Small/Indie Publishers and Self-publishing

There are many reasons to go with a smaller/Indie publisher. You can get more specialized attention and more experience working in publishing and with professional editors. The biggest downside is they typically don’t have as much financial resources as a big publishing house. You might not get any advance at all, particularly if you’re a debut writer i.e. it's your first time being published.

They might not be able to promote your book on a large scale as well. But, with the rise of book Twitter and Booktok you can do pretty well promoting your book yourself. Or you can pay someone to promote it for you. For me, the experience working with amazing editors has been really beneficial and I’m excited for the books to be released, even if it might take a little longer to get there.

Also, you can submit to Indie publishers on your own, without going through a Literary Agent. If you’re having trouble getting an agent and you still really believe in your novel, you can try going the Indie publishing route. Just because an agent isn’t interested doesn’t mean your story won’t find an audience.

Then there’s self-publishing. I don’t know to much about self-publishing but I am aware that many authors have found success in this arena. From my understand you do need start-up capital to have your book professionally edited, formatted, have a proper cover designed and to advertise it. The advertising part seems really important, after all there is a lot of competition. Advertising on Amazon can make a huge difference in sales.

I suggest doing tons of research band copying the people who’ve found success. If you find your niche audience and target them specifically you can find success.