Routes to Publication Part I by Val Penny

 Let me start at the very beginning. You will often hear people say - everyone has a book in them… This is not true. Others will tell you – I’m going to write a book when I retire… Most of them don’t. This is because writing a book is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes months of creativity, weeks of editing, time to work through the comments of beta readers and the editor and ends with continual marketing. So, if you have completed writing a novel and whatever state it is in or stage it is at, congratulations. You should be very proud of yourself.

Let us now assume you have written a novel. You have self-edited it to the best of your ability (always a fraught process). You have asked some members of your writing group, or book group to read it (always a terrifying process). You have worked through the manuscript editing again to take account of the useful comments of those beta readers and now you decide how to get your book into the world (always a daunting process).

There are many routes to publication.

Let me first deal with vanity publishers and get that out of the way.

Vanity publishers are the scum of the publishing profession. They prey on the desperation of new and inexperienced writers to get their book published.

If you receive an offer to publish your book think about whether it has come from a company to which you have submitted, or has it come from an unsolicited source. Think about how or why you may have been contacted. Perhaps it is because you have been searching publishing companies on the internet or mentioning your finished manuscript on social media that has allowed your details to come to the unsolicited company’s attention.

Even if you have contacted them, check the reputation of the company with author friends, search vanity publishers on the internet or look at writersbeware. blog or beallslist.net. Most vanity publishers are disreputable outfits that offers overpriced, poorly executed unreliable publishing services.

The litmus test is this, is the company asking for money?

A reputable publishing house, small or large, will never ask an author to pay to get their book published. They pay the author, not the other way around. If you are asked to pay for anything up front to get your book published, walk away.

Be careful too about hybrid publishers. These companies openly offer authors shared -cost publishing arrangements. They are not publishers in the true sense of the word. The contracts they offer are those where the company and its authors share the cost of production, promotion and income generated by the book. The arrangements are disclosed up-front and, invariably the author has contacted the company for help producing their book when they don’t have the expertise or experience to do so. Hybrid companies do not try to pass themselves off as traditional publishers.

Now, let’s look at self-publishing. Self-publishing is a lot of work for the author. They are responsible for every part of producing their book and getting it to market. Also, if you want a professional looking product, there are no short cuts. However, the big advantages are that the authors contain full control over their product and receive all the moneys generated from the book.

Self-published authors have no barriers to reaching their readers such as agents or publishers. However, they will have to bear the full cost of publication, the biggest of which is likely to be editing. If you decide to self-publish, my main piece of advice is do not skimp on editing. Hire a professional editor who is experienced in your genre. Check their reputations and ask for references. Most reputable editors will offer you a free sample edit of, perhaps two thousand words or ten pages, so you can get a fell for the level of service they offer. Do remember to give your editor a written brief of what you require form them and get a written contract so that you both know what you are paying for and how much it will cost. 

Another part of the book that helps sales is the cover. If you do not have the skill to design and produce your own, find a designer, preferably by recommendation whose work fits your genre and make sure you see some samples of their work before you hire them. A reputable, professional cover designer will be happy to show you samples of their covers and to work with you to make sure you are happy with the final product. As with the editor, make sure you have a contract that specifies what services are being offered and what you will pay for them.

The self-published author has control over each process of book production, but also the responsibility. This includes marketing and pricing. An author friend of mine, Allison Symes, once said, “I hope you like your first book because you’ll be marketing it for the rest of your life.” She was right.

To compensate for all the responsibility, the author receives all the royalties other than production and distribution costs, and it is easy to track your sales and income. Remember, your book will be one of thousands published every day, so it is the author’s responsibility to promote it. In fact, successful self-publishing requires that you approach your writing like a business. Be aware that you will spend as much time marketing and promoting your book as you will writing the next one.

Next time I plan to cover Independent and Traditional publishers and how to approach them.