I remember the time I picked up my first horror book. My parents owned a nail salon at the time, and since our family had a lot of bad luck with babysitters, my dad decided to leave us at the local library whenever he needed to help my mom. I saw a shelf filled with stories of vampires and werewolves, checked out a few books, and that was that. Not long after that, I sat down, didn’t eat or sleep for a few days, and pumped out my first book, which fortunately wasn’t published. 

For a large majority of writers, we’ve dreamed of becoming novelists. We wanted to sit curled up in our blankets and pillows while cranking out pages and pages of stories. We fall in love with the written word easily, to the point where we just want to immerse ourselves in our imaginations. In fact, it’s even gotten to the point where we feel like we can make money out of this! And because of the ever-changing landscape of publishing, this dream is becoming more and more attainable with each passing day. I’ve read a ton of success stories that make me ask myself, “Why am I going to med school again?”

But there are also a lot of stories where authors don’t make as much as they want to, where they end up having to give up on their writing to take care of their families. Still, the mode of publishing depends on you. Whatever works best for you may just be your saving grace. Some of us are content with being represented by an agent or publisher. Others see themselves as creative directors who refuse to relinquish their precious babies to anyone else. 

So what type are you? 

Traditional Publishing: Whenever we think of traditional publishing, we think of the big five such as Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster etc.; in fact, one of my favorite authors, Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, was published by Penguin. I was so in love with her work that, when I was younger, I sent my manuscript directly to them.They sent it back to me and said I needed an agent. Traditional publishing requires a middleman to represent you. Though getting published by one of the big five can be quite prestigious, it’s also tough. What’s more, you may not make as much out of your book as you would like. Traditional publishers shoulder more of the costs of creating and publishing your book; thus they take more of the profit. 

Indie Publishing: This type of publishing involves removing the middleman and just doing everything yourself. Indie publishing typically involves not only writing your book, but promoting it as well. Indie publishers such as Wild Rose Writing and Loose ID have certainly made their way into the publishing world. Even so, authors must shoulder marketing costs themselves, and be prepared to know and understand their audiences. Maintaining blogs, social media accounts, guest blogging here and there; the more effort you put into it, the more results you see. Though much of the stigma against indie authors has been removed, there are still some negative attitudes towards it, especially since the quality of indie books may not match up to traditionally published books. Even so, as a book reviewer, I’ve read indie books that are a whole lot more exciting, enjoyable, and just better than the traditional publishing world may ever allow. 

Of course, it depends on what type of author you are. How long is your book? What process would you be more comfortable with? What’s your reason for writing to begin with? After all, the best books I’ve read come from both sides, and each one of them has the potential to become America’s next bestseller.