Book Publishers Continued...

Self-Publishing

Self-publishing refers to when an author pays for the production costs of a book. Technological advances in recent years have made it possible for individuals to self-publish their books. Today it's possible to contract with a Print On Demand publishing company and print your book yourself. The author pays all the publishing costs, but the costs are low enough that it's is financially possible option. As a self-publisher, you will be responsible for all aspects of marketing your book, but if you're a good salesman, there's a potential to earn money with self-publishing. If you have a manuscript you haven't been able to sell to a trade publisher, self-publishing may be the way to go. You might also want to consider publishing an e-book.

Vanity Publishing

Most reputable people in the publishing world refer to vanity publishers as scams. These publishers will print your book and then provide you with copies for a fee. They make money off authors buying books, rather than marketing the books. Although it's sometimes difficult to tell the difference between vanity publishers and print-on-demand publishers, the main difference is cost. Vanity publishers generally charge exorbitant fees. Often vanity publishers will lead you to believe they will market you book, but they really won't. Reviewers and bookstores know who the vanity publishers are and will have little, if anything, to do with them.

Book Packagers

A book packager takes on the risk of producing a book. It will offer the work to various publishers at a “fixed” price. The publisher is guaranteed to get a completed, printed book. Nearly all packaged books are based on proposals or ideas generated by the publisher or packager and a suitable author is selected. Often these books are written by lesser known celebrities and notables.

Co-publishers

In a co-publishing arrangement, the author will pay for some or all of the production and printing expense and will take title to most or the entire inventory. The publisher will distribute the book and offer it to their usual customers. An example of this is a small publisher of historical books that produced the history of a large company written by an author associated with the company. The company took most of the books to be given to stockholders, customers, employees and others. The publisher kept some inventory and distributed the title to their normal markets, paying a royalty on sales to the author. Other niche publishers make similar cooperative arrangements to enlarge their offerings while limiting their investment risk.

Still Want to Be Published?

If a trade publisher won't agree to publish your book, stay away from unethical vanity or subsidy publishers. You will have to pay inflated costs and will receive very little value. Look carefully at co-publishers. Some of these are really vanity presses.

Your best bet is to consider self-publishing. That may be just the action to take to get your book out there, and possibly attract trade publisher later.

By Margaret Evans