How Publishing Works (And How It’s Worked for Me): Brandon Sanderson's Writing Lecture #10 (2025)

Most of you don’t know how publishing works, and that’s not your fault. It’s an opaque industry. Today, we’re going to shed some light on the mystical process, so that once you finish your book, you’re armed with the knowledge you need to get it in the hands of your future readers.

We’re stepping away from plotting and prose to talk about publishing from top to bottom. We’ll cover how it works now, how it worked then, and everything Brandon Sanderson learned first-hand. Remember, Brandon runs his class as though each of his students intends to write professionally, and to do that, you’ll eventually want to publish your work for the world to read.

So this is going to be half history lesson, half behind-the-scenes peek at what goes on once you finish writing that book of yours. Let’s get started!

The Early Days: When Publishing Was a Mess (And Still Kind of Is)

“Publishing is just this weird industry that developed kind of haphazardly,” starts Sanderson. Let’s go back in time. Early publishing—especially for science fiction and fantasy—was chaotic. The genres weren’t respected, the business model was unclear, and the people in charge often didn’t know what they were doing.

Science fiction got its start in serialized pulp magazines, which were designed to be cheap, fast, and disposable. Fantasy wasn’t much better off, with publishers uncertain about whether there was even a viable audience for it. Writers were rarely paid well, if at all, and contracts were vague or exploitative.

Sanderson explains, "In the early days of science fiction and fantasy publishing, people were often just kind of throwing stuff at the wall." Publishing lacked standards. It wasn’t just for editing or quality control, but for how deals were made and how rights were handled. There were no clear royalty structures, little long-term career planning, and hardly any transparency. “A lot of the early writers had no idea what was going on with their contracts. They'd just sign whatever was put in front of them,” says Sanderson.

And while things have improved over time, Brandon points out that the chaos hasn’t been entirely solved, but much of it has shifted. "It’s still a little bit of a mess. Publishing is this weird mishmash of creative people and business people who don't always communicate well."

That disconnect leads to problems. Books getting lost in the shuffle, unclear marketing plans, shifting deadlines, or an editor championing your book who suddenly leaves the company. It’s why understanding how publishing works—not just creatively, but structurally—is a major asset for any writer.

Traditional Publishing: The Machine Behind the Books

Once a book gets acquired by a traditional publisher, it enters a sprawling system—a machine of moving parts that don’t always sync, but are all trying (sometimes clumsily) to get your book into readers’ hands.

Brandon describes it this way: “There are a ton of people who touch your book, and most of them you don’t even meet.” That includes everyone from editors and marketers to copyeditors, designers, and sales reps. Each piece has a role to play, but depending on the publisher, or even just the timing, some roles are better staffed or supported than others.

Who’s in the machine?

• Publisher: The final decision-maker on budgets and direction.
• Editorial Director: Leads the imprint and decides what gets acquired.
• Editor: Your creative partner and internal advocate.
• Copyeditor and Proofreader: Clean up grammar, style, and formatting.
• Art and Design: Create covers, typeset interiors, and shape the visual identity.
• Sales Team: Gets the book into stores and libraries.
• Marketing and Publicity: Promotes the book through ads, campaigns, and media (when resources allow).

Sometimes, it works well. Other times, things fall through the cracks. “I’ve had books where the marketing person didn’t even realize the book was coming out that week,” Brandon says.

Part of the challenge is how slow the process can be. From manuscript to bookshelf, a traditionally published book typically takes 18–24 months. “You turn in a book and then wait a year and a half. That’s normal. It’s not broken. That’s just the system.”

And if your in-house editor leaves mid-process—which happens more often than you'd expect—you might find your book adrift without a champion.

That’s why Brandon emphasizes the importance of knowing how this machine works and finding your allies inside it: “Your editor is your lifeline in traditional publishing. If you don’t have someone in-house fighting for your book, it will get lost.”

Let’s Talk Money: Advances, Royalties, and Bookstore Math

Actually getting paid for your book is a complicated process. Understanding the types of payouts you can expect can make contract negotiations and working with your agent much easier. Before we dive in, there are a couple definitions of the publishing world’s basic payment model you’ll want to be familiar with:

• Advance: Money upfront, paid against future royalties.
• Royalties: Your cut of each sale (usually 10–15% for hardcovers).

When you sign a publishing deal, you’re often given an advance. An advance is a lump sum of money paid against future royalties. It sounds great (and it can be), but Brandon is quick to point out that an advance isn’t just a bonus—it’s a bet. “They’re paying you upfront for work you haven’t done yet. They’re betting on your success,” Brandon explains.

If your book sells enough copies to “earn out” the advance—meaning it generates more in royalties than you were paid upfront—you start getting additional payments. But if it doesn’t? You still keep the advance… and the publisher may be less excited to work with you again.

But “success” isn’t always about how many copies you sell. Sometimes it’s about how the deal was structured. Sanderson shares an important reminder for new writers: “The publisher's job is not to make you money. Their job is to make them money. Those things might align. They might not.”

Rights sales, royalty rates, print run size, and whether you retained foreign or audio rights… all of that affects how much money a book makes (for you and for them). That’s why Brandon encourages writers to understand the business side of publishing just as much as the craft.

The Indie Boom and the Rise of eBooks and Audiobooks

The rise of digital publishing—particularly through Amazon’s Kindle platform—created a seismic shift in how books could be published and sold. Suddenly, authors didn’t need a traditional gatekeeper to reach readers. That shift gave rise to the indie publishing boom.

“The real revolution came when Amazon introduced Kindle Direct Publishing. Suddenly, you didn’t need a printing press. You just needed a Word document,” says Sanderson.

With eBooks, costs dropped dramatically. Authors could publish directly, set their own prices, and keep a much higher percentage of royalties. This opened the door for genre fiction (especially romance, fantasy, and sci-fi) to thrive in new ways. It was a very exciting time in publishing!

Brandon explains: “Indie publishing started dominating in the genres where readers wanted a lot of content, fast. People reading ten books a week don’t want to wait a year for a sequel.”

And then came audiobooks.

The Audio Revolution

Brandon notes that audiobooks have quietly become one of the most profitable segments of publishing, especially for indies and hybrid authors. “Audible doesn’t report its numbers, but the anecdotal evidence is huge. Some authors are making six figures just from audio.”

He explains that indie authors were quick to take advantage of platforms like ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange), which let them either self-produce or partner with narrators and share royalties. Combined with the bingeable nature of genre series, audio has become a dominant format—particularly in fantasy, where long books are often more approachable in audio form.

That said, going indie isn't easy. Success often requires writing fast, understanding metadata and marketing, and building a brand on platforms like Amazon. But for those willing to learn the business, it offers real creative and financial freedom.

Brandon says that for him personally: “I love traditional publishing. I still use it. But indie publishing gave authors something we’d never really had before—control.”

What Sanderson Learned From Doing It All

Brandon Sanderson has lived through nearly every version of publishing, whether that’s traditional, indie, hybrid, or even crowdfunding, and learned the strengths and pitfalls of each from first-hand experience.

If you’re a writer trying to decide your own path, or just want a highlight reel of hard-won lessons from someone who’s navigated the full system, here’s a distilled cheat sheet. Save it. Screenshot it. Come back to it when you're weighing your options.

The quick hits:

• Traditional publishing works best if you know how to advocate for yourself. “Your editor is your lifeline. If you don’t have someone in-house fighting for your book, it will get lost.”
• Indie publishing rewards speed, flexibility, and business savvy. You get more control—but that means you handle cover design, distribution, metadata, marketing, and deadlines.
• Audiobooks are one of the fastest-growing formats—and often overlooked. Sanderson calls them “a quiet revolution” in the industry.
• Success in any publishing model comes down to understanding the incentives. “The publisher’s job is not to make you money. Their job is to make them money.”
• Crowdfunding works when you already have an audience. Don’t build the infrastructure before you’ve built the demand.
• Know your goals. Are you trying to make money? Build a fanbase? Land a movie deal? Your best publishing path depends on your purpose.

Sanderson’s main message? There’s no one right way to publish. But knowing how each model works—really works—gives you the power to choose what’s best for you.

The Wonderful World of Publishing

Publishing can feel overwhelming. It’s slow, strange, and constantly changing. But it’s also one of the most rewarding careers out there if you understand how it works. In Brandon’s own words: “Publishing is slow. It’s weird. But if you can make it work for you, it’s one of the most rewarding things you’ll ever do.”

We’ll dig deeper into contracts, premium editions, and career strategy in future lectures. For now, start thinking like a writer and a business owner.

Suggested Next Reads:

• How International Publishing Works from Dragonsteel’s The Cognitive Realm
• Lecture Notes #9: Worldbuilding Tools from last week’s lecture
• The Modern Author: How to Market Your Book in 2025 from Dragonsteel’s The Cognitive Realm (featuring industry insights from Tor Publishing and more)