Publishing Traditional Vs Self
As writers and authors we all aspire to being traditionally published, the only problem with that is that it is so damn difficult to get there, and so expensive. Some of us will get so frustrated with trying, that they will pull back from being told no, and either self publish, or vanity publish.
There are many advantages to both, with a Traditional Publishing House deal, you have an organisation that will take over every aspect of your novel being published. You of course will have to do the edits that they hand you, and adhere to the contract you are given, and maybe even do part of the publishing. You have someone to ask questions of, and someone to steer you in the right direction. This takes time, anything from six to twelve months from start of the process to the end. Some companies won't take your work to the slush pile unless you have an agent, some don't like you sending them work unless they are in a run of accepting work, best to check out their websites and directions before even attempting to send them anything.
Vanity Publishing has gotten itself a bad name, some companies say they will publish your book if you pay them x amount, and then fail to follow through. Not all of them are like this though, some will do the work for you, but once again, you will be left to publish the work, and also bring it around bookshops to see if by some remote chance they will take a box and sell them.
Self Publishing (Indie Publishing) consists of companies such as Amazon, Kobo, Apple Books, Google Play, Lulu etc. (see list). These all run step by step instructions as to how to prepare your manuscript, and load it as well as the cover you made (or had made), to their site where you can create an eBook and paperback, some even offer hard back editions. One or two will even let you upload picture books, and graphic novels. Like all of the above, marketing is all up to you, and if you have paperbacks you can try your local indie book shop (we actually don't have a local, or mainstream where I live, wonder if the library would take a copy). You can self publish anytime you want, the eBook may come out before you receive the paperback which might arrive in a couple of days or weeks depending on where you live.
In the long run it's up to you what you do, here in Ireland, we have something run by the Irish Writers Centre called the Novel Fair where an author applies to compete with other authors to get their manuscripts in front of industry professionals, have a look at the site and see if you qualify for the next round competition, if so it might be worth the effort.
Plan (Authors Yearly)
Okay, now I know this might be a stretch for most of us, as sometimes we don't know what we are doing from one day to the next, but something that you should have in your Authors Notebook, or digitally saved is this plan, basically an outline of what you hope to be doing during the year, start out with the year:
2024
January
Mon - Editing Vampire Chapter 3 10.00 am - 4pm
Tues - Editing Vampire Chapter 4 / 5 As above
Wednesday Editing Chapter 5 / 6 As above
Thursday Media Presence Updates As above
Friday Editing Chapter 7 10. 12pm (food shop)
Sat Off
Sun Off
Don't forget if there are any workshops or conferences, or festivals that you know of, mark them down in this plan as well.
Also note any advertising that you are planning on doing, book signings, or talks.
This plan can be as small or big as you like, just make sure you have room for adding in stuff at the last moment, or making notes.
If you believe in structure, this is something you should get used to doing, even if you have a diary, or calendar just mark them in, though I'd recommend a date planner / diary for the length of writing, and calendar for festivals and conferences etc.,
This does assume that you keep track of the writers festivals, conferences, talks etc., that happen each year as they happen, something to maybe put in your authors notebook.
Traditional Publishing Vs. Self Publishing
Authors Yearly Plan
Remember, don't download or sign up for anything you don't want to, you don't have to okay.
I've been traditionally published 7 times with an 8th on the way. I also used a vanity publisher to publish my debut novel (the first edition anyway) and I've self published two short story anthologies and a memoir. I do not like or recommend vanity publishing because I think it's a win for the publisher, and as you say many of them are scams. I prefer to trad pub as it means I don't have to pay for an editor or a cover artist. I chose to self publish because my publisher doesn't publish anthologies or memoir. As usual, I agree with your advice. Re self publishing though, you left out Draft to Digital. D2D is excellent for wide publishing and much easier to use than KDP imo.
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