plus-figure marketing budgets. What a dream that would be!
The process of actually getting a book published depends on which route you want to take.
Let’s explore the traditional and hybrid routes below. Bookmark this page for regular reference.
Typical route for TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING
(HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, APub, etc. Your mileage may vary.)
1. Write the book. Yes, the whole thing (unless it’s nonfiction, which is a whole different ball game). Put it aside for two weeks minimum and let it cool.
2. Revise! You might even have to hire a freelance editor to help you with this, especially if it’s your first book. Hiring an editor is not mandatory, of course, but remember that you want to show your BEST WORK to any potential agents.
3. Research agents that might have an interest in the book you wrote, i.e., if it’s high fantasy, make sure the agent represents that. Agents are VERY specific about what they will rep. Publishers Marketplace is a terrific place to start your agent search. Check out QueryTracker too.
4. Write your query letter. It might not hurt to hire a freelance editor to help you with this, too, to make sure it REALLY sings. There are folks who specialize in building beautiful, effective query letters.
5. If you’ve sent the book to a freelance editor, be ready to start revising BEFORE YOU SEND OUT QUERY LETTERS. If an agent wants to see pages, don’t make them wait months while you fix stuff. This is a competitive business, and attention spans don’t stretch on forever.
6. When the book is READY to be seen, start sending out your query! Fingers crossed!
7. Prepare yourself for rejection and CELEBRATE if you start getting requests for “partials,” i.e., 50 or so pages, or “fulls,” which means the agent wants to see the entire manuscript (MS for short). Hooray!
8. If you get requests for a partial or full MS, send it ASAP. Do not delay because you’ve decided to revise. You run the risk of losing that Golden Moment when the agent wants to see your work. If you MUST delay, let the agent know so you don’t look like you’re blowing them off.
9. IF you get requests from MULTIPLE AGENTS, you will want to let the other agents know, especially if someone has asked for an exclusive submission. (This can get kinda tricky.) I find that transparency is always the best route.
10. IF/WHEN an agent says yes, have cake to celebrate!
11. If the agent is an editorial agent, they may have revisions for you. Do the revisions! Once you have a book everyone is satisfied with, go to step 12.
12. You will begin a whole new level of hell called “going on submission,” or “going on sub.” This is when the agent will prepare a list for you of all the publishers they want to send your book to. The agent will then prepare a pitch letter and begin submitting your MS to these publishers.
This will go one of two ways: 1. A publisher will love it and make an offer; or 2. A publisher will say thanks but no thanks. Don’t despair! The sub list will likely be quite long, so there are plenty of chances.
There is a third option: Sometimes a publisher will be interested but they want to see revisions first. Definitely talk to the agent about this, especially if the book is still out with other editors at other publishing houses. It’s a gamble to make revisions without a deal in place, but if the agent feels strongly about moving forward, listen to them—and your GUT. (I cannot stress this enough. If something feels off, listen to that little voice in your head.)
13. The submission process can take months, or even years. Don’t fret yourself into a state. (You probably will. Most of us have done this.)
14. In the meantime, don’t twiddle your thumbs and watch your email. START WRITING SOMETHING NEW.
15. When the book SELLS, the acquisitions editor will have more revisions for you. Some authors get their books back with a few changes; others have to undergo extensive rewrites that can takes months (or years). This is part of the process. However, if you’re feeling uneasy or ignored by your editor, definitely talk to your agent. Communication is key!
16. When your book sells, you do not get a check that day for the whole amount of your advance (at least not usually). Most advances are cut into either two or three payments. If your advance pays in thirds, you will get the first installment upon signing the contract; the second installment is released when the book is “accepted",” i.e., the major revisions are done and the editor is ready to move on to the next phase (copy editing and then proofreading); and the third and final installment is released the day the book publishes.
Remember, too, that the monies are released from the publisher to your agent (if you’re agented), so don’t be shy about asking your agent to stay on top of the accounting department. It’s your money—you’ve done the work. Now it’s time to get paid.
P.S. Contracts can take months to show up. Don’t freak (too much) if you get the book deal in May but the contracts don’t arrive until September or October. Traditional publishing moves at an absolutely glacial pace.
17. Start your marketing engines! All of us have to market our books—ALL OF US. Because you don’t “own” your book anymore—the publisher does—your marketing options in terms of running promotions are a bit more limited. However, you can:
Check out #BookTok on TikTok. TikTok has been hugely influential in selling books over the past couple years!
Hire a publicist if you have the money ($$$).
Hire a blog tour company to do a book blitz and review tour leading up to and on release day/week.
Make swag, teasers, and promotional materials (Canva, BookBrush, Stencil, and Photoshop are great for this) to share on your website and social media accounts.
Make merch via Printful, Printify, Red Bubble, and others, and sell via your own storefront on your website or via Shopify or WooCommerce. Google “print on demand services” and have fun falling down that rabbit hole!
Coordinate giveaways with your ARCs (advance reader copies) and/or author copies from your publisher. Readers love free stuff!
Go talk to your local bookshops about doing an in-person signing and/or book launch party. (Some publishers will coordinate this with major bookstore chains. Ask your agent to follow up with your editor.) Booksellers should be among your best friends. Do NOT go into a bookstore and act like they owe you something—they are there to help you, not serve you.
Your marketing is only limited by your imagination and budget!
18. Count down the days until publication and celebrate your book baby entering the world!
It’s also important to note that most publishers do not throw money at their authors for marketing purposes, especially debut authors. You definitely will want to start the process of selling yourself long before the book comes out. And prospective agents will GOOGLE YOU, so if you have questionable content on your socials, now is the time to clean house.
Also, YES, you do need a website, and YES, you probably should be on social media in some form. It’s how the world works now.
No one will love your book as much as you do, so now is the time to prepare yourself for the task of selling your work, which can be a big growing pain for the introverted writer.
Dogs (and cats) are very helpful writing assistants and cheerleaders.
What is a HYBRID author?
A hybrid author is exactly what it sounds like—a cross between indie and traditional publishing. You might want to seek traditional publishing deals via an agent, but you also might want to publish projects on your own under a pen name. You might also want to hang on to certain rights rather than including them in a traditional deal. Brandon Sanderson is kind of a legend when it comes to hanging on to specific rights for his own use later.
I have traditionally published books under Jennifer Sommersby and Eliza Gordon; however, I have kept the Eliza Gordon books separate and distinct in the contract with my agent so that I can control what happens to these books and their subrights.
Subrights include film, TV, audiobook, and translation deals, all of which are ripe to be exploited. Your book is MORE than just an e-book or paperback—there are so many pieces to that pie, and publishers, producers, video game creators, and content providers will pay for these rights. This is where an agent (or a sharp IP attorney) can really come in handy.
For example, all of my Eliza Gordon books are available on audio through a traditional deal (one that involves a formal contract, an advance paid to me, and specific royalty terms that are not anywhere near as lucrative as I would get if I were to produce the audiobook on my own). However, I took the deals because I didn’t want to handle producing my audiobooks, I liked the idea of cash up-front, and I am always hopeful the publishing companies will do marketing I otherwise cannot afford and/or do not have access to.
It should also be noted that audiobook production can be very expensive, the royalty share agreements are not always awesome, and/or you can be locked into a contract for seven or more years, depending on the company you go with. Definitely check out my Resources PDF for a few options on popular audiobook producers if you want to do this on your own.
Looking for info on INDIE/SELF-PUBLISHING?
Click through!
The most important part of publishing? Flexibility! Be ready to adapt and learn with every new day.