Lag Time And Profligacy

In a previous post, I gave aspiring authors advice on how to approach their writing careers.  I tried to be balanced, although I’m still pretty sure my obvious bias against traditional publishing came out.  Well, this post will be even more open about it.

For those looking to go traditional because they don’t want to worry about cover design, 
editing, or their own imprints, know what you’re getting into regarding both being paid and
your own profligacy.  I mean, although I know everyone enjoys writing just for the sake of
writing, we all also like to get paid, right?  Well, traditional houses tend to only pay every six
months(if you got an advance, then you don’t get paid anything more until your books have
made more in royalties than what you were advanced), and the best you’ll get is 15%(before
you pay your agent and your taxes).  Let’s hope you make enough from one paycheck to 
last the next six months.

There’s also profligacy, which means how many titles you can put out in a year.  Most writers 
make their money from not one, but multiple titles being in the public sphere.  Unfortunately, 
most traditional publishing houses won’t put out but one title a year(two if you’re really lucky).  
This goes back to the dumbass idea that the public will grow bored of you, so you don’t 
want to much out there in succession.  But that’s stupid since most people immediately 
search for other titles by an author that they find they like.  It limits authors’ ability to take
care of themselves.  And don’t give me this garbage about maintaining quality – any industry
that can publish either Pregnesia or Moon People has no real interest in quality.

Just take this stuff into consideration when you are considering whether to go indie or
traditional in your writing journey.  Maybe you can live with this stuff; I can’t.