Weighing Up Traditional Publishing & Ebook Publishing

Robert W. Walker is a graduate of Chicago’s Wells High School, Northwestern University, and the NU’s Graduate Masters in English Education program.  Rob has taught writing in all its permutations (“All writing is creative writing but not all writing sings,” he says.) from composition and developmental to a study of the literary masters to creative and advanced creative writing.  His first novel was one only an arrogant youth could have conceived — a sequel to Huckleberry Finn (now published as Daniel & The Wrongway Railway, Royal Fireworks Press, NY), but his first suspense-techno-thriller-sf-mystery came in 1979, after college, a novel that won no awards entitled SUB-ZERO.

In any non-traditional publishing as in ebook publication, there is no such thing as “an advance against royalties”.  In Traditional Publishing as we know, now often termed DTB’s by our younger generations, ie. Dead Tree Books the “advance” has always been there. This is a significant difference. For the older generation, my generation, the first phrase that comes to mind for the author is “an advance against royalties” and what this means is the author gets a lump sum “loan payment” to start work on the process of crafting a book or novel. However, in ebook non-traditional publishing wherein everything is lower case, there are NO advances. In fact, in “non-publishing” as some like to call it, there are a lot of “NO’s” to the traditional model.

However, before we get too far afield, an advance against a royalty of a $100, 000 is a thing of beauty on the surface. No doubt about that. A writer can rejoice. However if it is for four books to be written over four years, that’s pretty much slave wages or $25,000 a year, which if one is independently wealthy makes for nice pen money. Not so with most people who are attempting to make a living (no joke) at writing.

To the midlist author who wins this arrangement or spin of the publishing wheel, 25,000 a year does not go far. It’s about minimum wage if that. Whereas in ebook publishing, there are NO advances and no paying back of that 25,000 a year either. On the one hand, your publisher grants you a “loan” to be paid back via your royalties (if royalties even occur); on the other hand, every cent of an advance must be paid back to the publisher via your royalties, and until that hundred thousand is worked off by your royalties (if at all) you see no additional funds from royalties. Should your sales be too low to return that advance to your publisher, you are both left with a bad business loan, and your name or reputation as a writer is mud thereafter.

The above is one area where traditional and non-traditional publishing go in very different directions. But there are far more differences for the writer as businessman as well. Below are some of the glaring differences other than no advances.

Traditional Publishing Ebook Publishing
They contract for all rights including ebook You are in a partnership with Kindle/other
Your royalty rate for paper is 10 percent/12 hardcover Your royalty rate is 70 percent
Your chance of having returns is 100% & remainders too So few returns, negligible/no remainders
Your chance of getting a rejection letter 90 to 100% No rejection letters
Professional, topnotch editorial help at no charge Editorial help at your expense
Author pockets 10-12% of a $25 book Author pockets 70% of 2.99/3.99

(* This means an author makes more on each 2.99 ebook than each 25 traditional book)

9 months to 2 yrs. from acceptance final MS til pub date Author publishes when s/he wishes
Publisher determines everything on cover Author decides all cover art matters
Publisher writes copy/description of book Author writes copy/description
Publisher can/often does change title Author determines title
Publisher determines price of book Author determines price
Publisher dictates/curtails length of book Author determines length
Publisher’s royalty statement routinely confusing Ebook gives clear daily sales report
Publisher’s royalty statement not seen for 6-12 months Ebook statement daily report
Royalty statement/payment confusing 90% of the time Payout arrangement clear

Allow me to add some other hard-won lessons regarding the above points. Publisher determines design matters such as single or multiple volumes or a series, and in ebook publishing, the author has control over such issues as series, stand-alone, or three volumes in one.

These differences are due in large part to the medium.  The medium is the message. What I can add is that with traditional publishing comes “traditional” notions of prestige, as in “real book publication” grants a writer a certain prestige among readers, critics, and other writers. However, a new attitude is being seen, an attitude among readers and writers that says the text is of tantamount importance, not the way a book is delivered. While this notion and ebook publishing have been around now for approximately thirty to forty years, young people, new generations, are embracing it completely. The idea that a book delivered in sixty seconds on a Kindle reader is as viable a piece of writing as if it is delivered between the covers of a hardbound book—or can be. This is something of a radical shift not in publishing but in readers.

Many traditional publishers either do not get this or simply wish to fight for the old standards of ‘proper’ format and delivery of books. In the past and now, many people believe that a book showing up in hardcover is a better book, better vetted, better edited and certainly written better. However, we have all encountered hardbound books riddled with problems from grammar to concept. More and more, readers are learning about the struggle that goes on behind the writing of a novel, the research, the rewrites, the editing, vetting and more rewrites that go into the creation of an ebook by a writer, and while some ebooks display a lack of talent, nowadays more and more display genius “outside the bun” or in this case “outside the covers”. Never judge a book by its cover takes on a whole new meaning, despite the fact ebook cover graphics has spawned a whole  new ‘industry’ as has ebook digital platform and editing services.

Publishing with a major traditional publisher certainly can win one respect and sometimes critical acclaim, neither of which are automatically going to increase sales, but awards and accolades are a wonderful thing. However, the drawbacks can be many for the author, not the least being a far smaller percentage (12 vs. 70).  Notably, traditional publishers, since the state-of-the-art Kindle device has skyrocketed in sales are suddenly insisting contractually that authors turn over their electronic rights to the publisher. Some authors have been savvy to maintain their ebook rights regardless. However, traditional publishers holding your ebook rights—especially the majors—as a rule will set your ebook price far too high to the detriment of ebook sales.

E-readers are savvy and will turn away in droves if an ebook is priced too high. Several of my books are saddled with this problem as the publisher set the price, while ebooks priced by me are selling a thousand books a month nowadays. In short, the e-reading public will seldom to never purchase a e-novel or e-book priced at the same or nearly the same as the paper or hardbound book. Not to mention that an author will always make more money putting his ebook rights to work on his own rather than through a publisher.

Working directly with Amazon.com, the author is basically given—at no charge—the opportunity to become a franchise. Most midlist authors are given no advertising budget, no coop monies, nothing as any ad dollars go for the stars alone. With Amazon/Kindle and other ebook publishers, every ebook an author places on digital platform gains instant distribution (distribution with traditional publishers presents both publisher and author with stripped, returned books, a nightmare in bookkeeping, and a sure path to remainders). Reading a royalty statement from a traditional publisher is always a guessing game; reading the daily ‘ticker’ on each ebook with your name on it is as easy as reading the stock market and about as addictive. Going back to Ebook distribution. Distribution is advertising is distribution in the ebook world. It is entirely virtual and online. With Kindle ads going out on national TV and Kindles being used as props in major motion pictures, the author can only benefit more.

There are no doubt many other comparison points between traditional and non-traditional publishing but you know what?  Non-traditional modes of publication are getting to be part of the mainstream and hardly ‘non’ anymore.  Many authors are going the Indie Author/Publisher route as it makes perfect economical sense to do so. This is especially true for authors with large backlists of otherwise dead books known as out of prints. Already edited and vetted books that have seen returns, remainder days, used bookstore days—all of which pulls money from the pocket of authors. Now such lost titles are working for authors to the tune of thousands going back into the author’s pocket.

I hope this little compare/contrast blog has been of help to you personally if not professionally. Hope to see you on facebook, twitter, and elsewhere online –

Robert W. Walker

Children of Salem, Killer Instinct, Cutting Edge, and soon at a Kindle near you, Titanic 2012

www.robertwalkerbooks.com – Free first 14 chapters of Titanic 2012 available here

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July 13, 2010   Posted in: Guest Blogs

13 Responses

  1. Norman W Wilson, PhD - July 13, 2010

    Rob,
    You have done all of us a very large favor by making this excellent comparison of the ‘traditional’ publisher and ebook publishing. I found it informative and to the point. Thank you for taking the time to write it and share it.

  2. Scott Nicholson - July 13, 2010

    Brilliant, Robert!

    Scott

  3. Selena Kitt - July 13, 2010

    This is very helpful! It’s so very clear to me that – at least right now – the most author-friendly way to go is not through a traditional publishing route. I stumbled on it by accident, but I’m so glad I did! I’ve sold gangbusters on Kindle this year and am still going strong, listed #1 in Amazon’s erotica category. And erotica doesn’t usually sell well with “traditional” pubs – if they accept it at all. Thank goodness for Kindle!

  4. Kristie Cook - July 13, 2010

    Great article! This summarizes exactly why I went indie. To me, it’s a no-brainer. A major point: It’s so easy for indie authors/indie publishers to move with the technology changes, whereas ginormous “traditional” publishers have years of legal and execution issues to deal with. By the time they finally figure this one out, something else will be out there. We can capitalize on it, while they’re still trying to figure out what it even is. Thanks for writing this! I’ve bookmarked it to link back in a future blog post.

  5. Morgan Mandel - July 13, 2010

    I’m all for e-books! I’m planning on publishing my next one that way, maybe do a very small print run of non-returnables for appearances also through Lightning Press.

  6. Caroline Clemmons - July 13, 2010

    Great article. I appreciate the information.

  7. Ann Charles - July 13, 2010

    Rob,

    Thanks for such a thorough examination of these type publishing venues. This was a helpful, exciting article. Here’s to change!

    Ann Charles

  8. Lelia - July 14, 2010

    Rob, thanks so much for sharing this with us. You, of all people, have a great deal of credibility on this subject.

  9. Kait Nolan - July 14, 2010

    Thanks for the comparison, Rob! You’ve highlighted a lot of great reasons that not only existing midlist authors would be wise to embrace self publishing ebooks but also why it’s not a bad idea for the aspiring writer to do so as well. The fact of the matter is that more and more agents and editors are coming out and telling writers “don’t quit your day job”. The industry as a whole is going through massive change and upheaval (whether the publishers are willing to acknowledge it or not), and it’s completely unreasonable and unfair to say “don’t quit your day job” when that is THE DREAM. Nobody wants to work some job and write on the side. Nobody wants to work 2 or more jobs for the rest of their lives. We want to WRITE FOR A LIVING, and self publishing (via both e and POD) is a means of allowing writers to do that. With e, it never goes out of print. There’s a steady, passive stream of income that can be built over a period of years, without the delay of 1-3 years between acceptance and availability, which will actually give the writer a BETTER grasp of whether it is a fiscally responsible decision to quit the day job. There are no royalty statements that require an advanced degree to interpret. It’s straight up, I sold this many, I made this much, and I get paid on a monthly or quarterly basis, period. That’s a far better dream, in my opinion, than getting the DTB accolades and having to continue to work the day job.

  10. Re-Evaluating Goals | Kait Nolan - July 14, 2010

    [...] And if that’s not enough, here’s a great post weighing up traditional publishing vs. ebook publishing by Robert Walker. [...]

  11. Sandra Crowley - July 14, 2010

    Thank you for an informative article that supports my decision to turn to e-publishing.

  12. Wulfie - July 14, 2010

    Thanks for this. I found it very helpful as writer who has been away too long and not up to date on the publishing industry. I was leery of e-books. I guess I had them categorized under Vantage Press. I see now that’s wrong and I appreciate the correction.

    Thanks again.

  13. Robert W. Walker - July 14, 2010

    Wow – I guess I struck a nerve. Everyone is floundering in this crazy business right now and the only safe harbor I see on the horizon is Kindle/Amazon….and then use wordclay for the POD. There’s been no joy in Mudville for me for now three years. But in AmaKindleVille, wow. I never done done so well in box stores as I done done with the same books on Kindle twenty years later.

    Thanks for dropping by and wonderful responses. All of you.
    Working on getting my next book ready, vetted, edited, etc. and onto Kindle by Sept. hopefully so am busy but am always on facebook and twitter and DorothyL and MurderMustAdvertise and KindleKorner.

    rob can also reach me at inkwalk@sbcglobal.net

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