- You want to design your cover.
- You want to design your interior text layout.
- You want to maintain full rights—merchandising rights, video and recording rights, international rights, licensing in other formats and languages.
- You want to have the last word on the title of the book.
- You want the edited manuscript to be exactly the same as the draft you sent in.
- You want to name the price.
- You want to release your book in one month from now.
- You want to control your inventory.
- You want to retain a majority of the profit.
- You want to publish a new and unique genre or topic that is not popular with mainstream buyers or readers.
I encounter these wants a lot as an acquisitions editor for a traditional publisher and do not see one thing wrong with them. However, if any of these wants are more like absolutes with no negotiation possible, it communicates to me that we would not be able to serve the author well since our processes are a lot more confined to what we feel will make the book more widely successful. It also limits our ability to make good on what makes us good.
An example: someone wants to have a book published by a traditional publisher but they want to have it released one month after the time they initially submit their proposal. The potential problem with this in traditional publishing is that the publisher would have limited opportunities to get presales from buyers and distributors, premium placement in stores in the U.S. and internationally, marketing and promotional opportunities, and great cover design and quality editing for the book. This severely limits profitability and market penetration. Who benefits from that? In this case: no one.
Traditional publishers have many reasons for being in the driver’s seat for the items on the list above. There are charts and graphs and numbers and stuff that prove their need to hold on to those reasons.
But the good thing is that traditional publishing is just not the only option for publishing these days. Many forms of customizable publishing paradigms exist for people to publish in a way that best suits their goals. You can self-publish a book in one month if you want to. If you absolutely have to have your friend do the cover design, you can have it your way when you self-publish. There are also many self-publishing success stories popping up all over the place. You may want to give it a try. I know I would. ;)
I would also encourage you to check out " 6 Reasons Authors Still Want Publishers" by literary agent Rachelle Gardner.
Have fun exploring!
What are some other reasons one may want to self-publish?