By Grace Tobin
You have a book, but how do you send it out into the world?
When deciding between an indie or traditional publisher for your book, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Several factors need to be considered, including your experience level, your goals, and your timeline.
This choice is important—it’s one that will shape your entire publishing journey. To help, we’ve identified five types of authors who will benefit from working with an independent publisher.
The Five Types of Authors are:
- The Decision-Making Author
- The First Author
- The Marketing Author
- The Rights-and-Royalties Author
- The Get-It-Done Author
The Decision-Making Author
If you value having a say in every step of the process, then consider an indie publisher.
Often, with traditional publishing, the company has the final word on every decision. Sometimes, authors are left feeling like they lack autonomy over their own work.
With an indie publisher, what you say goes. When it comes to cover design, content, market price, and book title, the publisher can certainly help you make decisions, but you will have the true power over what gets released into the world.
The First-Time Author
For first-time authors, choosing an independent publisher is a great way to get your foot in the door of the publishing world.
When it comes to traditional publishing, the reality is that it’s challenging to get your book on a publisher’s desk, especially if you’ve never published a book before. In fact, it is estimated that writers have a 1-2% chance of being picked by traditional publishers.
On the other hand, indie publishers are well-versed in working with beginners in the industry, and they’re equipped to provide you with everything you need to know so your first book can be a success.
Writers have a 1-2% chance of being picked by traditional publishers.
The Marketing Author
Choosing an independent publisher is the best way to go if you’re interested in marketing.
Sure, traditional publishers usually have more money allocated towards marketing their books, but this comes at a price: They decide how your book should be branded. They can make significant changes to how your book is received and by whom.
Traditional publishing is also changing—and not for the better. The responsibility of marketing is slowly shifting onto the shoulders of you, the author, especially if you’re just breaking into the industry. In this case, it’s not so different from independent publishing after all.
So, if you’ll be doing all the work anyway, why not go with an indie publisher, where you’ll have more say over branding and marketing?
The Rights-and-Royalties Author
This type of author is self-explanatory: If you’re someone who values maintaining the rights and royalties of your book, independent publishing is likely the best choice for you. With traditional publishing, the author typically gets 10% of the royalties, sometimes even less.
With independent publishing, however, you can retain 60-70% of the royalties—and with some indie publishers, like BrightRay, this can even skyrocket to 100%.
As for the rights of your book, you maintain 100% of the rights with independent publishing. In contrast, traditional publishers claim all the rights of the book.
The Get-It-Done Author
Finally, if you’re someone with a strict deadline or who doesn’t like to wait around for years to see your work in print, an independent publisher is your best choice. With indie or self-publishing, the timeline is solely dependent on your work ethic and how quickly you want your work to be available.
With traditional publishing, there’s no telling how long the process will take; it can take years—or your work may never be published at all, depending on what the company decides.
Final Thoughts
If you see yourself in one of these five types of authors, it’s time to consult with an independent publisher. At BrightRay Publishing, we embody these independent publishing benefits and put our client authors first.
Schedule a call with us today—and let us embark on this journey with you.
Grace Tobin is a staff writer at BrightRay Publishing. “My mind wrinkles. My pen irons.” Grace’s six-word story is the basis of her life calling, one of all things writing. With her West Coast charm and love of continued learning, Grace connects with each BrightRay client to uncover their expertise and translate their story into a book.
