Welcome to Publish To Impact! Have you ever wondered how you can publish your book? The perception has been you can only get your book published if you have a book deal. But the times have changed. I'm your host, Blake de Vos, and in today's episode, we're going to explore the various options available to you when it comes to publishing your book. It's now more accessible than ever to use your expertise in your niche and make an impact on those you serve. We're going to look at the three common types of publishing:Those three options are:

Traditional Publishing

• What is traditional publishing and how does it work?
• Pros and cons of traditional publishing.
• How it works when working with an agent

Hybrid Publishing

• Defining hybrid publishing and how it differs from traditional and self-publishing.
• Benefits and challenges of choosing a hybrid publishing model.
• The pros and cons of hybrid publishing

Self-Publishing

• Understanding the self-publishing landscape.
• Advantages and disadvantages of self-publishing.
• Key steps in self-publishing, from writing to marketing.

I'll also explain why I believe self-publishing to be the right pathway for 99% of us, but I want to give you all options available so YOU can decide. We'll finish the episode with:

How To Decide The Right Publishing Pathway For You

• Identifying your publishing goals and expectations.
• Evaluating your manuscript and determining its marketability.
• Understanding your investment
• How to align your goals with the most suitable publishing pathway.

Why I Self Publish

• The major reasons as to why I self publish
• The result of me self publishing 
• Why it's more than a book
• The impact self publishing has on my business

Choosing a publishing pathway is a decision that depends on your book goals, resources, and preferences. Whether you go the traditional route, make an impact with self-publishing, or find a middle ground with hybrid publishing, each path has its own unique set of challenges and rewards. I hope this episode provides you with actionable insights to help you make an informed decision on your journey to becoming a published author.

Join me next time as we continue to explore how you can make an impact by writing a book!

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I love hearing from you and helping you make an impact with your book. If you have any questions, please reach out by commenting on this episode or through socials.

Reach out to me:

Instagram: https://instagram.com/blake_devos

Website: https://www.blakedevos.com

It's Free!

Download your free copy of Publish To Impact: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/ky953o83t5

Join The Publish To Impact Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/967483121262525

Work with me:

Apply for the Idea To Asset program: https://www.blakedevos.com/idea-to-asset

Book in a call to see how I can help you write your book: https://www.blakedevos.com/clarity-call

Thank you so much for joining me in this latest episode of Publish To Impact. I'd love for you to please leave a review, subscribe for immediate new episode access, and share this podcast with coaches, friends in business, or any other person who you believe can benefit from writing and publishing a book.

Remember: Becoming an author has never been easier, and I'm here to help get you there.

© 2024 The Idea To Impact Podcast Blake de Vos

Episode 4 - Your Publishing Options

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Welcome to Publish to Impact, the podcast that turns your expertise into a powerful book that makes a difference. I'm your host, Blake DeVos, a bestselling author, book coach, and creator of the Idea to Asset program. Join me as we explore the journey of writing, publishing, and launching your book idea into an asset that amplifies your business and empowers personal growth.

Whether you're looking to start a business, generate leads, or share your message with the world, this podcast is for you. Becoming an author has never been easier and I'm here to help get you there. Let's get into it. I want to open up this episode with a question. Have you ever thought about how to get your book into your reader's hands?

And when I first started figuring it out and trying to figure out how to become an author and how to write and publish a book, there were options that I thought were best for me. But after doing some research, I found self publishing. The best option in terms of making an impact with my book, having full control, but also in terms of my business goals.

So let's start with traditional publishing. And this is a pathway where, it's common for people to get a publishing book deal. Now, what would happen for a traditionally published author is they would pitch their idea to a literary agent. And how they do that is they would draft up A query letter and attach that with a book proposal and that book proposal involves not necessarily your manuscript agents do require different stipulation.

So you would put all that together in a package, send that to a literary agent, and if that literary agent likes your idea. They will then work in their connections with the publishing house to negotiate a book deal for you. If you do decide to accept the book deal from the publishing house, you will then receive an advance.

And the advance you receive, the value of that advance is really dependent on The faith that the publishing house has in how many books you can sell. So you could imagine someone who's ultra famous, they would have a higher advance because the publishing house believes that they can sell books all around the world.

Publishing House essentially owns your book, so you will receive a percentage of royalties, and it's usually about 10 to 15%. It, it's very dependent on the different Publishing House and the agreement they have with your book deal. But, typically, you're going to receive a lower amount of royalties than any other format or any other publishing pathway.

Because when you think about it, you've received in advance and that publishing house is putting a lot of money and faith into you selling your, you selling enough books to recoup that money that they've invested in you. So you might have a case of, well, okay, you've received an advance of 10, 10 to 15, 000 and once that.

get and secure a their book in a, in a Dimmix or, or a Barnes and Noble. But when it comes down to who the publishing house is going to choose, they're going to choose someone who one is famous, two, they have faith in and know that they can sell books and three. they are perceived in the world in terms of what story do they have to tell and the relationships they can build with an audience.

But even though traditionally publishing has the appeal of prestige and brand credibility, there are some downsides. And I want to really talk about the timeline to market because when you think about it, You're pitching to a literary agent, that literary agent is going to have to read your book proposal.

Also, literary agents may only accept submissions at a certain time of year. That is just because of the competitive nature of the industry that traditional publishing brings. And once that book deal is accepted through the publishing house, you will then need to write your manuscripts. You then go back and forth with the publishing house on the changes.

You or the author have the option to take on certain publishing responsibilities themselves, but while working with a hybrid publisher or publishing company. And what would happen is if you want to work with a publishing company, you will financially contribute to the editing, the formatting, the marketing, and the design costs.

So you'll pay the publisher and the publisher will give you the resources in getting your book published. This is different to book coaching, how I see it, because as a book coach, you're going through the experiences of experience with the coach on writing and getting your book published. So you're being coached on the process of writing to make maximum impact in your words and then working with them to get that book published.

A cover designer does their job and the formatter does their job. When it comes to how much control you have of the process, when it comes to hybrid publishing. Is you have more of control than you would as a traditional as a traditionally published author because. You're a financially contributing to your book getting published, whether traditionally they're providing you the advance, so they essentially own your book but you're helping them with the marketing and with hybrid publishing is the publishing company does own it, but you're providing the investment.

T want your money, essentially. So they very rarely would turn you away. And what would happen is that publishing company will create a contract with you and you'll have to abide by those con by that contract. And that falls in line with the, the amount of percent, the percentage of royalties that you do receive too.

It's great because there's a balance of control. So you, you're not tied down to what the expectations are of the publishing company because you're providing the investment of the financial investment upfront. There's also, you're getting the editorial support. And what that means is you're getting some quality editors you're getting some quality book cover designers that contribute to making your book as professional as possible.

And also some hybrid publishers are specialized to your niche, so you could seek out a hybrid publisher and say you're writing a book about wellness or health and you'll find this, but you might find a. Book publisher that specializes in that area. What that would typically mean for you is they have probably better connections in that niche.

And this is because first it starts with the initial investment and the financial investment can be astronomical. Publishing companies can sting you for a lot more than what it's worth in terms of a quality product or quality book. It could range anywhere from 10, 000 to 50, 000 investment and you can also be locked into a contract that's hard to get out of that's in the terms of getting a poor royalty rate or just continually adding up and blowing out in terms of your marketing costs and, and whatnot.

That's extremely hard to get out of you and you're getting poor value. You're getting a poor quality product because especially when you're investing and you're trying to put this fantastic idea out into this world. The last thing you want to do is Is share that responsibility with somebody who's untrustworthy.

It's also great because you can sell your book into any global market while still retaining the rights as well. So With self publishing is you independently publish and distribute your book without relying on traditional publishing houses or a publishing company, which means you take on the responsibility of the editing, formatting, marketing, and the design of the, of the book.

So. That's one of the greatest things about self publishing too is it allows you more freedom and control of your book, but you're also retaining a high percentage as well. And you can work with somebody who, you know, that is going to give you a high quality. edit or a high quality book cover designer.

And that's really, really comforting to know. The one thing I want to bring up as well is with self publishing, you are on your own timeline. So it is quicker to market. If you go through the right process and do self publishing the right way, you can have your book written and published within six months.

So that's just your average nonfiction book size. And that took me six months to write and publish from beginning to end. And that came in as a bestseller. So. It is possible. And the one thing I will always tell people is you can write and publish your book without sacrificing your lifestyle and needle moving activities, whether that's in your business, whether that's with family or friends, you can write a book for an hour working on an hour a day consistently.

And the first one is that costs can blow out if you're unsure of what you're doing. And case in point, when I wrote The Six Pillars of Rule Writing Life, I spent a fortune on, you know, different types of edits, had no idea how to, how to control those costs in a way where spending, spending money on unnecessary unnecessary resources.

And when I published Evolve Your Skills, I essentially halved those costs down. So once, if you, your costs can blow out, but you You need to have a process behind you and you need to know, okay, what is it that I really need. Okay. And the other con is it's difficult to get into big bookstores like Dimix, Barnes Noble and airports as well.

So, you know, in self publishing, high royalties are a definite perk. You get a more substantial share of the earnings. And it can be a game changer really for your overall income, but it's more than it isn't more than a book for you. The third is the timeline. So. How quickly do you want your book on the market?

Traditional publishing can be a lengthy process, obviously, which involves your submissions, your the reviews, and a production timeline that stretches out way over 18 months, two years, could be three years, depending on the publishing house. But, and with hybrid publishing is that timeline is also fairly controlled, so it does take less time to get your book to market than a traditional publisher would but typically longer than self publishing.

But again, it comes down to whether or not writing a book is a priority for you. And I think the biggest consideration to make is your why. Never lose sight of why you're writing this book. Is it a person, personal passion project? Is it a business strategy? Or is it just a way to share your unique perspective?

And firstly, obviously you've heard about me. Having a hundred percent control over the pricing. And this not only goes with the pricing, but the final say in the cover designing, the marketing, the editing. And if I need to update my book, I can at any point in time. And those changes are within 24 to 48 hours on Amazon live.

The second one is the time to market. So I can write, publish and launch a book within six months without sacrificing. A huge amount of time. Thirdly, the marketing. I'm in control of my marketing strategy where I can use a book as a way to bring potential clients into my world. If you have a business, it can be a goldmine.

Now, make this the decision today to start writing your book. If you have an idea, I want you to reach out to me. Let me know your idea and we can have a chat. Or if you've just got any questions about what it's like, what it takes to publish your book, let me know and we can chat. Or if you've got any questions about the book writing process, reach out to me, let's talk and let's try and get your idea out into this world.

As a thank you for listening, I'd love to offer you a free copy of Publish to Impact, which is available in the show notes. Otherwise, if you live in Western Australia, reach out to me on Instagram, and I'll Send you a free copy direct to your doorstep. Thanks again for listening, and until next time, write that book.