The marketing side of the equation has always been an interesting one. If you were to be traditionally published, some of the initial marketing will be done by the publishing house, but the lion’s share of the work falls on your shoulders. This is one of the reasons why many have turned to self-publication.

In terms of making more money… Again, this is an interesting area. If one was to self-publish through the likes of Amazon KDP, you can earn up to 70% of the royalties, but you would also need to do a significant amount of marketing to see decent returns. Saying that, you can see the returns faster, as you don’t need to wait for the publishing house’s schedule for you to get those returns.

With a publishing house, you should be offered an advance. However, you will not see any more money until your portion of the royalties is worth more than what you were given as an advance. It’s a calculated risk that the publishing house makes. How many units do they think they can sell (with your assistance in marketing)?

In terms of deciding what you should do with this project, going self or trad, decide what your goal for the project actually is and go from there. If your goal is to make money, then I would seriously consider self-publication. If your goal is to have a wide reach and go international, then seriously consider traditional.

However, also consider what your ideal timeline to publication is. If your goal is to be published within a year, then self will be the way to go. If you’re prepared to wait years (and years is not an exaggeration), and be willing to face rejection after rejection after rejection, then you might have the temperament suited for traditional.

I myself am a hybrid, with both traditional contracts and self-publications with my nonfiction writing, so I do understand the dilemma you’re now facing. Regardless of the path you choose, to provide yourself with the best chances for success, ensure that you have written a quality product that has been well edited.

Go through some of the articles and resources available on Black Wolf Editorial Services. I do talk about some of the pitfalls of both paths over on that blog.

That is awesome! It’s the new ones coming up into the world of social media who are actually at the greatest risk. They have grown up with this world, it’s in the movies, but they don’t see the danger, because they’ve never had to think the way I do.

You might want to share with this the tips found in Facebook: Is it time to panic? over on the Editor’s Blog on Black Wolf Editorial Services. The article might have Facebook in the title, but it really is filled with generic information about the little steps we can take to protect ourselves on the internet.

Hi Natasha,
Yes, I’ll be going into bad-guy mode on Facebook and Instagram too. However, if you want to take steps to protect yourself now, I have written a significant amount about the various security setting on Facebook on the Editor’s Blog on Black Wolf Editorial Services. Facebook: Is it time to panic? is that latest in a long list of articles that you can find there.

Thank you. Here’s hoping that we can keep the experiment going without going insane.