The “hybrid” author
Il dilemma of a writer rookie or first experiences is: meglio experience the self publishing or pursue your dream of publishing with a casa editrice?
The right answer is… both the ways and maybe a third one! There are already a great many”hybrid authors”, that is, authors who are deciding to make know theirs talent through multiple forms of publication. But it is about authors who have a career started, which have the luck of being able choose.
If, however, theauthor has just begun its journey, it will have to choose between one of the mode existing. So which one to choose? There choice can be dictated by many reasons concerning the sensibility of the writer, his training, his project of career and finally hers ambition. Of course, there is also theeconomic aspect if the author thinks he lives on his own work, to which he would like to devote himself to full time. If this aspect is not a priority, you can also abandon reading this post, if instead the economic aspect is part of the project, then we advise you to follow us. From this point of view, everyone thinks that being published by Penguin-Random House is better than self-publish on the Kindle Store or with Smashwords. Looking at the pairs of numbers that follow, this truism no longer appears. L'alternative to the publication traditional, too very important, has its own specific weight. It is no longer plan B, which is always needed.
$ 24.500 vs $ 17.000
These figures refer to the earnings made by a hypothetical author with books published through different channels in the same period of time. The following two hypotheses have been presented by Dana Beth Weinberg, professor of sociology at Queens College in New York, at the Digital Book Word Conference last January. Weineberg's is adata-driven analysis which overturns many clichés. Here is one: the authors is publican with Amazon do more money of those who publish with the big five publishing world (Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Macmillan and Hachette). Another discouraging finding for aspiring full-time writers is that only 944 (27,5%) of the 3439 authors with the highest sales on Amazon they manage to accumulate with royalties one daily pay top al minimum salary in the United States ($7,25 per hour = $58 per day). But let's get back to our topic and refer the reader to read the New York scholar's contribution for more information.
Let's assume that an author intends post on the Kindle Store, through the Kindle direct publishing (KDP), four short novels of 25 thousand words each at a price of $2,99 to novel. Amazon recognizes a 70% royalty for all ebooks whose price is between 1,99 and 9,99 dollars/euro. Since it is a price included in this range, the author receives a royalty of just over two dollars for each "copy" sold.
We also assume that the same author, employing a similar creative effort deployed in an identical period of time, also prepares a romance di 100 thousand words to be entrusted to one traditional publishing house who will distribute it in the trade channel and ebook. Suppose also that the publisher is selling the book a $18,99 andebook a 9,99.
Now, let's say the writer has 3000 loyal readers ready to buy all his novels. Let's also assume that the publishing house manages to activate, with its channels, 5000 new customers willing to buy the book.
What happens economically? It happens that, with the same author-time, theself-publishing results very more advantageousthat schedule below shows i results of this hypothetical scenario. Of course this is an assumption that is based entirely on the assumption that the author managed to to build a great following in network and on social media. A situation that does not always occur for a rookie.
Skeptics will be quick to comment that it actually is difficult find those 3000 loyalists and they are right, but all the same skepticism also applies to the classic publication! Like it or not, it's a lot difficult than the new ones authors have i promotional means adequate and the degree of competitiveness needed to secure such a large base of aficionados, famous writers barely succeed.
How much does a self-publishing and a traditional publication make to an author for the same writing time:
Self-publishing on the Kindle Store
4 short novels of 25 thousand words
$2,04 royalty (70% of $2,99, ebook price)
3.000 downloads for each title
(3000 × 2,04) × 4 = $24.480
Royalty Advance: None
author margin = $24.480
Publishing with traditional publisher
1 novel of 100 thousand words
Book
$1,89 royalty (10% of $18,99, cover price)
5.000 copies sold
(5000 × 1,89) × 1 = $9.495
ebook
$2,49 royalty (25% of $9,99 )
3.000 download
(3000 × 1,75) × 1 = $7.492
Royalty Advance: $3000 to $5000
author margin = $16.987
Vs. 2 24
However, there is another factor that must be taken into consideration in this comparison and which projects the revenue potential of self-published authors into a completely new perspective. It's about the number di months that independent publications (2) and traditional ones (20) they employ on average for be launched on the market.
A self-published book can be on sale in no time. It only takes a couple of months to see it on sale in all online stores, including Amazon. Two months. The time required for professional editing, cover art and software is also included in this estimate.
Una classic publication may require between 18 and 24 months before being in the bookstore, assuming you can immediately find a publisher willing to publish the manuscript. THE times di evaluation of agents, before, and of publishing houses, after, they are rather long. Sometimes it takes more than two years.
The capitalist principle that "time is money" is as valid as ever in the publishing arena. Sure testi, especially in non-fiction, age quickly; sure temi narratives they are seasonal and tend to be replaced by others, i tastes of the public change quickly. But there is even more. Going back to the hypothesis we talked about above, how many revenues they might occur in self-publishing mode during 18/24 months where you expect the verdict of the publisher. Well, quite a bit!
100% vs 5%
Unless an author wrote the new one Fifty shades, Twilight o Hunger Games, it takes a lot of luck to be "considered" by publishing houses. There are writers also a lot famous that have messo years for find out an agent and a editor willing to give it a chance. Today almost all publishing houses si move in a Hollywood logic: you search theauthor able to have a guaranteed success, which is why you can be pretty sure that in the future there will still be a Fast & Furious 28! Like the Hollywood majors, the majors publishing giants they need to play it safe, can't afford to risk giving space to unproven writers. The risk must be non-existent, and there is little space for experience. The experimentation is left to others.
The truth is that many authors they won't succeed not even ad approach to a traditional contract. It is estimated that in the most developed publishing market, the United States, only the 5% of the potentials authors manage to raggiungere un contract and with a major publishing house.
With self-publishing, 5% becomes 100%: there is the certainty of giving the book the potential to reach millions of readers who are finally left with the final judgment on the work.
Bottom line, the numbers show that new authors have a lot to gain from self publishing if only how means to be there.
The new publishing
Between traditional publishing and self-publishing there is one third way which we could define as new independent publishing which has in the digital his territory of action. These new realities can side by side The authors, in the context of an almost equal relationship, lifting them laid down by the part more burdensome ofself-publishing, the part that is that subtracts time to writing and other creative work.
Recently an important author, who has abandoned traditional publishing to devote himself entirely to self publishing, stated that the writing time has dramatically reduced after this choice. More than half of the time working He goes away in public relations, promotion, administrative matters, relations with distribution platforms, production and editing and other activities that have more to do entrepreneur job than with that of writer.
L'author which means devote yourself entirely to writing and to the creative activity can decide to do side by side From one technical-promotional structure focused on new media and with some know-how in editorial production that is capable of take charge of all the entrepreneurial activities of the work of publishing for the market.
These new realities, unlike even traditional publishing houses, are already born focus on network, they have one technological component that the former lack, they think with a different mentality and they are open a business models innovative, whereas traditional publishing tends to be conservative and defensive. Furthermore, with the new publishing, authors can practice innovations in terms of content because it is now a fact that the new technologies will lead to define gods new narrative paradigms who will use, duly mixed, more expressive means. These types of paths and experiments are very difficult in the traditional publishing channel, while they are much sought after by the realities born and raised in the new media.
This is why the dilemma "publishing house or self publishing?" can be dissolved with a disclaimer "go where you want, but go!".
