US History Books on the American Revolution in 2020: Traditional Publishing vs. Self Publishing
What are the differences between traditionally published and self-published books on the American Revolution?
In part out of curiosity and in part to better advise my editing and author coaching clients, I set out on a journey to figure this out. I compiled data on every book published in 2020, entered it into a spreadsheet, and tallied up a bunch of findings on a legal pad.
I got distracted by reading about South Carolina in 1775, and scarfed down a few Lindt truffles for added brainpower, but after some fits and starts, what ultimately emerged was this post.
Scroll down to compare: the number of books published, cover color schemes and cover design, trim size, average price, page count, editions published, and dates of publication.
I hope this post will help authors, readers, book designers, and publishers. Feel free to pass it along.
Methodology: I included new nonfiction history books, for adult readers, on the American Revolution era (1763–1787). I browsed multiple retailers’ websites, searched WorldCat.org, and drew on my network to find the books and compile the data. I did not include reprints of classic books, second editions that were not substantially overhauled, or “trade paperback” editions of books initially published in hardcover in a previous year.
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Number of books
64 books published by traditional publishing companies (compare with 63 in 2019)
51 self-published books (compare with 35 in 2019)
115 books in total.
Cover color scheme
Traditionally published books use beige or multicolored covers most often.
Self-published books most often had multi-colored covers.
Of the traditionally published books, the dominant color of 27 percent of them was beige, while 28 percent of covers were multicolored, and 13 percent were black.
Of the self-published books, the dominant color of 37 percent of them was multicolored, while 27 percent of covers were beige, and 12 percent were black.
For both traditionally published and self-published books, the following colors are rarely used, if at all: white (it doesn’t stand out on websites), purple, blue, gray, gold/yellow, pink, and non-olive green.
Below are some examples of book covers with the beige color scheme.
Cover art
Traditionally published books are much more likely to include color portraits or paintings of an older creation, and when they use portraits, i.e., for a biography, there is often a “zoomed in,” close-up effect.
Self-published book covers sometimes look “busy” and cluttered, and when designed on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing look very outdated. Self-published books were three times as likely to incorporate a flag into the cover design.
I found that 55 percent of traditionally published books used a painting or portrait on the cover (7 of these images had a “zoomed in effect”) and 17 percent of covers incorporated an engraving, drawing, or other image. Only 10 percent used a photograph, i.e., of a statue, on the cover.
Only 29 percent of self-published books used a color portrait or painting on the cover (1 of these had the “zoomed in” effect) and 16 percent incorporated an engraving, drawing, or other image. A whopping 35 percent of covers used a photograph. Some were photographs of nature or landscapes and some photographs made no sense to me at all.
Trim Size
6 x 9 inches (15.2 x 22.9 cm) is the most popular trim size for a book on the American Revolution; 40 percent of traditionally published books were 6 x 9 and roughly 75 percent were between 6 to 6.5 x 9 to 9.5.
Traditionally published books on the Revolutionary War are rarely smaller than 6 x 9 and are generally in the 6 to 6.5-inch by 9 to 9.5-inch range.
Self-published books are more likely to be smaller than 6 x 9. But 49 percent of self-published books were 6 x 9.
The most expensive (and the longest) book on the American Revolution published in 2020 was The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Volume 27, edited by Benjamin L. Huggins (University of Virginia Press).
Average price of a hardcover
The average list price of a traditionally published hardcover was $45.45, but 8 books were $90 or higher and were likely intended for the academic library market. Exclude these outliers and the average hardcover costs $32.14.
The average price of a self-published hardcover was $28.27.
Average price of a paperback
The average list price of traditionally published paperback was $22.96.
The average list price of a self-published paperback was $16.37; 62 percent of these were priced between $9.95 and $20.00.
Average price of an e-book
In 2020, the average list price of a traditionally published e-book on the American Revolution was $26.82. Some e-books sell at list price to academic libraries but are heavily discounted by the online retailers.
The average list price of a self-published e-book was $5.83. Only one self-published e-book cost more than $9.99.
Number of pages
Traditionally published books are longer than self-published books.
Traditionally published print books averaged 306.7 pages (around 100,000 words). Exclude 8 outliers and the average is 291.8 pages. Of the traditionally published books, 9 were exactly 320 pages. Hardcover books averaged 334 pages, while paperback books averaged 236.6 pages.
Self-published print books averaged 185.9 pages. Hardcover books averaged 111 pages and paperbacks averaged 194.6 pages. The length of self-published books varied wildly! In fact, a third of self-published books were shorter than 120 pages. (Come on! Are these “books” or just “quick reads?” And if they’re “quick reads” shouldn’t they be priced lower?) Fewer than half of the self-published print books were between 120 and 278 pages. In other words, more than half of self-published books are really long or really short.
Book editions
Traditionally published books are much more likely to be available in hardcover, while self-published books are much more likely to be available in paperback. Self-published books are rarely available in audiobook format.
The graph below shows the percentage of traditionally published and self-published books that were published in various formats in 2020.
Of the 63 traditionally published books in 2020, 76 percent were available in digital format; 67 percent in hardcover; 35 percent in paperback (note that some academic books are only released in hardcover, and some traditional publishers release paperback editions months or years after initially publishing a hardcover edition); 19 percent were available in audiobook format, and 3 percent on audio CD. Does anyone still listen to audio CDs?
Of the 50 self-published books in 2020, 66 percent were available in digital format. Of these, 17 of the 33—just over half of the e-books—were available on Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited as of year’s end. There were 8 percent of titles available in hardcover, 82 percent in paperback, and 8 percent were available in audiobook format.
Only 2 traditionally published and 2 self-published books were available only in digital format, and a paperback was to be released in January 2020 for one of these.
Traditional publishers are more likely to have the resources, access to library markets, and anticipated sales to justify the investment in audiobook production. But the Association of American Publishers has been reporting the continued growth of audiobook sales year after year, making audiobooks an increasingly-wise investment.
Publication dates
In 2020, authors and publishers experienced delays in printing and distribution as a result of the pandemic, and some traditionally published books were delayed slightly as a result.
In 2020, September and February were the most popular months to launch a book on the American Revolution. In 2019, January, October, and November were the most popular months to launch.
The graph below shows how many traditionally published and self-published books were launched each month in 2020.
OK, so how does this compare with 2019? In 2019, October (9 books) was the most popular time to traditionally publish. There were 7 books published in January and 7 books published in November. For self-published titles, release dates were more evenly distributed throughout the year, with January (5 books) having a slight edge.
My data shows that in a typical year (2020 excluded), more than 55 percent of books on the American Revolution are published in the first half of the calendar year.
I was surprised to see that book release dates are almost never tied to the dates of Revolutionary War battles or events. I believe that for marketing purposes, they ought to be.
There were, however, three books published on the Boston Massacre (two traditionally published and one self-published) during its 250th anniversary year.
Number of words in the title and subtitle
The titles of self-published books are longer, on average, than the titles of traditionally published books.
The average traditionally published title/subtitle was 11.0 words.
The average self-published title/subtitle was 11.5 words. Two books had 26-word titles (way too long to appear legibly on a cover.🙁
Topics covered
More than 20 percent of all books published were biographies or group biographies.
There continues to be a steady supply of books published and self-published about the Founders and about Pennsylvania, but I noticed and enjoyed books on a full range of topics. Books on battles remain popular, too.
Family history (such as a book on the author’s ancestor) and genealogical records are self-published.
Be sure to
opt in to my emails full of helpful advice and resources to empower you on your author journey
transform your manuscript or create a plan for your book with my editing and coaching services
take my digital course on self-publishing and have a step-by-step process to follow while you self-publish
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P.S.: The content matter and the writing quality of these books caught my attention. There’s a little something for everybody on this list. These were my “favorites” for the year.
To see my findings for 2021 (books on the American Revolution published in 2021), click here.
