I’ve been in the business of freelance writing for a few years now, but it was only in the last couple of months that I’ve been able to call myself a “published author,” per se. While it’s still not entirely clear how lucrative that book deal will be in the long run, I think that it can only help but to legitimize my position as a professional writer.
Going through a traditional publishing house taught me several things about the book publishing industry. It really is interesting to see an industry from the production side of the equation rather than the consumer side. I’m still in the process of learning, but several lessons have already been gained through this experience.
The Issue of Time
Since I work primarily with online outlets, I’ve grown accustomed to very fast turnaround and publishing times. When I do tech news reporting for a site like Mobile Magazine, the article assignment, writing, and publishing all happen in a matter of hours. We go from idea to production to live distribution in the blink of an eye. That’s just the nature of the beast and it’s true for many of the sites you find around the Internet.
Even for longer articles and e-books, the turnaround time can be surprisingly fast. When the final manuscript is ready, the e-book can be live and available for download through your online marketplace of choice in a very short amount of time. Such is not the case with traditional publishing. The publishing process for our book took a lot longer than I had initially anticipated.
What About the Cash?
In terms of money, that can take a lot longer too. If I do not receive pre-payment, I typically bill my clients on a monthly basis for my online work. If I were to publish an e-book through Clickbank, I would get paid out once a month. While the payment frequency (monthly) is the same with a traditional publisher, the “lag” is substantially longer. I don’t know if this is the industry standard, but our publisher tells us that royalties only become due six months after the initial sale.
We didn’t get an advance for our book, so I won’t see the first penny from this project (at least directly) until around Christmas. That’s a long time to wait. In this way, if you’re itching for some “fast money,” publishing a “real” book isn’t really the way to do it.
More Recommending Reading
You might remember my review of Friends with Benefits late last year. Well, Darren Barefoot also wrote a similar blog post on his experience with both self-publishing and traditional publishing, so go ahead and give that a read too.
While you will have to wait longer for a payout from the book. I would see it as a longer term investment, kind of like a CD or a bond that will bring a certain amount of income over a longer period of time. Your normal work doesn’t have that steady nature to it.
Also, you now have the author of a hard copy book in your resume and it will be easier to get other jobs and another book published with maybe an advance on it.
Being a published writer will provide you with immense intangible benefits in the long run!
And something tells me you are gonna get a big fat cheque for Christmas!