Publishing 101: Writing Books for Fun and Profit (But Mostly Fun)

Discover the ins and outs of publishing, from traditional routes to self-publishing, and learn how to navigate the industry with tips on editing, formatting, and more.

Key takeaways

12 months are typical for finding an agent if you’re ready to start looking.
Half of books sell less than 1,000 copies, and 4% of books account for 60% of profits in the publishing industry.
Vanity publishing is no longer an issue, but service-centric authors, like teaching writing, may be scams.
Traditional publishing has smaller presses with more limited budgets.
Editing manuscripts is crucial, but small presses generally don’t have the budget for it.
Amazon is a significant player in the publishing industry, offering Kindle Direct Publishing and self-publishing options.
Submission guidelines vary among publishers and presses, and author needs to ensure due diligence before submissions.
Traditional publishing requires a cover letter, while self-publishing may not.
Serialization and e-books have become a significant part of modern publishing, even for big companies like Amazon.
Small presses often have limited budgets and resources.
Self-publishing allows for more creative control, but also requires more effort upfront.
Traditional publishing often requires editing, formatting, and production costs which can be expensive.
Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing offers a platform for self-publishing.
Small presses usually don’t provide advances for authors.
Color printing can be expensive, especially in small batches.
Serialization has become a significant part of modern publishing, especially with Amazon’s Kindle Vellum.
Amazon’s platform can be a competing model for producing manuscripts.
David’s writing journey starts with self-publishing in Esperanto and then transitioned to English.

Publishing 101: Writing Books for Fun and Profit (But Mostly Fun)

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