Publishing Alternatives for the 21st Century--Part 2, Pros and Cons of Publishing with a Small Press

First of all, you need to understand some terminology (at least how I use it), such as small press, large press, vanity press, and print on demand. In the interests of saving space, I posted this terminology in my Part 1 post at this blog.

We'd all love to sell to a large publisher with a huge advance and be on Good Morning America and Oprah. The chances of that happening are slim to none, especially if you write out of the box. Large publishers are reluctant to take a chance on books which don't fit into one of their established slots.

So, you wrote a book and now you want find a home for it. Let's assume you're not interested in self-publishing. Let's also assume you've tried the large publisher route, you're writing something big publishers won't take a chance on, don't have the patience to wait on a big publisher, or you believe ebooks are the wave of the future.

Should you consider a small press or e-publisher and why? Here are some of the pros and cons of small presses to help you make your decision. In this case, I'm referring to small presses that are primarily epubs, as opposed to small presses that do print runs.

Pros (What working with a small press can do for you):

• Provide a viable option for books that don’t fit into a New York slot. (Small pubs can afford to take risks). Many small presses concentrate on niches which aren't served by NY publishers. Equestrian fiction definitely fits into this.
• Gain valuable experience (which can look good to a large publisher).
• Learn to promote your book and yourself.
• Gain experience working with editors and publishers on professional duties such as cover art and edits.
• Prove you can meet deadlines.
• Provide encouragement to finish the book and write more books.
• Build name recognition the publishing business.
• Improve writing and editing skills by working with other authors and your editor.
• Reduce the number of discarded and destroyed paperbacks. GO GREEN!
• Make valuable contacts with other authors and the book publishing industry.
• Build confidence in your writing.
• Enjoy less pressure.
• Enjoy more creative freedom.
• Allowed more time to develop as an author even if your book sales are slow initially.
• Receive more personal attention from publisher and staff (depends on the publisher)
• Easier to find your books, longer “shelf” life, don’t go out of print.
• Have a quicker turnaround from submission to publication.
• Write shorter works so you can write more books. You're not expected to write a novel-length book every time.
• Provide another publication outlet for category novels.
• Build a reader base.

Cons (Disadvantages of a small press):

• Low pay and royalties, in many cases, considering the time investment by the author.
• Risky if the small press isn’t stable and established. Yet, in this economy, NY is risky as editors move around and lines close all the time. They may tie up your book for a few years and never publish it.
• Time-consuming, as you often perform the tasks large publishers would do for you, such as promotion, blurbs, cover art suggestions, etc.
• Lower quality of editing in some cases.
• Limited chance for the book to be in bookstore because they're usually print on demand and not all small presses send their books to print.
• Requires extensive research of different companies. (Not all small presses are created equal in royalties, editing, and business practices. Talk to authors, do a background check, search the Internet)
• Limited possibilities for booksignings.
• A smaller market of people to buy your book. Even though the Internet should be a large market, it's very hard to target your promotion to the right readers.
• Limited distribution for your book.
• Lack of respect in many circles, including professional writing organizations. You may not be taken seriously by fellow authors and considered more of a hobbiest than a professional author.
• Limited reviews—may be harder to get reviews
• Exclusion from many contests, as you may find yourself in a no-man's land between not published and published.
• Print-on-demand books costs 2 to 3 times more than regular pocket novels.
• Expectation that you will write more books than you would with a larger press.

Does anyone have more to add?

Next week, I'll discuss how to pick a small press.

I Want to Write That Kind of Book

As I was doing my final edit on the last 40 pages of Fourth and Goal before submitting it to a publisher, I came to one poignant scene that actually brought tears to my eyes. As I finished the scene and pulled myself together, I thought: Wow, I hope it affects readers as much as it affects me.

I started thinking about books that strike an emotional chord in the reader and how rare they are anymore. Fifteen to twenty years ago, it seemed as if you could read that kind of book on a regular basis. Now, I might read one “can’t put down” book" a year.

If my perception isn’t skewed, then what happened to create this problem? Do writers not write as well as they once did? Do they not put their heart and soul into each book? Has it become too much of a money-making business and less of a creative endeavor.

Maybe it's all of the above and more. I believe the pressure to produce has caused authors to write a technically good book, but often it has no soul. The characters don’t come to life and become your closest friends for the brief time you spend in their lives and their heads. You don’t root for them, cry for them, rejoice with them. You might enjoy the story. In fact, you might enjoy it so much you’ll buy more books by the author, yet it still lacks something. Have we, as readers, created this problem by clamoring for more and more books by our favorite author? Have we inadvertently caused the publication of soulless books? Because in the pressure to produce, a writer doesn’t have time to develop and explore their characters, really get to know them, and give them life.

Many authors I’ve loved over the years are now producing dull, shallow books with characters I don’t remember for five minutes let alone a lifetime. As a reader, I’d rather read one exceptional book a year by my favorite author that read three or four forgettable novels.

All I know is I want to write the kind of book that stays with people, the book they read over and over again with the characters they remember fondly like the childhood friend who moved away. Perhaps, crying when reading my own scene is a step in the right direction.

Publishing with a Small Press--Part 1, Definitions

Hi, there, a few months ago I started a series on publishing with small presses. Well, book deadlines and life in general interrupted my good intentions. I'm reposting the first installment for those of you that missed it. Please post your comments, additions, corrections. This is a collaborative post.

Next week, I'll post Part Two.
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This is the first post in a series on Publishing with a Small Press. I welcome any comments or corrections, as I strive to make this information as accurate as possible.

First, I want to start with some definitions:

New York Publisher (large press): These publishers typically have offices in New York City. They do large print runs for their author's books, which are distributed to book stores. They pay royalties (a percentage of the book's cover price, usually about 6-8 percent). The author gets paid an advance before the book hits the shelf.

Vanity Publisher (Self-Published): These presses typically publish anyone if you have the money to pay them. You will be expected to pay for things such as cover design, editing (if there is any), may have limited distribution, if any. They are good choices if you're publishing something for a targeted group of people, such as a family history.

Small Press (epub or Epublisher):

These presses operate like NY presses. They do not charge any fees to the author. They provide editing, cover art, and distribution. The distribution varies between publishers.

I find that there are two primary types of small presses:

Electronic or ePubs: Their books are primarily available electronically. They usually do not pay an advance unless it’s quite small. The author earns royalties (usually about 30-40 percent) from the cover price of the book sold in the small press’s bookstore and royalties from the distributor (usually a percentage of what the publisher receives). Many of these presses also offer their books in print via print on demand (see definition below) and through distributors such as Barnes and Noble and Amazon.

Traditional Small Presses: These presses do small print runs. Their books may or may not be available via other distributors. They may pay a small advance. I'll admit that I don't know much about this type of press. So if someone can fill us in, that'd be great.

Print Run: NY pubs do a print run of each book published. The books are then distributed to bookstores. Unsold books can be returned to the publisher for a refund. Returns of fifty percent or more are not uncommon.

Print on Demand (POD): This is a green alternative to print books. Over half of the books printed by NY pubs are not sold and are destroyed. Print-on-Demand books are printed when the buyer places an order. They are usually more expensive to buy as the process is more expensive than a print run. POD books are rarely available in bookstores because they are not returnable.

My next post will include the pros and cons of small presses.

Publishing with a Small Press

About a month ago, I promised a series on publishing with a small press. Well, life got in my way, including a long bout with a nasty cold and two book deadlines. I turned in one book this weekend. The other is due on February 28. Once I'm done with that book, I promise I'll continue this series.

Other news:

I'm now a member of Midnight Seductions Authors. Please join our Yahoo Group and check out our blog.

I'm attending Lori Foster's Readers Conference in June in Cincinnati. I'd love to meet some of you there.

I'll be on a romance author panel next week at the Tumwater Regional Library. Afterward I'll be doing a book signing with the other panel members.

I'm very excited about The Gift Horse being released on February 17 from Bookstrand Publishing. This is my first mainstream equestrian romance.

Small Presses vs. Large Presses

I've been thinking about some topics for my blog for 2009. Last year I did a workshop for my local RWA chapter on why I chose to go with a small press. I thought some of my readers who are aspiring authors might benefit from the research I did when I put this workshop together.

So over the next month, I'll outline the following (not necessarily in that order):

• What is and isn't a small press
• The pros and cons of small presses
• How to pick a small press publisher, including where to go to get information
• My personal background and why I chose the route I did

So stay tuned for the first installment.