How to Write Non-Fiction: Your publishing options
There are many ways to get your book into the world and into the hands of readers. The key question is which method works for you and your book for now, as well as which methods fit into your broader long-term author career — if it’s your goal to continue publishing books, of course. It all relates to your definition of success, so keep that in mind as you read on.
You certainly don’t need to decide on your publishing direction before writing, but it might change the trajectory of your book, so it’s worth considering options upfront.
But don’t get sidetracked!
If you find yourself obsessing over publishing and not making progress with your book, put those thoughts aside and get back to writing.
Are you writing a book — or a book proposal?
This is the biggest difference between traditional publishing and self-publishing, and will also differ by genre.
If you want a traditional publishing deal in most non-fiction genres, you submit a book proposal and sample chapters. You write the book once you’re under contract.
If you want to self-publish, or use a partnership publisher, or if you’re writing memoir regardless of publishing direction, then you’ll need to complete at least a full draft of your manuscript before proceeding to the next steps of the publishing process.
Regardless of your choice, writing a book proposal can be an option, as it will help you consider all the aspects that go into making a successful book. The next chapter walks you through how to write one. Let’s first explore your publishing options.
Traditional publishing
This is the established route of querying agents and submitting to publishers. With non-fiction, you can sometimes submit directly to publishers, depending on their submission criteria.
The benefits of traditional publishing include prestige, kudos, and the validation you get from making it through the process, as well as an established, professional team to manage editorial, publication, and (hopefully) book marketing.
An agent and traditional publisher will not ask you for money.
They will pay you royalties, and perhaps even an advance against those royalties, although amounts and contractual terms will vary.
Some publishers will distribute your book to physical bookstores, and you may have a greater chance of competing for literary awards, as well as licensing subsidiary rights, like film and TV.
One downside of traditional publishing is that the process can be quite slow. Authors who go this route usually pitch multiple agents and often receive multiple rejections. Even if you find an agent, it will take more time to get a publishing deal, and then more time before the book is out — often a year or more after the contract is signed.
Royalty rates are lower because the agent, publisher, and distributors take their percentage, and there is sometimes a lack of transparency around earnings.
Some authors are disappointed by the lack of marketing for their books, and publishers inevitably move on to the next project in their pipeline. They are businesses and they need to make money, after all.
There are different kinds of traditional publishers, from imprints of huge multinational houses, to digital-first publishers, to small, independent presses specialising in specific genres. There are also varying kinds of contracts with differing advances and royalty rates, as well as agents with varying levels of experience.
If you want to try this route, do your research.
Learn how the industry works, understand how publishing contract clauses impact your career, pitch the right project to the right people, and you are far more likely to be successful.
If you’re asked for money to publish, then the company fits into the partnership model covered later in this chapter.
For more details on traditional publishing, check out Jane Friedman’s site and her downloadable chart with the spectrum of publishing possibilities:
JaneFriedman.com/key-book-publishing-path
Professional self-publishing — or being an independent (indie) author
You can self-publish your book for love, not money, and print some for friends and family, but I’m assuming you want your book to reach lots of readers and (hopefully) make you good money.
In this model, which is my primary approach, the author treats the production of their book as a business, investing in professional services upfront, like editing and book cover design, as well as marketing and book promotion after publication.
Distributing the book is mostly free, and the services take a varying percentage of sales.
There are also different book-centric business models within the broader scope of being an indie author which can be mixed and matched per book, series, or format.
Here are the main approaches:
• Exclusive to Amazon through KDP Select, Audible, and KDP Print
• Wide and retailer-centric, using Apple, Kobo, Google, Draft2Digital, Findaway Voices, IngramSpark, and other retailers and distributors to reach readers in online stores globally in all formats, as well as libraries and bookstores
• Crowdfunding through Kickstarter or other sites
• Subscription models like Patreon or Substack
• Selling direct through an online store from simple services that deal with taxes like Payhip and Gumroad, through to full e-commerce stores with Shopify or WooCommerce. You can also use social selling through TikTok Shop and other platforms.
These steps often represent a progression of the indie author business with authors starting out with a simple ebook on Amazon, and progressing over time to more sophisticated ways of selling books and reaching readers.
I use all these methods as part of my indie author business for both fiction and non-fiction.
• I’m exclusive to Amazon KDP Select for my non-fiction in German and French, as well as some fiction
• I’m wide on all the retailers for my non-fiction books in most formats
• I crowdfunded Pilgrimage and Writing the Shadow on Kickstarter for the initial special hardback run and early access, which made over £62,000 (~US$80,000). Pilgrimage went on to win an award at London Book Fair for Best Self-Published Non-Fiction.
• I sell my non-fiction direct on my Shopify store at CreativePennBooks.com and also have exclusive deals like bundles and workbooks that are not available on other platforms
If this sounds complicated at this stage, don’t worry! You can start simply and expand your author business over time.
For an overview of the tools and sites I use to professionally self-publish, check out:
www.TheCreativePenn.com/how-i-professionally-self-publish
The pros and cons of being an indie author
The benefits of being an indie author include creative control over what you write and how often you release books, as well as how you publish and market.
You can publish quickly and receive income much faster — within hours or days if you sell direct, or within a couple of months with the retailers.
You own and control your intellectual property (IP) rights, so you don’t have to ask permission to sell your books in whatever formats you like, wherever you want in the world, taking advantage of new opportunities as they arise.
You can also selectively license your rights — for example, license your books in all formats to a traditional publisher in North America and self-publish everywhere else in the world. Or license paperback only, while keeping ebook and audiobook rights.
The royalties are higher as you do the work upfront and the distributors take a small cut of each sale.
You can set your own prices and control your profit margin, plus you can bundle books and add higher-value products and services as you expand your business.
It’s also tremendously empowering because you are in control.
Your books. Your business.
Of course, there’s a lot to learn, but if you’re curious and enjoy experimenting and trying new things, you can run a successful author business. It just takes time and practice.
I have a degree in theology and used to implement accounts payable systems in a corporate job. I do not have a degree in writing, publishing, marketing, or business. I’ve learned everything on the job through books, podcasts, courses, and consistent practice, as well as by hiring skilled freelancers, attending conferences, and building my author network.
The downsides of going indie include the lack of prestige, kudos, and validation by the publishing industry, even if some indie authors are more successful than their traditionally published peers.
Indie authors can be excluded from certain conferences and physical bookstores, as well as literary awards and competitions, but this is slowly changing.
You certainly need to upskill, as well as find and manage freelancers. You need a budget for editing, cover design, and marketing, and you need to learn how to promote your books in an increasingly crowded market.
If you take it a step further and publish direct with your own store or via crowdfunding, you’ll need to manage taxes, customer data, and customer service as any e-commerce business must do. But you also have the benefits of a closer relationship with your readers, faster payment, and even more control.
Professional self-publishing is not for everyone, but I love (almost) all aspects of being an indie author. It suits my personality and the way I like to work. But don’t worry, there are gradations of going indie. Start simple and expand your author business as you learn and grow.
Where to find more information about professional self-publishing
I have lots of information on my site, TheCreativePenn.com, and I interview mostly self-published authors on my show, The Creative Penn Podcast, every Monday.
For many more ideas, check out SelfPublishingAdvice.org, a free site written by indie authors, for indie authors. It’s run by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), which you can join to learn more and access further help through the community forum. You can find guidebooks, a weekly podcast and blog, as well as a free online conference and other resources.
As Orna A. Ross, founder of ALLi, says in Creative Self-Publishing: ALLi’s Guide to Independent Publishing for Authors and Poets,
Being an indie author is a wonderful job, with a high level of creative and commercial freedom, but that’s not to say that self-publishing is easy. To be an author, to be a publisher, to run a creative business: these are three challenging ambitions, all rolled into one indie author. You.
Partnership publishing
In this model (sometimes also called hybrid publishing), the author pays upfront for services and the partnership publisher handles design and production. The publisher may also offer marketing, promotion, and bookstore distribution.
Many non-fiction authors have other businesses and don’t necessarily want to do all the tasks associated with self-publishing, but also don’t want to hand over the whole project — and most of the profits — to a publisher. If you have a budget and you work with a recommended company, then partnership publishing can be a good option. It can work especially well if you already have an audience, established business, or speaking career.
The benefit is that you have a team who know what they’re doing, but the downsides include the difficulty of finding a good company to work with, as well as a potentially expensive process.
You can find vetted and recommended services in the Alliance of Independent Authors Self-publishing Services list, which ranks publishers and adds a warning if they are not acceptable. It’s compiled for authors, by authors.
Find it at:
selfpublishingadvice.org/best-self-publishing-services
White Fox is an example of a quality partnership publisher who I’m happy to recommend and am an affiliate for.
Find them at:
www.TheCreativePenn.com/whitefox
There are some great companies, but there are also sharks in the water — companies who operate with shady terms and conditions and rip off authors along the way.
Do your research and due diligence and check all contracts carefully.
You can also check Writer Beware for publishing scams, of which there are many, at WriterBeware.blog.
Your creative work is valuable
You can write a book for love, but publishing is about reaching readers and, in order to be a sustainable business, that book has to make money.
Publishers are not charities, and neither are the online book platforms. They are businesses who make money from your books.
Empower yourself
Learn about intellectual property (IP) and copyright, as well as rights licensing, before you make a decision.
If you’re offered a contract for “all rights, in all languages, in all formats existing now and to be invented, in all territories, for the life of copyright” (fifty to seventy years after the death of the author) for a few thousand dollars, you need to understand what you’re signing away.
Instead, consider selective licensing.
This might be across different books — for example, pitching a traditional publisher with one project while self-publishing another.
It might be across different formats — for example, licensing print editions while retaining ebook and audio rights.
It can also be across different territories — for example, licensing North American rights to a traditional publisher and self-publishing into the rest of the world. Or even by territory and language, like a Spanish-language edition available in Spain, but not in North and South America.
It can also span different time frames — for example, licensing a book for a seven-year deal and getting the rights back later in order to self-publish.
There are so many options once you understand how intellectual property and rights licensing works, which makes being an author a much more lucrative and exciting prospect!
While you need to pick a publishing direction for your book at some point, you don’t have to make one choice for your entire career. Many authors choose a hybrid approach, combining different paths as they become more successful.
Which publishing choice is right for you?
Only you can decide, so do your research into your options — while you keep writing!
Questions:
• Which of these publishing models attracts you the most? Why is that?
• What are the pros and cons of this approach?
• What are the next steps you need to take in that direction?
Resources:
• Closing the Deal on your Terms: Agents, Contracts and Other Considerations — Kristine Kathryn Rusch
• The Alliance of Independent Authors Watchdog listing of publishing companies — www.TheCreativePenn.com/watchdog
• Find out more about the Alliance of Independent Authors: www.TheCreativePenn.com/alliance
• Selective Rights Licensing by the Alliance of Independent Authors - SelfPublishingAdvice.org/selective-rights-licensing-for-indie-authors/
• White Fox Partnership Publisher — www.TheCreativePenn.com/whitefox
• Writer Beware — www.writerbeware.blog
