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How will you publish your work in progress? The results! (2019)

May 29, 2019 by Nathan Bransford 4 Comments

So. With all the caveats that this is an unscientific poll, how do the readers of this blog plan to publish their work in progress?

First, let’s recap what happened in years of yore…

In 2013 and 2014, the results were pretty consistent. The traditional-only crowd was around 22-23% and self-publishing die-hards were at 10%.

In 2015 there was a rise in the number of people who were passing on traditional to pursue self-publishing, which rose to 15% and this trend continued into 2016. Whereas about 26-27% were still traditional only.

Last year there was a bump back down for self-publishing only because more people were opting for flexibility:

This year’s results (dun dun dun…)

Pretty similar to last year! A slight tick up for self-publishing only, but otherwise the results are pretty consistent.

What’s perhaps most interesting to me that the traditional-only number has stayed very steady in the past few years at around 26%.

What do you make of these numbers? Do you see anything on the horizon that could change the landscape?

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Art: Richard March Hoe’s printing press—six cylinder design by N. Orr

Filed Under: Business of Publishing

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lenore Gay says

    May 29, 2019 at 6:24 pm

    Hey,
    wondering why you didn’t include a relatively new way to publish. Hybrid publishing is growing yearly. The questionnaire should include hybrid publishing

    Thank you.

    Reply
    • Nathan Bransford says

      May 29, 2019 at 6:26 pm

      I think of most forms of “hybrid” publishing as essentially self-publishing.

      Reply
      • Nathan Bransford says

        June 7, 2019 at 10:51 am

        Sorry, I think this response came across a bit more flippantly than I intended. There are so many different publishing models out there these days and it’s increasingly tricky to distill things down. *If pressed* I would categorize hybrid in the self-publishing realm, but there are definitely interesting things happening in the space.

        For the integrity of the year over year results I’m always reluctant to change, but we’ll see where we’re at this time next year.

        Reply
  2. JOHN T. SHEA says

    May 29, 2019 at 10:23 pm

    A SIX cylinder printing press? I want a V8 at least!

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Nathan. I’m the author of How to Write a Novel and the Jacob Wonderbar series, which was published by Penguin. I used to be a literary agent at Curtis Brown Ltd. and I’m dedicated to helping authors achieve their dreams. Let me help you with your book!

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