How do you decide whether to self publish or get an agent?

[safetyzone]

I've started writing for fun and I'm currently 24k words in my manuscript. I have a day job so it's not like I'm trying to live on it, so originally I was thinking of self publishing on Kindle. But then so many of you are talking about submitting to agents, so I want to know how you decide which way to go? Personally I'm terrified of that process as I hate rejection, and I just want to have a completed book out in the wild, but it will be better if I can get audience for it!

In complete honesty… I would be strongly tempted to finish the book and see how you feel!

it’s two very different routes to the readers.

To add - I work in the publishing industry and also write but am not yet published!

I’m just about to start sending out queries to agents…I’d love to be traditionally published as I would love to make writing my career (actual writing and teaching), but also because it takes a lot of effort to self publish and promote your own book. I follow some local self published authors and it’s seems relentless in how you try to run up sales.

You don't 'get' an agent ,you see if only will accept you on his/her books. You say.you are terrified of rejection - you can't afford to be
An agent will.critique it if he sees something
of merit in.it.Consider the advice you are given and probably take it at this stage.in your career. Good luck with it!

As others have said, you're far too early in the journey to be thinking about the end result.

However, like one of the other posters, I want to be traditionally published so that I can make it my career. Once you have an agent and a publishing deal, you can monetise it, charging to give feedback on query packages, editing manuscripts etc.

In terms of reaching readers, I don't know if there really is a great difference any more between self-publishing and traditional. A friend of mine was published by one of the big 5 early this year, and in all honesty, her book has sunk without a trace. The publishers did very little to market it, and it was basically left to her to try and push it on social media. I'd be interested to know if any trad published authors here have had a similar experience.

Honestly, the chance of getting an agent is so low, I wouldn't get too worked up about it. Prepare yourself for rejection whichever route you take! Rejection by lots of agents, if you finally get one then by publishers, and, however you publish, by readers. Rejection is a big feature of the business.

Thank you all for the honest comments! I'll just have to let go of my pride and see what happens 😁

Just to say, you can absolutely make it your career if you self-publish. I earn enough from publishing on Kindle for it to be my full-time income.

Oh wow, that's amazing! I wonder if I've read your books! Might lean on people here once I actually finish writing 😅

The two routes are very different, and I’d say quite genre dependent. I write literary fiction so arguably it’s trad publishing only for me if I want to reach that readership. But, I do know a handful of self-published writers, some of whom have transitioned to trad publishing after building a platform and achieving impressive sales.

What I’ve gathered from those fairly successfully friends and colleagues who’ve done it is, if you’re thinking seriously that self-publishing could be a good path for you and your work, then it actually doesn’t hurt to start preparing for that now. Of course the book will be the most important thing, but if you’re willing to allow the self-publishing market to influence how and what you write, you might find yourself well positioned for the self-promotion that is a necessary and huge part of the job.

So you might ask yourself: are there lots of self-published books in my preferred genre/s? If not, could my book fit into one of those genres? Am I a patient sort, okay with waiting a long time for the gatekeepers in trad publishing, or would I be happier being pro-active and advocating for myself and my work, even though it may take a lot of time and effort (and possibly investment)? Am I social media savvy? Would dealing with the likes of Amazon depress me? Am I willing to take courses and invest in skills (other than writing) if necessary? Lots of people self-publish and many are able to do it well, but they’re often tenacious folk with a book they really believe can capture readers’ attention and sell in a market that, let’s face it, is saturated with utter crap.

If you self-publish to get a book in the wild, and no one reads it, how will you feel?

I don't like rejection but it's part of the game and I'm seeking trad pub partly because I want a gatekeeper to look at my book and say 'yeah this is okay actually'. I'm worried I'll publish garbage if left to my own devices!

If I was super confident I had an amazing book I would consider self-pub, but I'd still try agents first. But that's just me. Everyone's journey is different.

I don’t know if anyone has used something like this, looks half way between traditional publishing and self publishing? In so much as you get editing etc: troubador.co.uk/book-publishing

That looks like an old-fashioned vanity press. Self-publishing and traditional are both free!

For me, self publishing all the way

im too impatient to sit around waiting for an agent to respond and like having control of my books

Yes you have to promote, but trad published authors have to too, even well known names

Tbh I don’t know why writers continue to participate in the trad process

If you do self-publish, please get it properly edited and proofread! I see so many self-published books with good plots and some decent writing, spoiled by waffle and grammatical errors. Some of them are virtually unreadable.

Yes, I have a professional editor and cover designer

A lot of self-published authors pay for an editor.