I went to a talk on self-publishing by two successful authors, one who walked away from a multi-book deal with Harper Collins to self-publish and a second who is considering doing the same from Orion.
They said the only things a traditional publishing contract do for you these days (assuming you don't get a mega-advance which then prompts them to spend money on marketing) are:
- you get an advance (usually £5-8k for a first-time novel)
- you get the editing paid for (worth about a grand)
- you get the cover design paid for (worth £1-200 these days)
- you may, if you are lucky, get £2k spent on marketing
- you'll get into traditional bookshops
- you'll probably get a review or three
Self-publishing means no advance and you have to lay out the up-front costs yourself, so say £1200-ish (if you skip professional editing and cover design, you pretty much guarantee failure). So all-in, advance plus expenses, you're out £7-8k upfront. Against that, you'll see 30p-ish per paperback via a publisher and £1.50-2 per paperback self-publishing.
Either way, you have to do your own marketing, as a publisher will do very little for a new author.
It's a much closer call these days than it used to be.
