Why Traditional Books Sell More (Than Self-Published or Hybrid)

Most books never break 300 copies. That single fact alone stops a lot of aspiring authors in their tracks. In this episode of the Kind of a Big Book Deal Podcast, Meghan Stevenson breaks down why traditionally published books consistently sell more copies and what that means if you are thinking about writing a book.

Meghan explains that traditional publishing forces authors to build an audience and prove demand before a deal is ever offered. While that hurdle can feel intimidating, it actually sets authors up for stronger sales because they already know how to reach readers. She also highlights the role of professional production, from editing to cover design, and how quality directly impacts reader trust and word of mouth.

Another major advantage is distribution. Traditionally published books are placed in physical bookstores, not just online marketplaces, which significantly increases visibility and long-term sales. Megan also shares an often-overlooked factor: traditional publishing puts an entire team behind a book, all invested in its success.

This episode helps entrepreneurs and thought leaders decide whether traditional publishing aligns with their goals, resources, and readiness, and offers clarity on why the traditional path still matters in today’s crowded market.

Episode Highlights:
(0:00) Intro
(1:26) Indie vs traditional publishing explained
(2:00) The reality of book sales statistics
(3:29) Sales data for traditional publishers
(4:01) Audience and proof of concept matter
(4:33) Professional production and quality
(5:35) Distribution and bookstore access
(6:15) Teams behind traditional publishing
(6:55) When traditional publishing is not right
(7:20) Outro

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Have a great idea for a book but don't know where to start? MeghanStevenson.com/quiz


Traditional publishing expert Meghan Stevenson blasts open the gates of the “Big 5”—Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette, and Macmillan—to share what every entrepreneur and expert needs to know about landing a book deal. 

In episodes released every Monday, Meghan shares wisdom and stories from 20+ years in publishing as well as interviews with authors, literary agents, and editors. She also answers questions from listeners like you. 

Whether you are an experienced entrepreneur with an empire, or are just starting out—this podcast will help you understand what you need to do in order to turn your dream of being a bestselling author into real life. 

Transcript

Why Traditional Books Sell More

Meghan 0:00

But I believe traditionally published books fare better for a few key reasons. First, authors have to establish an audience and proof of concept in order to even get a traditional deal. While this does put a hurdle in your path as an author, it also means that you have a way to reach readers directly, which would increase your book sales. Welcome to the Kind of a Big Book Deal podcast where entrepreneurs come to learn about traditional publishing. I'm your host, Meghan Stevenson. After working as an editor for two of the biggest traditional publishers, I started my own business helping entrepreneurs to become authors. To date, my clients have earned over $7 million from publishers including Penguin Random House, Simon ⁇ Schuster, HarperCollins, and Hay House, just to name a few. In these podcast episodes, I will blast open the well-kept gates to traditional publishing. I'm going to explain what every entrepreneur needs to know about landing a book deal without losing your mind. I'm going to share stories, answer your questions, interview the successful authors I've had the pleasure to work with, and probably say platform more than a tech bro. So if you dream of landing on a bestseller list but have no idea how, this is the podcast for you, and I am so, so glad you're here. It's pretty well known that not all books become bestsellers. Today we're going to talk about why traditionally published books tend to sell more copies than independently published books. Note that for the sake of this podcast episode, I'm going to use independently published or indie as a stand-in for both self-published and hybrid published books. I am specifically choosing to do that for this episode because self-publishing and hybrid publishing models both have more in common with each other than either of these approaches has with traditional publishing, at least for what we're talking about today. Okay, let's dive in. Statistics show that most books sell less than 300 copies. Partly that's because of market saturation. There are over 3 million books published every year, which means there is a lot of options for readers to choose from. And that doesn't even count what we in the industry call Backlist, which is any book that was published over a year ago. But let's jump back into new books. Out of the 3 million or so of new books published every year, roughly two-thirds are self-published, which means there are two million new, independently published titles, mostly available through Amazon, because the big difference between indie publishing and traditional publishing is distribution, especially into physical bookstores, which includes chains like Barnes Noble. But here's also where Nuance is helpful in understanding the entire publishing landscape. Data suggests that most indie published books sell less than 250 copies, which, given that indie books make up the majority of books published, what that indicates is that the sheer existence of indie books not selling well overall factors into that overall number that we started with, where books sell less than 300 copies. Now, I've been throwing a lot of numbers around and it gets confusing fast, but shit is about to get crystal clear, y'all. We have much better data for traditionally published books than indie published books because traditional publishers are either publicly held companies that you know share their earnings and share their financials, or are subsidiaries of conglomerates that have to do that. So we have public sales data. So out of that million or so new books that are traditionally published every year, approximately one in 15 sells more than 10,000 copies. I'm obviously biased, but I believe traditionally published books fare better for a few key reasons. First, authors have to establish an audience and proof of concept in order to even get a traditional deal. While this does put a hurdle in your path as an author, it also means that you have a way to reach readers directly, which would increase your book sales, especially when compared to someone who does not have that, who does not have an audience, does not have a proven methodology. That's pretty easy, right? If you come in with a million followers, you're probably going to sell more books than someone that only has a thousand followers or even 10,000 followers. Another reason that traditionally published books fare better is that they're professionally produced. So issues like a fugly cover, cheap paper, lots of errors simply don't happen as much. Let's go to our favorite place, Tangent Town. Recently I went on a girls' trip with two friends who love romanticy. One of my friends gave away a book she was reading, not because she didn't like it, not because she wasn't interested, but because it was so full of typos that she personally could not continue. But my other friend did not care. This is a great example of the difference that can exist both in quality and in the preference of readers. Personally, I know people who are bugged by any little typo or error in the books they read, whereas other people, including myself, often don't even notice. Okay, so let's go back to the main topic at hand today. Traditionally published books sell more copies because their authors have to have audiences and because they're professionally produced. But there's two more reasons that actually get overlooked a lot. And the big thing I like to harp on is distribution. By and large, most independently published books are not distributed to independent bookstores and large chain stores like Barnes Noble. But traditionally published books are. And even though Amazon is the number one seller of books in the United States, not being in those bookstores matters and probably impacts the sales of independently published books. And if you're the type of person like me who prefers to shop small and support local businesses, this is a great reason to opt into traditional publishing because ironically, the traditional model does way more to support independent business than so-called indie authors. And lastly, the big thing that people underestimate is that within traditional publishing, there are more people invested in the success of the book than just the author. That includes literary agents, that includes collaborators like me, that includes the hundreds of people at a publishing house who do the work they do because they are readers themselves who love books. To sum this up, when you traditionally publish, research shows that you will sell more books. Your book sales will benefit because you have bigger distribution, more people that care, you have to have an audience to get that deal, and you're ready to sell your book. That said, the traditional route isn't for everyone. So if you want to know more about whether traditional book publishing is right for you, I've got a great episode on alignment for you back in the feed. It's episode 18. Go and find it. And I would love to hear what's on your mind when it comes to traditionally publishing your book. You can leave me a voicemail with your question and I can answer you in an upcoming podcast. The link to leave me a message is in the show notes. And as always, cheers to your success. Thanks for tuning in to the Kind of Big Book Deal podcast. Want to see where you're at on your book journey? Check out my free quiz at MeghanStevenson.com forward slash quiz. That's M-E-G H A N S T E V E N S O N dot com forward slash quiz. See you next time.