Self-Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing: Which is Right for You?

This post is written by Francesca Catlow, bestselling author of The Little Blue Door and Under a Greek Sky.

If you’re interested in publishing a book, there are two routes you can pursue: self-publishing or traditional publishing.

With traditional publishing, a publishing house takes over your book's rights and oversees the whole process — from editing to distribution — then provides you with a share of the royalties. Self-publishing, on the other hand, is just that: you are your own publisher. It allows you to retain all rights and profits, but requires you to manage everything and sell the book all by yourself. You’ll also give up some royalties to your hosting platform (like Amazon or Apple Books), but you’ll take home a much higher royalty percentage than with traditional publishing.

One isn’t necessarily better than the other; it depends on your preferences as an author. Over the past five years, I’ve self-published and traditionally published, so I can walk you through the process for each to help you decide which one is right for you. We’ll start off with a quick table to compare the main differences directly:

You should self publish if you…	You should traditionally publish if you…
Can crowdfund or invest your own money into this project	Prefer not to crowdfund or invest your own money into this project
Can manage tasks like formatting, cover design, marketing etc. on your own, or are able to hire freelancers to help you	Prefer to focus largely on writing and editing
Prefer 35%–70% royalties on ebooks and 40%–60% on prints, but no advance	Prefer an advance (typically $5k–$10k), as well as 25%–40% royalties on ebooks and 5%–15% on print books
Want full creative control over every aspect of your book	Can accept relinquishing creative control over the book’s contents or appearance if needed
Want to retain publishing rights across all channels and mediums	Can accept potentially giving up subsidiary and foreign rights
Want to absolutely guarantee your book will be published	Can tolerate multiple rejections from agents and publishers
Want to choose the publication and launch date	Can wait for your publisher to find a spot for your book in their seasonal calendar

Read on for a more in-depth exploration of self publishing vs. traditional publishing, along with some tips that have helped me on my own journey. Let’s start with the cost.

How much will you spend vs earn?

Self-publishing can be costly — at first

Regardless of which path you take, a ton of work goes into publishing a book. For independent authors, that means investing a lot of their own time, money, or both. Formatting, editing, cover design, and marketing are all essential parts of the publishing process. When you self-publish, you'll either need to handle these yourself, or hire a professional to help you out.

Reedsy provides something I wish I had when I was starting out — a calculator that breaks down how much you can expect to spend on editing:

These costs can seem intimidating, but it’s like starting up a new business: you need to spend money to make money. Self-published authors take home a fairly high percentage of the royalties generated by their books — typically between 35% and 70% for ebooks, and 40% to 60% for print books.

Meanwhile, traditionally published authors will only see royalty rates of around 25% to 40% for ebooks, and 5% to 15% for print books. Also keep in mind that these rates are calculated on net profit, not gross sales. This means that any fees charged by hosting platforms or retailers are deducted before your royalty percentage is applied.

So while it might be pricey upfront to self-publish, the higher royalty rates mean you'll earn significantly more per book sold in the long run. Plus, the better the final product, the more likely you are to sell more copies and earn more money!

Traditional publishing costs nothing — but royalties are lower

Now let’s look at the other side. When a traditional publishing house signs you, they’ll take on the financial responsibility of editing, designing, producing, and marketing your book. They’ll also pay you an advance on your book’s royalties (averaging around $5,000 to $10,000).

This advance usually indicates how well they think your book will sell, though some publishers have standard rates that they offer for each genre. The advance also depends on the publisher’s size, the competitiveness of your genre, and your existing author platform. Of course, the siren song of the advance can be tempting… but remember that if you take an advance from a publisher, you must “earn out” that advance before receiving further royalties — and again, the royalty rates will be lower than they are with self-publishing.

At this point, you might wonder: if these royalty rates are so much lower, is traditional publishing even worth it? Again, for many authors, it comes down to the allure of the advance. $5k-$10k at once is nothing to sneeze at, especially if you need that lump sum to maintain your livelihood.

However, I would also say that the days of getting a guaranteed advance from a traditional publisher may be numbered. I have been approached with multiple offers from reputable publishing houses that did not include an advance as part of the contract. And personally, I would discourage any author from taking a contract without an advance. Know your worth, and negotiate accordingly!

Pro tip: Even if you’re aiming for a traditional publishing deal, I still recommend paying for a professional edit before pitching — at least for the first three chapters with which you’ll be querying. You’re more likely to get a response with a well-manicured manuscript!

How much creative freedom do you want?

For many authors, one of the biggest draws to self-publishing is the level of creative control that they can retain. You get to make the final call over everything, from your book's contents to its cover. That isn’t to say you should ignore the feedback of the editors and designers you hire — but they’ll work toward realizing your vision and no one else’s.

In traditional publishing, meanwhile, you’ll need to consider a myriad of different opinions from professionals across various departments. You’ll have far less say over the parts of the process that involve market research and technical knowledge, like designing the book cover or creating marketing material.

Now, that doesn’t mean you’ll have no say in these matters — just that your level of input will vary from publisher to publisher. For example, I was fortunate enough to work with a great, receptive team at Lake Union Publishing for Under a Greek Sky; I disliked the initial cover design they sent over, so it was changed in line with my suggestions.

If you’re concerned about losing creative control with a traditional publisher, the most important precaution is to carefully read over your contract. You should also speak to the actual team you’ll be working with, ask about their recent collaborations, and evaluate how likely they are to listen to your opinions. If they seem inflexible or there are rigid contractual obligations, you may want to think twice about signing.

What's your ideal publication timeline?

A big part of a traditional publishing deal is having a team of professional editors, designers, and marketers work on your book to transform it into a top-notch title. While this input is undoubtedly helpful (and appreciated!), it can also be a frustrating and time-consuming process. 

For some authors, the neverending email chains between you, your agent, and the in-house professionals are exhausting — though this isn’t always the case! I don’t have an agent, as I was approached directly by Lake Union Publishing. With them, I’m able to go straight to my wonderful editor with questions, and they help me navigate every aspect of the publishing process smoothly and efficiently.

Then again, complex correspondence may be the least of your worries; other factors can delay your book’s release as well. Remember, even small publishing houses work on a handful of titles a year, and bigger ones work on hundreds of them! Your book must be slotted into their wider publication and marketing schedule, meaning that you’ll likely have to wait more than a year before your work is published — and that’s a best-case scenario. 

Meanwhile, if you choose to self-publish, the timeline only depends on how quickly you (and the professionals you hire to edit, design, and market your book) can get things done. My amazing Lake Union editor aside, I’ve found that communication is much more straightforward this way. The sooner you finish, the sooner you get to publish — simple as that.

Of course, you may still wish to wait for a certain time of year to launch (like wintertime if your book has a seasonal backdrop), or spend time organizing a book party to shine a spotlight on your sparkling new release. But with self-publishing, you always have the option to hit publish as soon as your book is complete. The choice is yours!

How much marketing do you want to do?

As you might expect, self-published authors are entirely responsible for marketing their own books. You’ll need to cold-pitch other industry professionals, learn how to use advertising platforms like Amazon, build relationships with book bloggers and podcasters, and manage all the business infrastructure yourself.

It can be pretty hard in the beginning — but you can employ people, connect on social platforms and chat to other authors to help you find your way. When I was promoting The Little Blue Door, I reached out to a presenter at my local radio station to see whether they would be interested in talking to me about my new book. The first interview was over the phone, but it went so well that I was invited back to be a sofa guest and talk about myself and my books again! 

If you’re able to secure a traditional publishing deal, you might expect your publisher to handle the brunt of the marketing efforts. While they can certainly help you land opportunities, you’ll still need to put in significant work to market your book independently.

What publishers actually handle

As part of a traditional publishing contract, you’ll typically be assigned a publicist. They’ll be responsible for tasks like getting your book listed on retailer websites, creating promotional materials, and setting up ads on major platforms like Facebook and Amazon. They’ll also distribute advance reader copies (ARCs) to major publications and secure media opportunities.

When I worked with Lake Union Publishing for Under A Greek Sky, they distributed ARCs on NetGalley — something I'd only done once while self-published due to the steep upfront cost. Beyond that, they kept me in the loop on any deals they’d be running on my ebook, and even invited me to a TikTok course with Tandem Collective! I’d dreamed of working with Tandem when I was self-published, so having their marketing team posting about my books felt surreal.

What falls to the author

In the traditional publishing world, the degree of marketing support varies a lot depending on your publisher. Fortunately for me, Lake Union has been extremely supportive; in addition to the aforementioned TikTok course and ARC distribution, they’ve also created images and other materials for my newsletter and social media. But not everyone is so lucky. I’ve had several trad pub authors reach out to me for help running their own Facebook ads!

I should also acknowledge the reality of daily marketing activities, which is that they’re remarkably similar between both publishing paths. Posting on social media, writing a regular newsletter, engaging with readers — all of this will ultimately be your own responsibility, regardless of which publishing route you take.

Social media has become a particularly important component of modern book marketing. You don’t need to post every single day, but frequent updates will keep your audience engaged. Building a personal connection with your readers through platforms like TikTok and Instagram will help generate organic momentum as you get closer to your book launch.

How important is bookstore distribution to you?

Bookstore distribution is one of the most misunderstood aspects of the publication process, so let me clear up some common misconceptions.

Much of the time, a traditional publishing deal is a safer path to bookstore shelves. After all, most publishing houses have preexisting relationships with bookstores to help streamline the process. Larger publishing houses may also pay upfront for window and table space to display your book if they think it’s going to be a big seller.

Still, self-published books can (and do!) get displayed in bookstores — it’s just up to you to make it happen. To pull that off, you’ll need to present your book in a way that convinces booksellers it’s worth stocking.

Personally, I’ve found it better to get my self-published works onto store shelves because I was the one pushing for it. When I began marketing my first book, I approached my local Waterstones branches with this fact sheet:

Following a pleasant conversation with the manager, they were happy to feature The Little Blue Door in their store and all my other books as they came out. It was a similar story when I visited my local independent store (Dial Lane Books in Ipswich, UK) — after a brief chat with the staff, they agreed to host a signing and stock my books. High Amazon ratings, a beautiful cover, and a professional approach will open more doors than you might expect!

Meanwhile, my traditionally published works have actually been tied up with distribution issues, which has prevented them from being available on shelves. And even once those issues have been resolved, I'll be the one responsible for organizing book signings and other in-person events, just as I did for my self-published work.

This is in part because my publishing house is a “digital-first publisher”, which means they have limited resources for traditional marketing and rely heavily on authors to drive their own promotional efforts. For authors going through Big 5 imprints, those imprints may well operate differently — but it’s still good to be aware of the distribution process and how you can gain more distribution agency as an author. 

How much do you care about your rights as the author?

Finally, let’s discuss publishing rights. When self-publishing, you keep the right to publish your book across all formats. If, for example, you’d like your book translated into a different language (as I did for The Little Blue Door series), you'd be free to hire a translator to help you do so. Just make sure you work with a professional; AI translations are still shoddy at best, and translators do great work.

Things work a bit differently with a traditional publishing deal. When a publishing house acquires a manuscript, they’re essentially buying the rights to publish that manuscript in all possible forms. These may include:

• Primary publication rights (being the first to publish a book in the market);
• Subsidiary rights (to publish the book in other formats, like audiobook or film); and
• Foreign rights. 

While most big publishers will want at least some subsidiary rights, a good literary agent will advise you to retain as many of these rights as possible. You can then sell these rights to other, more suitable publishers and studios yourself if you want to publish in different formats and markets.

If you self-publish, you won’t have to worry about signing away any of these rights. Once the opportunity arrives (as it did for Andy Weir’s The Martian audiobook), you can sell subsidiary rights to the highest bidder and earn more for your own hard work and creativity. For example, I sold the rights for an audio adaptation of The Little Blue Door to W.F. Howes, making extra money on top of my Lake Union contract and opening up a new channel for reader discovery.

The right path for you

So, which is the right path for you? There’s no right or wrong answer here — but I hope I’ve given you a lot to think about.

When I finished my first book, I was too impatient for traditional publishing; I wanted to get my story out there as soon as possible! But everyone’s different, and of course, I did end up publishing some of my books with Lake Union as well. Still, it was important to me to try doing it myself first — and to still retain a certain amount of control with my digital-first publisher.

Perhaps the slower, more tried-and-true traditional publishing route suits your preferences and skill set better. Carefully consider both options before committing to either path. Good luck!

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Francesca Catlow writes bestselling fiction filled with passionate love stories that feature flawed, and sometimes broken, characters as they face a crossroads in their life. She often explores heartbreaking themes while also whisking readers off to beautiful locations.

In 2023, Francesca was a finalist for the prestigious Kindle Storyteller Award, and was nominated for an Innovation Award for her work with libraries in Suffolk.

Francesca loves to travel. Born and raised in the heart of Suffolk, England, she has travelled extensively in Europe with her French husband and, more recently, their two children. In 2024 she relocated to France where she spends her days dreaming up stories and her evenings sitting in her garden relaxing with her family. She is the author of the four book Little Blue Door romance series, as well as the recently published Under a Greek Sky.  You can subscribe to her author mailing list here and you can find her social accounts here: Instagram / TikTok / Facebook. Thanks for reading!