Do THIS before you query

What to expect from the traditional market right now

So many people dream of making a living writing. And believe it or not, a lot of people do make a sustainable, reliable income doing what they love: publishing books. The truth is, however, those unicorn authors making a full-time living and even supporting their families on their writing income are more often than not self-publishing.

Here’s why:

1. Publishers have to make money.

The traditional market is just like any other business. Editors are under immense pressure to bring on books that can move the needle deeper and deeper into the black. That means when your query crosses an agent’s desk, the agent knows that unless YOUR book is THIS VERY SPECIFIC thing that the acquiring editors want (and of course that agent must have a relationship with an editor to really know what they want), your book will be passed by.

Great books get passed on, buried in slush, and ignored every single day. If the average agent received 3,000-5,000 submissions per month, standing out becomes a numbers game. The odds are most definitely not in favor a new, unknown author.

If you aspire to traditional publishing, ask yourself why? Have you always dreamed of seeing your book in bookstores? Guess what? Bookstores, including major retail chains like Barnes & Noble, are more welcoming than ever to indie-pubbed books. If you have a homemade book cover, no editing, and no sales, then sure… Seeing your book beside Rebecca Yarros on the B&N. Best of Book Tok shelf might be a long shot. But with a quality product, the right distribution options, and a little outreach, you might just be able to get your books on shelves in brick and mortar bookstores—even the big ones.

If you don’t know how to set up your book so that bookstores and libraries can acquire it, let me know. I can refer you to excellent resources such as the YouTube channel of my friend Dale L. Roberts, a respected name in self-publishing who teaches authors the ins and outs of the day to day work of running an author business.

2. Traditional publishing deals are not that lucrative…except for a select few.

Ask any traditionally published author how many years or how many books it took for them to give up their day jobs, and many trad authors will t ell you, “I don’t know. I haven’t done it yet!”

A little-known fact of trad publishing is that advances can be low—ridiculously low. And with royalty rates that factor in the % share each platform takes from the sale (Amazon, Apple, Google, B&N, local stores, etc.) as well as paying the agent their commission on the profits, many traditionally published authors cannot make full-time incomes writing. You may not see them going to do day jobs, but many post openly about the financial realities of publishing and the stress of balancing an author career with the 9-5 demands of a job that pays the bills.

3. Traditional publishing does not innovate and will never be at the forefront of change.

Why should an author care about innovations and change? Well, here’s the thing. More authors than ever before are earning seven figures self-publishing. They are not doing that by following the same old tired rules of trad publishing. Authors at this level know how to leverage their relationships with their readers, and that’s not something trad publishers excel at.

Large indie authors have done everything from making their audiobooks available on their website for a limited time at a discount before distributing to the various audio platforms. Large indies set up street teams, appear at conferences, sell direct from their websites, run podcasts, YouTube channels, mentor other authors, run Discord channels… The list goes on.

I know indie authors with newsletter subscribers in excess of 40,000, 50,000, even 200,000 subscribers. With numbers like that, indie authors have direct lines of communication with their most engaged reader base. Indies can move quickly and can leverage that agility to make an impact on their revenue. Without a board of directors, and editorial board, marketing, PR, and art departments to coordinate (most indies handle all of these and more with a very small team if they have help at all), indies truly do have a far more intimate relationship with the market because they see the market as living, breathing consumers.

If you aspire to traditional publishing, I’m not here to discourage you! Some of my most beloved clients are traditionally published because that is the path that was right for their books. But if you’re worried about languishing in the slush pile or if you’ve seen one too many rejection letters, consider whether there is another way to kick-start your author career. With a budget, a plan, and some tenacity, you might be surprised where you—not an agent or publisher—can take your career.