A top New York magazine writer recently rejected a story pitch from me by saying, “I don’t tend to use self-published authors as sources.”

When I tried to explain the difference between self publishing and independent publishing, he was not interested. He’s apparently chosen to limit the range of his story sources to authors published by the big royalty publishers, which is fine. That’s his choice.

Yet the incident caused me to reflect on the fact that there’s rampant disrespect for authors who work outside the box of traditional publishing. Too many established journalists unduly dismiss experts like me because we’ve chosen to seek wealth by starting our own publishing ventures rather than going to royalty publishers.

Granted, if a royalty publisher offered me a deal that would realistically earn more for me than I could ever earn on my own, I’d be happy to sign the contract. Meanwhile, in the process of promoting my work, I’m facing prejudices against independent authors like me, and that bias causes me to write this blog today.

Are you willing to look objectively at the economics behind the most vital trend in the publishing industry since the advent of the chain bookstores? What is the difference between self publishing, independent publishing, and royalty publishing? What difference does it make for journalist seeking expert news sources?

A self-published book too seldom benefits from critical third-party vetting of its ideas or its writing, receives little or no line editing or copy editing, sufferers from poor design and amateur typography, rarely has an ISBN or barcode, and is instantly spotted as self published. However, I have to admit seeing some royalty published book that are just as badly produced, which is a travesty, frankly.

An independent publisher may be printing his/her own books or those of other authors (I’m starting with my own book, for example, and I’m now reviewing proposals for titles by others). Unlike the “self publisher,” books from a good independent publisher go through the same rigorous vetting, editing and proofing as the books from any decent royalty publisher. When you hold a book by a quality independent publisher in your hands, the volume is indistinguishable from a book by any quality royalty publisher. The look-and-feel, plus the writing itself, matches any title on the New York Times bestseller list.

However, I must admit seeing independently published titles that are as badly produced as self-published titles. Increasingly, these titles are the exception rather than the norm, for independents are making a concerted effort to improve the quality of their books — specifically to counter the onus of so many ugly, unedited self-published books.

From the viewpoint of the author, assuming he or she is smart enough to have the book objectively vetted and to research the book’s likely market for salability before publication, the vital difference between publishing independently and going to a royalty publisher is the business model.

Rather than receiving an advance and royalties (if the book ever sells enough to repay the advance, which too few books do), rather than making a $1 royalty per book, if he’s lucky, rather than have the publisher do a book launch that lasts maybe three months, rather than waiting to see if a book catches fire enough to stay on the midlist or backlist, rather than fear the title will be remaindered, rather than dread the book being orphaned when the publishing house is sold or the editor leaves for another house, rather than the fantasy of becoming the next J.K. Rowling, the independent publisher is an entrepreneur and a realist.

Since even a royalty author has to sustain the responsibility and costs of publicity and marketing after the launch, and will see scant royalties, if any, the indy publisher accepts marketing responsibility from the start. The indy accepts the risks of failure for the prospect of earning from $5 to $8 per book after all the printing, marketing, distribution, and overhead costs. Rather than worry about creative bookkeeping that never allows a title to show a profit, the independent publisher knows the exact break-even point for profitability on each print run. The indy has a business plan and a well-researched budget.

Further, because the indy still owns all subsidiary rights, he or she can earn cash that otherwise would go to the royalty publisher. Every licensing deal for translations, audio books, movies or TV, merchandising, and so on, goes directly and completely into the pocket of the indy. These revenues can surpass actual book sales.

The publishing contracts of most royalty publishers effectively block the author from earning sizable amounts from special sales, but the indy can go all out for special sales, such as to associations for conventions and trade shows. If a royalty author wants to have books for back-of-the-room sales when giving a talk, those books must bought from the publisher, often at a standard trade discount or 40 or 50 percent off the cover price. The indy author/publisher can go to the speaking event and only the book’s $2-3 unit cost takes away from the larger earnings on the full cover price.

The point is that from a strictly economic perspective, if an independent publisher is willing to go about publishing, distribution and marketing with as much quality as a top royalty publishers, the only reason to go with a royalty publisher is because the author is not willing to do all the work of being a publisher. If an author is willing to settle for less income in exchange for doing less work, that’s fine, but if we’d rather do more work to earn more wealth, what’s wrong with honoring our choice?

So, I hope that I’ve now made my case that independent publishing is NOT the same as self publishing, the way the term is used in normal parlance. Independent publishers are entrepreneurs. many but not all are launching their ventures with their own books, as I’m doing. Very few are merely feeding their vanity. Most feel a higher calling, a sense of mission and public service. They are in the publishing business for the long haul, working hard to earn serious money, and they deserve respect.

Sending story pitches to top-end journalists is part of the success path for all authors. If you are such a journalist, please think about the idea that us independent publishers and authors deserve consideration for the merits of our work, book by book. Please do not routinely dismiss the value of our expertise. We can help you.