Traditional Publishing vs. Self-Publishing: Understanding the Difference

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Authors today have more publishing options than ever before. Two of the most common are traditional publishing and self-publishing.

Both can be successful, but there is one major difference authors should understand from the beginning: who acts as the publisher and makes the final publishing decisions.

Self-Publishing: The Author Is the Publisher

When an author self-publishes, they are essentially operating their own publishing company. This provides a great deal of control, but it also comes with responsibility.

The author generally makes the decisions regarding the cover, interior design, formatting, pricing, distribution, release date, marketing, and other aspects of publication.

They are also responsible for arranging and often paying for the services necessary to produce and distribute the book.

For authors who want maximum control over every detail, self-publishing can be an attractive option.

Traditional Publishing: The Publisher Takes Responsibility

Traditional publishing works differently.

An author submits a manuscript to a publisher. If the publisher accepts the work, the publisher invests its time, resources, experience, and money into preparing and releasing the book.

Because the publisher assumes those responsibilities, the publisher also makes many of the final decisions concerning how the book is produced and presented.

Those decisions may include cover design, formatting, pricing, distribution, marketing strategy, branding, and release plans, subject to the rights and responsibilities established in the publishing agreement.

This doesn't mean an author's opinion doesn't matter. A good publisher should listen to its authors, consider their ideas, and address legitimate concerns. But collaboration is different from giving the author final approval over every publishing decision.

How Fieldhouse Approaches Publishing

At Fieldhouse Publishing, we want our authors to be proud of their books. We welcome suggestions and believe communication between author and publisher is important.

At the same time, Fieldhouse is a traditional publisher, not a self-publishing service.

We maintain standards across our five Publishing Houses—Hallowfield, Ironfield,

Willowfield, Oakfield, and Rosefield. Maintaining those standards sometimes requires Fieldhouse to make decisions based on the needs of the book, the market, our distribution channels, and the larger Fieldhouse brand.

The author has already accomplished the hardest part:

They created the story.

Our job is to take that story, professionally publish it, and work toward giving it the best opportunity possible to find its readers.

That partnership works best when both author and publisher understand their roles.