Many aspiring writers think that the only way to get their book published is to self-publish, or pay someone to publish their book. But traditional royalty publishers pay their authors to write books.

Sounds great, right?

But what exactly is royalty publishing? And how do you get a publisher to work with you? I wrote about it recently in my free Powerful Story Newsletter. Let me share some of what I wrote there:

The path to publication

If you’re writing a book, I know you’re asking: what’s the best path to publication? I know this because writers ask me all the time: how do I turn my idea (or rough draft, or pages of scribbling) into an actual book? How can I get published?

Basically, there are three paths to take your manuscript to a published book: self-publishing, hybrid (also called vanity) publishing (this one has a thousand variations), and traditional royalty publishing.

I write a lot about self-publishing (like this popular post), but today I want to lay out the basics about traditional (aka royalty)  publishing. And bust some myths in the process.

Self-publishing is just that: the author is also the publisher.  Which means the author takes on all of the expenses that publishers normally do: editing, design, printing, distribution. In return, they get to keep the profits after their expenses (just like all publishers do). It’s simple economics. Revenue minus costs equals profit. (The problem is, sometimes there is not much profit. In other words, if you don’t sell books, you don’t earn a profit.)

Traditional publishers pay those expenses, and contract with authors to create books. The publisher pays the author to write the book.  The traditional publisher makes money selling books—not by charging the author anything. (Vanity publishers, by contrast, make money by charging the author to publish their book for them.) Traditional royalty publishers are a business with a staff of editors, designers, and other production specialists to get the book from start to finish.

So how do you get a royalty publishing deal, and what can you expect if you take this path to publication? And what myths about publishing do you need to stop believing in order to find this path??

Publishing Myth: I can just send my manuscript to publishers and they’ll make me an offer.

Traditional publishers are extremely selective about which authors they work with. If you want to get your book published, you must come with great writing, a saleable idea, and a strong platform (meaning you bring an audience with you). You must sell yourself and your idea with a strong book proposal. Even strong, capable writers get rejected by publishers every day.

Nearly always, you cannot get in the door at a traditional publisher unless you have an agent. A growing number of smaller independent publishers will consider unagented work, but it has to really shine to get a green light. But larger publishers prefer to work with reputable agents who will only send them quality projects. Not sure who to approach? I highly recommend The Christian Writers Market Guide.  

Published annually, this book lists publishers, agents, writing coaches and more. As its amazon description says, it’s “the most comprehensive and recommended resource on the market for finding an agent, an editor, a publisher, a writing coach, a podcast, or a writing course.”

Often, you’ll approach an agent before you query a publisher. A reputable agent will not charge their clients anything, other than a 15 percent commission on their book deal. They get paid only when the author does.

Also, if you are writing non-fiction, you would first submit a book proposal, not the whole manuscript. If you’re writing a novel, you’d still submit a proposal and query letter, but the publisher will then want to see the full manuscript before making an offer.

Publishing Myth: You make a lot of money if you get a publishing deal.

A royalty publisher pays you. That’s true. But not a lot—at least when you are a newbie. A royalty publisher often pays a contracted author an advance, anywhere from a few thousand to over six figures (typically for celebrities or very successful authors), before the book is published (and in the case of non-fiction, before it is fully written). Authors typically receive part of the advance upon signing the contract, another portion once they submit an acceptable manuscript, and the last portion when the book is released, although contracts vary. (Some publishers might not offer an advance to debut writers, but they won’t charge you money to publish your book.)

The advance, however, has some strings attached. First, if you do not actually write the book, or don’t produce a book that the publisher deems acceptable, you must pay your advance back. So if you promise a World War II historical romance, but actually write about a space alien adventure, you’ve not written what is called an “acceptable manuscript.” Or if the quality of your writing doesn’t match what was in the sample chapters of your book proposal, you’ve again not written an acceptable manuscript, and you not only don’t receive the rest of your advance, you usually have to pay back the part you already received.

The second “string” attached to advances is this: an advance gets paid back with book sales, like a draw on a commission. Say you get a $10,000 advance. (For a book that probably took you a year to write.) Your agent gets 15 percent, which means your advance is now $8,500. (Don’t quit your day job just yet.) Your contract will spell this out, but every book you sell will pay you a small royalty (10 to 20 percent of the sales price, typically). But before you start collecting royalties, your book needs to “earn out.” Meaning if your book retails for $20, and you get $4 as a royalty, that $4 gets deducted from what the publisher has already paid you. You have to basically pay back the advance with book sales (in this example, sell 2500 books) before you get paid additional funds. If you do earn out, your agent will get 15 percent of subsequent royalties you earn. (And yes, agents are worth every penny of that commission.)

Most books don’t earn out (only about 25 percent do). And depending on your contract, your royalty might be less (say, if amazon sells your $20 book for $10, you get the royalty on that price. Again, don’t quit your day job). This makes it take even longer to “earn out.” Publishers still make money on books that don’t earn out, and you don’t have to pay back your advance if you don’t earn out.

Publishing Myth: I don’t need to edit my book, the publisher will do that.

Traditional publishers employ editors and designers, who work on the books their employer has contracted. They do not charge authors a fee for completing this work. Because the publisher keeps the bulk of the profits from book sales, they have capital with which to pay their employees. So yes, a traditional publisher will provide editing services.

However, this gets tricky. Rookie authors should have someone to edit their book before they submit it to an agent or publisher, simply because it increases the chances of a publisher saying yes. If you’ve written a book, you need a careful self-edit, followed by a professional developmental edit, before you submit it to an agent or publisher. Most traditionally published books go through multiple rounds of editing. I’ve had clients tell me, “I don’t think I need an editor. I used to teach English.” I give them a sample edit of two pages of their manuscript, and they’re like–whoa. Here’s more on why you need an editor, and what editors do for authors.

Sending an unedited manuscript is a recipe for rejection. Because first of all, rookie authors should actually start by writing a query, followed by a book proposal, which includes two or three sample chapters. And second, and they should have that proposal and sample edited before submitting it.

Confusion arises when vanity publishers or so-called hybrid publishers say that they are “publishers” but charge a fee for editing, typesetting, printing or other production costs. There are hundreds of companies that do this, and typically, they’ll work with anyone willing to pay them.

Want to read the rest of this post, learn more about hybrid publishers and what publishers do to market your book? Hop over to Substack where you can read the rest of this post, plus more on writing and publishing. Visit https://keriwyattkent.substack.com/ to read all my newsletters and subscribe.

If you’ve writing a book and would like a free consultation on finding the right publishing path, I’m here to help. This is not an offer to read your full manuscript, but a chance to have a meaningful and honest conversation in which I’ll give you some free advice and suggest next steps. Just click that blue contact button on the upper right of this page or visit https://keriwyattkent.com/contact-us/ to request your free consultation.