Can it ever be justified to pay a company to have your book published?

Written 27.01.2026 by admin

By Jonathan Posner

I see this question put by people for whom traditional trade publishing is the ONLY way to publish. “A publisher bears the cost,” they exclaim. “If you have to pay to publish, you’re being ripped off!”

It seems to me that they are missing the point, big time.

If you’re not lucky enough to get an agent / publisher (and let’s be realistic, the odds are stacked against you, however good your book is), your only option is to self-publish.

Which means YOU are the publisher. YOU bear the costs.

Of course, you could publish without spending any money – you can self-edit, design your own cover, format and upload the book yourself – but I have to ask, will it be any good? Will the cover look amateurish? Will the book end up selling few, if any copies? OK, this outcome is not inevitable – some authors might have all the necessary skills. But for most, their book sadly sinks without trace in the deep sea of Amazon titles.

So what do you do? You try to publish professionally – spending money on finding and hiring the right editors, cover designers, formatters and such like. You sign up for ‘how to publish’ courses. You attend conferences and festivals. You subscribe to publications.

Like any trade publisher, you are now bearing the costs.

But this is probably a whole new industry for you, and the learning curve is almost vertical. You might make expensive mistakes along the way. So again, what do you do? Just as you would most likely pay a garage to service your car, you buy in the necessary skills and support. You find a company who offers a full publishing service and you pay them to do the editing, design, formatting, etc.

OMG, now you’re paying a company to have your book published! The trad guys are up in arms! You’re being ripped off!

Of course you aren’t. You’re simply channelling your spend through a single company; a ‘hybrid’ publisher that provides all the services in a professional way. Plus, you’re getting expert support, an ISBN and an imprint on your book. You’re getting marketing support and access to the retail channel.

“Yes – but it’s still ‘vanity’ by another name!” they cry. “The hybrid publisher just wants your money!”

Um – no. The publisher wants the same thing that you do – a quality book. The are providing a value service, and you’re getting a professional book in return for your spend. And it’s not ‘vanity’ if the publisher lets you keep your rights (and therefore creative control), passes on self-publishing levels of royalties and lets you end the contract whenever you want. It’s also not vanity if the publisher is prepared to reject submissions – i.e. not just publish any manuscript regardless of the level of writing. A professional hybrid publisher will want to maintain the quality of their imprint – only accepting books that are well written and plotted, as well as doing the necessary developmental work with the author to make the book as good as it can be.

So there it is. I hope I have answered the question posed at the start of this article. Yes, it can be justified to pay to publish. And like any paid service, you need to go into it with eyes open, shop around first, talk to other authors, and generally do your research. Recognise what you’re getting; a professional service to bring your book to market – the book you’ve worked so hard to write.

And just because you’ve chosen not to keep trying for an agent doesn’t mean you can’t publish an excellent book. You’re just going about it in a different way.