I once made the fateful choice to share The Valkyries with a friend.
It feels like years ago, way back when Kaelva, Astrid, and Freyna were still superheroines and I doubted if any of this was worth the virtual paper it was printed on.
But after that choice proved there was something special here, I believed I could fulfill a dream I once gave up on:
I could publish a novel.
The next question I had to answer, however, was:
Traditional or Self-Publish?
Right off the bat, I leaned toward traditional publishing simply because it was what I was familiar with.
Yet, in our ever advancing digital age and with the tools provided by platforms like Amazon, I had the impression I could Self-Publish and reach my goal even faster!
But did I want to check a box, saying I published a book?
No.
My goal was to create something with value. Something people would remember.
I envisioned being able to go to my local Barnes & Noble, walk over to the Fantasy section, and see The Valkyries standing proud among the others.
Did I want to get rich?
Did I hope to get a TV or movie deal?
Did I want to be famous?
All that would be great, sure—but that’s not what The Valkyries was about for me.
I had a vision, and now I had to choose which path better secured that future.
So now I had to answer the question:
Traditional Publishing
Traditional Publishing means a publishing house buys the rights to your manuscript, handles the production and distribution, and pays you royalties on the profits.
However, for an author to even get a foot in the door of a publishing house, the author needs to secure agent representation, which is a battle all on its own.
At a glance, the Traditional Publishing path looks something like this:
- Complete your manuscript
- Prepare a query submission package (a query letter, a synopsis, and the first three chapters of the manuscript)
- Find agents who represent their manuscript’s genre (like I did here)
- Query the agents (AKA Querying)
- Collaborate with interested agents (send full manuscript, prepare revisions, etc.)
- Secure agent representation
- Finalize remaining revisions
- Your agent submits the polished manuscript to publishers (AKA On Submission)
- Collaborate with interested publishers
- Secure a publisher and sign the contract
- Collaborate with the publishing house’s editing team
- Collaborate with the publishing house’s marketing and design team
- Prepare for the book’s launch
- The book is released!
One major advantage of Traditional Publishing is that once the author and the publisher reach an agreement, the author can leverage the publisher’s existing resources: the marketing team, the design team, the distribution team, etc.
Another perk was the pay structure. In traditional publishing, a publisher often pays out an advance, a lump sum upfront payment to the author. Then, when the book’s sales exceed the advance, the author receives royalties from future sales.
Of course, a percentage of the sales go to the publisher and your agent to recover their investment in your manuscript.
But on the flip side: traditional publishing bears no significant upfront cost to the writer.
A key difference between the traditional and self-publishing is the prestige factor. Despite a book’s quality, bookstores, media, and readers tend to view traditionally published books as a mark above self-published ones.
Truthfully, I probably subconsciously follow that same mindset.
But I also acknowledge the quality of a book is largely subjective.
I’m still finding my way as a writer in this whole process, but the engineer in me still craves data, so I can’t call one better than the other just yet.
All I can do is decide which path best serves The Valkyries.
Self-Publishing
Self-publishing is the less constrained route, where authors manage the entire publication process themselves.
This means all edits, all cover design, all marketing, all production, all distribution, etc.
You’re no longer just the author—you’re the editor, the creative director, the production manager, the marketing strategist, and the distributor—unless you build a team around you.
Either way, it’s all on you—and no one covers the cost but you.
A typical self-publishing path might look something like this:
- Complete your manuscript
- Hire an editor or DIY for developmental, copyediting, and proofreading
- Hire a designer or DIY for cover design and interior formatting
- Choose a distribution platform (like Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing)
- Establish pricing model and metadata
- Publish your book
- Hire a marketer or DIY to promote your book
Why would anyone choose to self-publish when there’s so much beyond the book itself to manage?
The most common reason is self-publishing keeps 100% of the creative control within the author’s hands.
Also, glance back at those seven steps—they’re fewer, faster, and more flexible than the traditional path. This reflects how much faster self-publishing really is—think months, not years.
Another perk is the fact you’re not paying a percentage to an agent or a publisher because you’re already doing all that work yourself (although all the costs come out of your pocket as well).
Traditional publishing comes with various gatekeepers as well—first you need an agent, then a publisher, then you have to work with creative, and on and on and on.
But in self-publishing, you don’t need anyone’s approval but your own—and that means you can pivot immediately if necessary.
In short, self-publishing offers the freedom withheld in traditional publishing.
But with that freedom comes a heavy burden of responsibility.
Where The Two Overlap
Despite their differences, both traditional and self-publishing agree on a few points.
The main one?
Regardless of the path, you’re going to have to put in the work.
No matter how many agents you query if you go traditional.
No matter how many editors you hire as a self-publisher.
If you have a poorly-written, half-baked manuscript, you’re not likely to go far.
And even when you think you have a solid manuscript, be ready for the edits.
And more edits.
And more edits.
Because on the traditional path, you’re going to edit before submitting to agents. Then edit after getting feedback from agents. Then edit with agents. Then edit after getting feedback from publishers. Then edit with the publisher’s editor.
The same is true for the self-publishing path—although here you can decide how sharp you want your manuscript. Do you want your sword sharp for battle, or dull with neglect? You choose.
And once your manuscript survives the gauntlet of edits, your next task awaits: building your author platform. A website, newsletter, social media—a clear brand identity to show agents and publishers what you’re all about, and to help boost visibility and sales.
And that author platform ties right in to your marketing. Sure, traditional publishing leverages your publisher’s marketing team, but readers want to connect with you, not the publisher. And like we said with self-publishing: you are the marketing director!
In both paths, you are the #1 advocate for your book, whether you’re championing it to agents and publishers in the traditional route or conducting the team in the self-publishing path.
And at the end of the day, not everyone will love what you’ve written—and some will outright bash it. Whether the criticism comes from agents, editors, readers, or nameless faceless trolls on the internet, you’ll need thick skin to filter the constructive from the destructive.
Whether you choose traditional or self-publishing, you’re stepping into a world of professionals, so you have to think like one too. Deadlines, budgeting time, setting goals—all the parts of a typical 9 to 5 now apply to your writing.
So be ready to get to work.
The Path I Chose
I see benefits in both traditional and self-publishing.
Traditional publishing equips you with an already well-established team with market connections I don’t have yet.
Self-publishing keeps me in control and could bring me to my goal in a fraction of the time.
Traditional publishing nets me an advance, but self-publishing keeps a higher percent of sales in my pocket.
But in the end, I went all the way back to my original goal—the dream I abandoned years before The Valkyries was even a thought.
To write a novel and to see it on the shelf of a local bookstore.
So when I weighed what both traditional and self-publishing brought to the table…
I believed traditional publishing was the better choice to help me reach my goal.
I’m still learning my way as a debut author, so working with a team that’s already firmly established instead of trying to build one on my own while writing a book seemed like too much too soon.
Now, that isn’t to say in the future, after The Valkyries take flight, maybe I’ll understand the business better and might give self-publishing another look.
But for now, I believe traditional publishing is the best path forward—for me, and for The Valkyries.
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