Traditional Publishing vs. Self-Publishing: Which Is Right for You?

The main advantage of a traditional publishing house is that they handle most of the marketing for you (along with other publishing nuts and bolts.) However, it is very, very hard to get a book deal, and even if you do the chances of succeeding are minimal. And the house keeps most of the royalties.

With self-publishing, you cut out the middleman and retain most of the royalties (which for most authors will be negligible anyway). But you must handle the burden of promotion and marketing. If you have a large platform and/or time and money to invest in promoting the book, this is a good option.

It never hurts to try to get a book deal, but most authors will ultimately self-publish.