I once read a powerful quote that said, “empowerment is the greatest currency that we have as a people.” Ermias (Nipsey Hussle) Asghedom, better known as Nip, is someone who definitely understood that. In fact, that is one of the things that I admire and miss the most about him. His empowering and inspirational spirit that he embodied came through loud and clear in every song, every line, every interview, and most importantly in every business move that he made. He took full advantage of and relished every opportunity to show, prove, and inspire the world to boss up – especially those from Crenshaw, the South L.A. neighborhood that raised him. Nipsey explained the importance of an artist owning the content they create during a 2018 interview with Mass Appeal where he said,

“As an artist, there’s a business model that exists in the music industry to prevent you from having ownership, to prevent you from being a partner in the lion’s share of the profit.”

Equity and Ownership as it Relates to Self-Publishing

There is only ONE key difference between a traditionally published and self-published book when it comes to ownership. If the author owns the majority of their book rights and royalties, then the book is self-published. If the publishing company owns the majority of the book rights and royalties, then the book is considered traditionally published.

Additionally, there are NO upfront financial costs with traditional publishing. If you are asked for money, then it is NOT a traditional publishing deal.

 

A Deeper Dive into Traditional Publishing

Typically, a traditional book deal involves multiple submissions to multiple agents due to the large percentage of rejections. If your book is “lucky enough” and is selected to be represented, then the agent will submit your manuscript to publishers on your behalf, in exchange for a percentage of your royalties of course. That too typically comes with a large percentage of rejections before hopefully a deal is struck, and a contract is signed.

Then comes the hardest part for most creatives, and that’s handing over creative control of their book to their publisher. Your book will go through several rounds of edits to get it to what the publisher thinks is its best version. To be completely honest, that doesn’t sit well with me at all. If they know so much about what the public wants in a book like yours, then why didn’t they just right the book themselves?

Not to digress, but for me on the other hand the hardest part of accepting a traditional book deal is the low percentage of ownership the creator retains on their creation. Royalty rates in a traditional publishing deal will usually range between 7% and 25% for the author, with 25% being on the unusually generous side. All of the discounts, returns, marketing costs, and overheads are taken off the total before your percentage is calculated.

You envisioned your book, you stepped out on faith to materialize your vision, but then you have to sign over the lion’s share of your ownership to a publisher… approximately 75% to 93% to be exact?

Not I said the astute businessman!

I get it, there is certainly a level of comfort, ease, and notoriety that comes with being signed to a big-name traditional publisher. Like not having upfront financial costs, or being able to write your book, then kick back and let your team do everything else for you.

That may seem attractive at first glance, but let’s dive into it and dissect the numbers a little bit. I think you’ll be able to clearly see that the ease and comfort is not worth signing away 75% to 93% ownership of your intellectual property.

 

Dissecting the Numbers

Let’s say you sell 100,000 copies of your book with an above-average royalty agreement of 15%. If your book retails for $19.99, then selling 100,000 copies would net $1,999,000.

Let’s then say that overhead and expenses for the book will be approximately $800,000. Leaving roughly $1,199,000 in profit. That 15% royalty deal that you have would mean that the publisher would get a whopping 85% of your profit, equaling approximetley $1,019,150. Your 15% as the author would net you a mere $179,850; and let’s not forget that your agent would then get 15% or so of that.  When your royalty checks are sent to your agent,  she will take her approximate 15% off the top before giving you your cut.

 

 

Meet my guy Oliver, better known as Ollie on his popular Facebook page Ollie’s World. Like most two-year-olds, Ollie is very impressionable during this formative time of his development; and his reactions are 100% real…honest… and sincere. However, unlike most two-year-olds Ollie was born with Caudal Regression Syndrome, a rare condition that affects the development of the lower spine and organs. On Ollie’s World, Ollie’s mom brings awareness to his condition and shares personal videos that highlight his resilience and unbothered, everything is just great spirit and demeanor. We all can benefit from taking a page out of Ollie’s book, and I highly recommend that everyone check his page out.

During a routine visit to their neighborhood Target store one day, Ollie was stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a huge advertisement on the wall starring a child that looks like he does. In the feature photo, you can see the moment after he spun his wheelchair around and stared in awe at the ad.

Caption That!

(what do you think Ollie was saying?)

What a powerful picture! Ollie’s mom said, ” he couldn’t stop looking at it.” She also said, “I could immediately see that he knew he had just seen a boy like himself. Something he has never seen before.” It’s no surprise to me that when she shared this picture in a post on Ollie’s World, the photo was shared more than 33,000 times by the following day.

Writing a children’s book that depicted smart and strong females who are striving for academic excellence was at the forefront of my mind and was one of the driving forces when I was writing VALEDICTORIAN. I wanted my children to have more books that represented them and our culture, so I decided to be a part of the solution.

If you have something to contribute that will empower, encourage, or simply represent your culture or community… then Ollie and I are in 100% agreement that you should make it happen.

I may not have a doctorates degree in “representation,”  but here at LodgeWell Publishing we believe that representation matters immensely!  With that being said,  as an author of a children’s book myself… I’d like to stay in my lane and take an untraditional look at this topic while drawing example from the famous children’s book that we all know and love, ” The Ugly Duckling. “

Do you remember when the “ugly duckling” was young and thought that he was ugly because he was bigger,  and had darker fur then the “other ducklings?”  Well, that was most likely due to the fact that he never saw other birds that looked like him.  Every where he turned he saw smaller, yellow ducklings;  and they all were quick to let him know that they thought he was pretty funny looking.  He was getting it from the ducklings at the pond,  as well as even the adult ducks at the pond.  That left him believing and accepting that he was ugly;  and that everybody else was just better than him.  Despite him progressing and hitting bench marks earlier than his brothers and sisters,  even they were making fun of him.  Angry and frustrated with the way he was being treated,  he decided to leave home and go as far away as possible.  Leaving behind the one person who loved and supported him the most… his momma.

That little duckling had to go far and wide to get his first glimpse of birds that looked like him;  and thank goodness that he did.  For it wasn’t until he saw those other birds that looked like him is when he finally realized that he was in fact not a duck…  but rather a beautiful and graceful swan.

 

So does representation really matter…? 

ABSOLUTELY – POSITIVELY – WITHOUT a QUESTION or a DOUBT… YES!

I get it… the numbers in the visual above are alarming to say the least,  but you can either see that as a reason to not even try to put your book out,  or you can see it as an incredible opportunity.  An opportunity to tell your story like only you can,  an opportunity to empower and inspire your audience,  and an opportunity to up lift people who are in a similar situation to the one you were in.  The less those people are currently represented in the children’s book market,  the bigger your opportunity.

I for one wasn’t going to allow my baby girls to believe for one second that they are any less than the characters in the books they read,  or shows that they watch,  or advertisements that are targeted towards them.  Writing and self-publishing VALEDICTORIAN,  a children’s book starring them as strong, smart, and thriving lead characters has empowered them and sparked a level of creativity that has truly amazed me.   

Using my lesson learned to ignite my children have been extremely gratifying.  But,  empowering readers all around the world and inspiring them to strive for academic excellence,  has been almost equally gratifying as well.   If you have a children’s book idea that can help build the self-esteem of readers who do not usually get to see themselves depicted… then I highly recommend that you do.

It’s actually an incredible time in self-publishing right now.  New technology have empowered us all.  I truly believe that new Best-Selling Authors are going to pop up all over the place out of nowhere!