IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR UNPUBLISHED WRITERS

Do not pay anyone to publish your romance or women's fiction novel. No matter how impressive the publisher looks, or what it promises. Remember this: Publishers are supposed to pay you!

Some non-fiction and much poetry is a different matter. If you have a niche market you can tap, there are avenues for self-publishing to explore, where you pay for printing and you decide about presentation and marketing. But if you intend to distribute the book widely, whether on paper or the internet, have it professionally edited first. And for internet publishing, make certain the conversion to digital has not messed up the fonts and formats.

ABOUT PUBLISHING, SELF PUBLISHING AND VANITY PUBLISHING

The normal route to publication is for the author to approach a publisher with a properly presented proposal or query letter and/or a synopsis and some or all of the author's manuscript. This will be appraised by an editor at the publisher's "house" and if they like it you may be contacted and eventually offered a contract. The publisher buys certain licensed rights to print and market the book, but the copyright, even if the publisher buys "all rights" is the author's. It is almost never a good idea to sell your copyright.

The vast majority of work sent to reputable publishers, particularly large, well-known ones, will be returned to the author with a polite "rejection slip," or a rejection by email. The manuscript, if you have sent a paper copy, is usually shredded. So keep at least one copy! It is sensible to tell the publisher in your covering letter that they "need not return the material." By the time it is returned it is probably showing signs of handling, and you need a nice clean copy to send to the next publishing house on your list. Because you've done your research, haven't you? And picked out the publishers that are interested in your type of book.

But increasingly publishers will accept electronic submissions. They will issue instructions on their website or in return to a brief note on how they want to be approached.

Most publishers now have web sites with instructions about how they want their submissions sent. The same goes for agents.

The important point for authors is that these publishers (including Amazon and other online publishers) will PAY YOU. Print publishers will pay first, for books that appear on paper between covers, with an advance against expected royalties, then when the book has covered that amount in sales made by the publisher to bookstores or directly to readers, with a percentage of the publisher's profit, usually between 6% and 8% for a paperback and 10% for a hardcover book. Traditionally royalty statements and any money owed to the author are sent 6 monthly, covering not the immediate previous six months, but the six months before that. Book writing is not a way to make a quick buck!)

Generally royalties are based on cover price, but sometimes on the net price received (for some types of nonfiction or subsidiary rights sold by the publisher). Some books never earn back the whole advance, but the publisher will probably make some profit on the deal anyway. A contract should state that the advance is not repayable. Always take a first contract to someone who knows the publishing industry before signing. If you don't belong to a writers' professional organisation, find one and join.

Traditionally print publishers do all the editing, printing, designing, presentation, publicity and marketing of the books. Apart from checking the editing, which may entail substantial rewriting, and then checking the "proofs" or printout before your book goes to print, your part is done until you hold the book in your hands. If you want to do some publicity yourself, you can. But best consult your publisher first. Some of them encourage you to do so and may be able to help with materials, extra free copies (6 is a minimum number usually supplied on your contract), or in other ways.

Internet publishers commonly do not pay advances, but many pay royalties more promptly.

Major print publishers are now e-publishing their print books at the same time or shortly after releasing a printed book. They are likely to pay the author 25% for their digital sales, an amount which they have tried hard to establish as the norm. (Some pay less.) The so-called "cover price" on an e-book is likely to be cheaper than a printed work, perhaps as cheap as 99c. Print publishers of fiction traditionally pay a % of cover price, but some non-fiction and e-publishing arms of major publishers will suggest a net price, i.e. a % of their net profit. Since this is easily manipulated, most writers prefer royalties based on recommended retail or cover price. Remember contracts are negotiable!

Internet or digital publishers are less likely to pay an advance. However, their royalty rates are generally higher, between 30% and 50%, reportedly even up to 85%, and they pay more often. Internet publishers are likely to expect you to do a lot of your own marketing and publicity. Those who do so- on social networking sites, blogging sites and twitter, as well as online reader groups, are likely to sell more digital copies than those who don't. The people who are best at it often have marketing backgrounds and a lot of internet savvy.

There are some internet publishers who have earned the loyalty of their authors and readers. Many others have folded up their tents and disappeared. Do some homework and ask questions before making a decision to sell your work to any publisher. Compare their products and their market with others, and find out as much as you can. Some internet publishers also print copies which can be ordered on the internet from their own or other internet bookstores, and sometimes from "real" i.e. "brick and mortar" stores. These stores may or may not have the books actually on their shelves. Online catalogues may list your book among thousands, even millions, of others. They are not sales departments.

In commercial publishing, money flows FROM the publisher TO the author. This is how professional authors and publishers conduct their business.

There are other ways to get into print, for people who have a book that is not commercial, that no publisher believes will make a profit. And publishers have to make a profit or go out of business. However, the alternatives are fraught with risk. They will all cost you money.

Whether a traditional print book or a digital book, there are certain things you need to know if you contemplate publishing your work yourself.

There are some similarities but also very important differences between self-publishing and vanity publishing.

This route is best for people who know they have a particular audience, usually a small one, and can get their work put in front of that audience. It is ideal for family or school histories, regional histories, and specialty books with a ready niche market. A craft book may sell to craft shops, or a gardening book to gardening shops, not only bookstores. Poets who already have had their work printed in reputable literary magazines sometimes pay for a book of their poems to be printed, as regular publishers are notoriously wary of poetry. Or hobby poets or writing groups may want a few copies of a book just for family and friends. Libraries may be a good target for some reference or informational books. If you have something to say or teach or expound on and are happy with a limited market, this may be for you, but shop around for the best product at the best price.

Self-publishers are writers who pay for the book to be produced - printed, and bound. e-publishing may be a good way to exploit a niche market, with the possibility of a wider audience than your friends, your hobby group and local bookshops, and there are places on the internet that give help with this, either with instructions for do-it-yourself or paid help where they will do the hard work for you.

Remember you will have to do the marketing yourself, or pay someone else to do it. Many stores are reluctant to buy books outright - most operate on a "sale or return" basis for this kind of book, and generally they don't stock many self-published books. It makes their accounting difficult if they deal with a one-book self-published author rather than a big supplier.

Successful self-publishers research their market first and do costings to ensure they won't lose money, and will have their book professionally edited, designed and printed. Even best-selling authors are edited. This is a pitfall for many who publish their own work. Editing, at least for spelling and grammar and typos, is vital for a professional-looking result.

With print-on-demand and short-run printing machines available, this option becomes viable for some people. They need to also know which printer will give them a good deal for a professional-looking book. Printers who can turn out a reasonable school yearbook or company brochure may not be able to meet the standard.

Some printers specialise in self-published books and may give advice and help with designing it - e.g. deciding on paper, typeface, cover, layout. Probably this will cost extra. Very few offer any kind of editing. If they do, you will pay for it. Once the book is printed their job is done. Selling them is almost always entirely up to the author.

Marketing: Sending brochures or emails is not as effective as a face to face meeting with the book buyer at a store. And very likely not many of them will be interested. Many self-publishers find they have overestimated their potential sales and readership and are left out of pocket, perhaps by thousands of dollars.

The upside: If you self-publish, all of any profit left after expenses are paid will be yours alone. However, many, many people have boxes of unsold self-published books in their garage or attic. You need to be brave and savvy, and it is very unwise to borrow money for such a project or spend what you cannot afford to lose.

Self-publishing fiction is very, very risky. Fiction has a broad but over-supplied market. It is extremely rare for a self-published novel to sell well, and even rarer to hit the big time. That's why if it does happen it's often a big story in the publishing business.

Occasionally a reputable publisher may feel that a book with a small market that may not be commercially viable deserves to be published. But the publisher cannot afford to lose money on it. They may come to an arrangement with the author to split the costs and possibly the profits. Almost always, the author has access to a particular market, or is already known in a certain sphere. Again, poetry comes to mind, or art books. Research into the publisher is necessary. How many of the publisher's books are on the shelves of your local library or bookshop? Where do they do their marketing? To whom? Ask questions. Take note of the answers and compare with others. Make sure you understand exactly what they do and how. If they use unfamiliar terms, ask what they mean. Get it clearly spelled out. Insist on a contract and study it carefully before signing.

Some who advertise themselves as "self publishers" or "subsidy publishers" are actually Vanity Publishers. See below.

Real publishers of commercially viable books almost never advertise. You may see advertisements aimed at publicising their books, but not ads soliciting more manuscripts from unknown authors to choose from for their publishing programme. This is because they have plenty of unsolicited manuscripts arriving every day. The big name publishers receive thousands of queries, proposals and manuscripts each year from new authors, as well as some from those already published either by their own house or another reputable publisher.

Vanity publishers advertise in places like newspapers and magazines - both general magazines and some aimed at beginning writers. They use come-ons like "Become a published writer" or "We will publish your book" or "Be a real author" "see your own book in print" etc.

Sometimes they will quote the names of famous authors who were "self-published" and this may or may not be true. But the world has changed since most of those authors were writing. Even if the so-called publisher's terms are spelled out quite clearly, do be cautious before signing up to pass over money.

They may say self-publishing is the wave of the future, particularly on the internet. It is true that some kinds of self-publishing have become viable options for certain kinds of books (see above). But that is not a new phenomenon. The internet has not yet done away with publishing as we know it. It is so easy to do it yourself that there are now thousands, perhaps millions of self-published books in cyberspace, so how are readers to find the gold needle in the haystack? Most successful authors still use traditional print publishers or online publishers with established reputations to get their work to their readers.

Be particularly wary of anyone who implies they can make you a best-seller or get you some kind of preferential treatment, or suggest they can make big publishers or agents notice you. The more hype, the more suspicious you need to be.

Book predators will never admit to being vanity publishers. They will call themselves subsidy publishers or self-publishers. Or author facilitators who want to help you to publication. What they will do is help themselves to your money for the provision of services that you can obtain elsewhere or do yourself for probably much less.

The sign of a vanity publishers is they ask for money from the author, for printing and perhaps for other services like editing and marketing and publicity, which a real publisher will pay for themselves. Vanity publishers are in fact making money from people who know no better, or who have convinced themselves that a work they have not been able to sell to a proper publisher is so important that it must be made available to the world, or so wonderful that as soon as people see it they will be moved to buy it and tell all their friends how wonderful it is, who will in turn make it into a best-seller.

If that's you, the very best of luck, but be careful how you are spending your money and please do some research on the publishing industry first. There are niche publishers for the most obscure subjects if you look hard enough, who will not charge you a cent and may even make you a little bit of money.

Before engaging an agent or deciding to pay for your work to be turned into a book, join a reputable national writers' association or guild, look ask questions there, and consult the following:

Rating publishers, editors, agents, warnings and approvals
http://anotherealm.com/prededitors/

Writer Beware: Definitions
http://www.sfwa.org/for-authors/writer-beware/vanity/

Laura Resnick’s Writer’s Resources Page
http://tinyurl.com/y9cqpqv

© Daphne Clair