How to Understand the Publishing Industry

In the words of investigative journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, “If you want to understand something, follow the money.” This simple yet profound principle, which helped unravel the complexities of the Watergate scandal, remains true today. If you want to understand the publishing industry, look at how the money flows.

Now, I don’t blame you if you find the publishing world a little daunting—even intimidating. You should be concerned. It’s riddled with vanity publishers looking to scam you out of large sums of money, pompous old legacy publishers who refuse to give you the time of day, and literary agents who won’t even bother to reply to your email—or whose submission requirements are so unnecessarily complex that it’s no wonder so many authors feel like they’ll never get published.

Right now, authors have three primary paths to publication: Self-Publishing, Vanity Publishing, and Legacy Publishing.

The first option is Self-Publishing, and while there’s nothing wrong with it, many people don’t fully understand what it entails.

A common mistake is accepting the free ISBN from Amazon or IngramSpark and calling it "publishing." But as we all know, when something is free, there’s always a catch. Just like there’s no such thing as a free lunch, the catch here is that the platform essentially “owns” your book and restricts your distribution to that platform.

Nobody becomes a bestseller by selling exclusively on Amazon—how are bookstores supposed to buy your book at a discount like they normally do? The answer is IngramSpark, in case you were wondering.

So how does real publishing work? It starts with getting ISBNs only from the official source: [Bowker.com]. You can buy them yourself—currently 10 for $295—or get them issued through your publisher, who can purchase them in bulk at a lower price.

The real challenge with self-publishing is that while autonomy is great, you’re completely on your own. Not only that, but you’ll need to hire and pay freelancers for essential services like editing, cover design, and formatting—often at a premium because you likely don’t have the established industry connections that a publisher does. On average, properly self-publishing a book costs between $2,000 and $5,000, depending on the project’s requirements.

And that’s not even factoring in the frustration of uploading your book to platforms like Amazon, IngramSpark, and Barnes & Noble—all while handling your own marketing. It’s not uncommon for a book cover to be rejected multiple times on Amazon or IngramSpark. No wonder authors are pulling out their hair!

In other words, self-publishing often means a big outflow of cash—from the author to various freelancers—just to get the book properly published. Because let’s be honest… Most of us don’t know how to do every single aspect of book publishing, and really, why would you want to?!

Next up, we have Vanity Publishers—and as attractive as they might seem… beware!

The easiest way to identify a vanity publisher is by their business model: they charge authors large sums of money upfront—usually between $2,000 and $5,000 (or even more!)—but deliver low-quality services to maximize their profit. Essentially, once they have your money, they don’t care about you anymore. They’ll outsource the work to the cheapest possible freelancers—often inexperienced—to cut costs and boost their own earnings. They’ll do only the bare minimum required by the contract, leaving you with an expensive, poorly executed product.

And since they’ve already been paid, they have zero incentive to help your book succeed after publication. In most cases, you’ll hear nothing but crickets once your book is released. They may not even respond to your requests. And let’s be honest—every author wants book sales! It’s heartbreaking to pour your heart and soul into a book only for no one to read it, and a vanity publisher won’t lift a finger to change that.

There are also some major red flags that can help you spot a vanity publisher:

• Guaranteed bestsellers. No one can promise a bestseller! If something sounds too good to be true, it is.

• Fake book tours. They may promise a “book tour,” but with vanity publishers, it’s usually a choreographed and completely staged experience.

• Lack of transparency. They won’t tell you where your money is going because they don’t want you to see how little they’re actually spending on your book.

Getting a book to truly succeed requires highly targeted marketing and consistent effort—like attending book signings month after month to spread the word. Vanity publishers don’t do this because it doesn’t benefit them.

I can tell you firsthand—both as a published author, click here to see my Author Page, and a publisher—that it doesn’t cost nearly as much as vanity publishers charge to produce a quality book. With an efficient process and strong industry connections, high-quality work can be done at a reasonable price.

Bonus tip: Always check a prospective publisher’s policy and costs on post-publication revisions. Let’s say you want to update your book cover after publication—how much do they charge for that? Some vanity publishers will hit you with outrageous fees for minor changes.

Another way to spot a vanity publisher is to carefully review their contracts. Watch out for:

• Losing rights to your manuscript.

• Non-compete clauses that prevent you from republishing for five years.

• Huge buyouts (e.g., $20,000) just to get your own book back.

• Unfair royalty rates that take an unreasonable cut of your earnings.

Let’s be real—who on earth is paying $20,000 to reclaim their own book?!

As the saying goes, “By their fruits, you shall know them.”

To sum it up, with vanity publishers, the money flows one way—from the author to the publisher—leaving you with little to show for it.

Lastly, we have traditional legacy publishers. At first glance, this might seem like the best option for authors—they may publish your book for free and even pay you an advance to do it.

But let’s stop and think about this logically. Imagine calling a drywall company and asking them to fix your walls for free—and then pay you for the privilege of working on your house. Why would they do that? Your house would have to be so incredibly valuable and visible that the company could justify doing the work pro bono. Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?!

Legacy publishers operate the same way. Their goal is high-volume book sales after publishing. That might sound great, but here’s the catch: they will only publish an author if they believe the book has significant value—either because of the content itself or because the author’s reputation is strong enough to guarantee sales.

This means very few authors ever get published by legacy publishers. Statistically, most books won’t sell enough copies to justify the publisher taking on all the costs upfront. According to Scribe Media, “Research suggests that the ‘average’ self-published, digital-only book sells about 250 copies in its lifetime.” That’s just not enough to make a legacy publisher take the risk.

But don’t let that discourage you—the world needs your story! You never know… you could be the next Harry Potter!

Legacy publishers are also the reason behind rumors like: “You need at least 100K followers before you can get published.”

And if you take a close look at legacy publisher contracts, you’ll probably notice something unsettling: you, the author, lose almost complete control over your book. They want to protect their investment, so they ensure they maintain full control of your work.

To sum it up, with Legacy Publishers, there’s a big outflow of cash from the publisher to the author, but also a big loss of control from the author to the publisher.

I blame legacy publishers for fostering this pompous, gatekeeping mentality—the idea that you’re only “good enough” if they say so. I believe this is where the pervasive lie comes from that “Only legitimate publishers pay authors.”

But let’s think about that. Are you sure you want to be paid upfront for your book? That means your work has incredible monetary value! Make sure you maintain control over your product—because it’s not the publisher’s book. It’s YOUR book. They should consider themselves lucky if you allow them to put their endorsement on your story.

Along these same lines, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen authors on X literally screaming into the void, desperate to get published. It breaks my heart to see them rejected over and over again by publishing companies and literary agents.

Are you sure you even want to share the rights and earnings from your book with an agent? Why? You don’t need them to advocate for you!

So now that you’ve seen the three major paths to getting published, let me introduce you to a fourth option—publishing with Seerendip Publishing!

Have you ever come across a publishing company on Facebook (or elsewhere) and thought, “What does that name even mean?” You might not be able to articulate it, but deep down, you’re probably wondering what their endorsement actually stands for.

At Seerendip Publishing, our name is a play on “serendipity,” which means that when we publish your book, it’s not just a transaction—it’s an acknowledgment that your work is a literary treasure. When you publish with us, it actually means something!

Before I started Seerendip Publishing, I had an idea for a self-help book, which, ironically, is titled How to Deal with Stupid! I remember looking at the publishing space and thinking, This is ridiculous! I saw authors querying for years, desperately trying to get published with zero support. I saw the overly complex submission requirements of literary agents on Twitter and thought, Yeah, I’m not dealing with this crap.

So, I did what any logical person would do—I started Seerendip Publishing to fix the problems I saw in the industry.

One of the biggest? Submitting a manuscript shouldn’t be difficult!

Now, while there’s no guarantee that your work will be selected for publishing, there’s also no reason to make querying a publisher an unnecessary headache. At Seerendip Publishing, your manuscript doesn’t have to be perfect for submission, and we welcome direct queries—no agent required!

And why does that matter? Because publishing is meant to be a collaborative process between an author and a publisher. It does not require a middleman.

Let us help you with your writing!

Seerendip Publishing does not “lord” over authors. We’ll provide you with our professional recommendations, but ultimately, this is your book—you’re the boss! Our goal is to help you achieve your vision and exceed your expectations.

Put simply, we offer a highly personalized publishing experience, ensuring your book comes to life exactly as you imagine it—while you retain 100% rights to your story.

One thing that sets us apart? We collaborate closely with authors and actively involve them in their book marketing process.

Why is this significant? Because while we have powerful tools and resources to help your book succeed, we don’t pretend to have all the answers. You know your book and your audience better than anyone, and we value your input.

This is also why authors who publish with us keep 100% rights to their manuscripts—we believe in respecting your work and holding ourselves accountable. We want you to want to work with us—and to tell your friends about your experience!

Our mission is simple: “Give all authors a fair chance at getting published.” We make the path to publishing clear, accessible, and straightforward. While there’s no guarantee your book will be selected, we pride ourselves on offering honest, constructive feedback with specific steps to help improve your manuscript.

And when you publish with us, we stand by our motto: “We don’t forget about you after publishing!”

We are NOT a vanity publisher. Our goal is to help your book sell year after year. While the publishing process is what I love most, technically, Seerendip Publishing is a sales company—we specialize in selling books!

Let’s be real—every author wants book sales after publishing. While we encourage authors to have realistic expectations, we also do everything we can to exceed them.

Why Choose Seerendip Publishing?

✅ You keep 100% rights to your manuscript.

✅ You get a collaborative, transparent publishing process.

✅ We provide a detailed cost breakdown—no hidden fees.

✅ We are NOT a vanity publisher and have nothing to hide.

Still on the fence? Check out our amazing reviews here! 

At Seerendip Publishing, the money flows in both directions. While we offer services at up to 90% less than the industry standard, we also believe that authors should have a small investment in their journey—not thousands of dollars, but usually just a few hundred. We’ve found that when authors have a little skin in the game, they are more motivated to collaborate and help their book succeed.

And to truly respect your work, we offer above-average royalty rates—so you can reap the rewards of becoming a published author.

📌 Want to learn more about avoiding vanity publishers? Check out this must-read article: https://blog.kotobee.com/vanity-publishers/

📌 Worried your manuscript isn’t ready? Did you know we offer premium author services like beta reading and editing? Check them out here.