The business of publishing, traditional and small presses, vanity and self-publishing

November is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo and in some cases it is NaNoRevisMo for those writers who in the process of revising a manuscript, which is still part of the process of writing a book.

After a book has been written, the writer then must figure out how to get it published.  This is no easy task, regardless of what method of publication you choose.

Traditional Publishing assumes the risk of publishing the book.  This risk includes the possibility of not making a profit on the book.  It takes on the responsibility of deciding which books will get published, it then pays for the editorial process, the actual making of the book, and the marketing and promotion of the book and ultimately distributes the books to bookstores.  It pays the author an advance (most are not what you think) and then royalties if the author sells through the first printing. 

In the light of Traditional Publishing there are smaller presses, and what is known as ePublishing.  Some will argue that this does not fall into the world of traditional, however, a good small press, or ePublisher does all of the above with the exception on paying an advance.  The author gets no money up front, generally, but then gets paid royalties based on sales.  These publishers assume the risks of producing the book, they edit the book, and they distribute the book.  Some do a fair amount of promotion and marketing, though at a much smaller scale.  The point is, the author is under no obligation to pay for any aspect of the publishing of their book.  This includes the requirement of purchasing your book.  If a publisher requires you to buy X-number of books, they are not a traditional publisher, but a vanity publisher, or in the business of self-publishing.

Vanity Publishers and/or Self-Publishing.  Simply put, these are publishers where the author must PAY to have their book published.  The only thing these publishers do is bind and print the books, for a fee.  Some do offer editorial packages, for a FEE.  Others offer promotional packages for a FEE.  The author assumes the responsibility for production, marketing, promotion and sale of the book.  The author is responsible for distribution of the book.  This is no easy task.

Being a writer as a bit of vanity to it to begin with.  We are just vain enough to think we have something worth telling.  We want our name on the cover of a book.  We want to walk into a bookstore and see a book we wrote, with out name on it.  Better yet, we want to see someone pull the book off the shelve, open it up, thumb through the pages, then decide to purchase it.  No author is going to deny themselves that pleasure.

If you want to be published, you have to decide how you want to be published.  You need to learn the business of publishing and understand all your options and what they mean.  Understand that if you choose to self publish, you won't have distribution across the nation.  Yes, you can sell on line, but that book will be buried under thousands of other books.  Because of the way bookstores operate and the return polices, the likelihood your self-published book will be carried in bookstores is pretty slim. 

Also, remember that with self-publishing, there is not editorial staff.  I have a friend who is an Editor at Avalon Books,  traditional publisher.  We discussed how hard it is to edit your own work.  You've seen it so many times, even changing fonts or type color isn't going to help you do quality edits.  This is what an editorial staff is for.

In order to be a successful writer, you must first know and study your craft.  Then you must perfect it.  Then you must learn and study the business.  Then decide what is right for you and don't settle for anything else.

For writing tips visit Bob Mayer's Website.