Right now the music world (specifically rap/hip hop) is erupting as @kanyewest tweetstorms about the importance of music ownership for artists in the digital/streaming age. The sad part? The book publishing world is even worse and will take another 10 years to catch up. Thread

1/ 99.9% of authors don’t actually understand the business model of a publishing house. The age-old dream of a writer was to be “published,” and the glory of that title made it worthwhile to give up 80-95% ownership in exchange.

2/ But publishing houses operate like bad Venture Capital firms. They know most books they publish will fail. So, they write lots of small checks (advances) to “play the lottery” as many times as they can. For every JK Rowling, there are thousands of no-name forgotten authors.

3/ Writers, giddy over their $15,000 advance and newfound “published author” title, don’t pay this any mind. Their book comes out. It flops. And they’re right back to working their 9-5. In addition, the book they DID publish, they own 5-10% of. Royalties are slim.

4/ Once you’ve flopped as an author, that’s pretty much it. Your career is stained. Publishing houses won’t touch you. So, while you achieved your title, you gave up ownership in your biggest project to date AND now have an uphill battle to climb.

5/ Since publishing houses play the volume game, none of this matters to them. Your first novel, which you poured your heart and soul into, flipped? So what. At big houses, the top 0.05% of their authors drive 95% of their revenue. You literally don’t exist.

6/ What aspiring writers and authors fail to realize in all of this is the OPPORTUNITY COST. 10% royalty is nothing. Which leads us to the big dilemma: do you want to earn a real living off your writing? Or do you want fame, public credibility, and social status?

7/ This is @kanyewest’s point (albeit communicated in brash fashion). A 6 or 7 figure advance seems like a dream come true until you realize you could have made 10x that by taking the longer but more methodical road. By maintaining ownership over more of your work.

8/ If you want to pretend you’re the next Hemingway, go with a big publishing house. Get your 15 min of fame. But anyone willing to do some napkin math can find the flaw: advances are paid because the pub house believes they can make 10x that OFF YOU.

9/ Ownership. Build your library. Take your career step by step. Move intentionally. There’s no need to rush. The digital age is waking artists up, and revealing that if you can forgo the instant gratification now, you’ll be far wealthier, with far more creative freedom later.

10/ Using myself as a case study. Watch where I end up 10 years from now.