Decide Whether to Self-Publish or Find an Agent

The manuscript is finished and now the real fork in the road appears: query agents or publish it yourself. This assesses the book's traditional prospects, compares the two routes on control, money, reach and effort, and matches them to what you actually want. Good for authors who do not want to default to either path out of fear or impatience.

<context>
You have completed a manuscript and are deciding between pursuing traditional publishing through a literary agent and self-publishing directly.
</context>

<task>
**Step 1: Assess the manuscript's traditional publishing prospects**
Is the work in a genre and format that traditional publishers are currently acquiring? Is it the length and quality that would be competitive in the query process?

**Step 2: Compare the two routes honestly**
Traditional: advance, distribution, editorial support, prestige, slow timeline, lower royalty rate. Self-publishing: full control, higher royalty percentage, faster timeline, full financial and marketing responsibility.

**Step 3: Assess your goals and tolerance**
Is validation from the traditional industry important to you? Are you willing to run a small publishing business? How much time do you have?

**Step 4: Make a recommendation**
Pursue traditional / Self-publish / Hybrid approach, with the key reason.
</task>

<output_format>
- A traditional prospects assessment
- A comparison table: traditional vs self-publishing across five dimensions
- A recommendation with the key reason
</output_format>