Publishing Options Abound

Publishing a book nowadays, particularly a first book, is both much easier and far more difficult than it used to be. It’s easier because publishers are a dime a dozen – almost one for every prospective author – but it’s more difficult because there are so many options and many, many decisions to make.

Thankfully, all those publishers out there can pretty much be sorted into three basic categories, and of those three, they can be further categorized into two piles, those in which you, as the author, pay the shot, and those in which the publisher pays the cost of getting your book into the hands of readers.

Three options

1. Traditional commercial, mainstream or trade publishers. (They pay!)

2. The technologically cutting edge print-on-demand or print-to-order publishers. (Author pays!)

3. And those that fall into a few of the concepts within self publishing or custom publishers. (Author usually pays, but some “subsidy” publishers will contribute to costs.)

Regardless of the option you choose, the process is complicated and not to be taken lightly. A whole raft of elements and factors must be planned out and brought together.

The ideal outcome, of course, is to end up with an economically produced, professional-looking book that sells, as opposed to winding up with an amateurish-looking effort that sits only on the shelf in your bedroom or basement. As well, most authors would also like to retain the legal rights to their work.

Commercial, mainstream or trade publishers

There is really only one option in which the publisher pays the cost of getting your book to market. If you think that’s the way to go with your book, understand first of all that commercial or mainstream publishing entails having a publisher accept your book out of thousands of submissions received every year.

If you are able to convince a commercial publisher that your book is worth their investment, the publisher will purchase the right to publish your manuscript from you, along with a bunch of other rights, and then pay you a royalty on subsequent sales. They handle every aspect of getting the book out, including editing, publication, distribution and marketing. You do not retain the legal rights to your book.

Caution

Be skeptical about the “marketing” package, if there is one at all. Don’t expect commercial publishers to aggressively promote your book. They are highly selective in the manuscripts they choose to publish in the first place and generally try to pick sure-bet blockbusters. Any lesser titles they publish get less attention.

But if you are convinced your book will be a blockbuster, and you are willing and able to convince a publisher to agree with your assessment, mainstream or trade publishing may well be the right option for you. It certainly is if you are an established author with previous great book sales to your credit.

On the other hand, if you are a first-time authors, one of the self-publishing options may better suit your situation. Many well known authors started out making the same decision. T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, Poe, Irving, Whitman, Hawthorne, Thoreau, Twain and Melville were all self-published at some point in their careers.

Other self-published authors include: Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol; Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn; David Chilton, The Wealthy Barber; John Grisham, A Time to Kill; Phil Edmonston and his Lemon Aid car guides.

More about self publishing

Self publishing, in the broadest sense, is really any form of publishing a book in which the author pays the bills. It all used to be referred to as vanity publishing, but that is just one option in the larger category of self publishing.

Costs involved in vanity publishing include the publisher’s profit and overhead so it’s usually more expensive than other self-publishing options and certainly more expensive for an author than commercial publishing. The upside is that all completed books are your property and you retain all proceeds from sales.

Unlike commercial publishers, vanity publishers do not generally screen for quality and will publish anyone who can pay for the service. For an extra fee, some may offer editing, marketing, warehousing, distribution, and/or promotional services (often of dubious quality), or they may provide variously-priced service packages that include differing menus of extras.

“Subsidy” publishers are just a variation on the vanity publishing theme. They take payment from you as the author to print and bind your book, but will contribute a portion of the cost and/or adjunct services such as editing, distribution, warehousing and marketing.

However, completed books are the property of the publisher and remain in the publisher’s possession until sold. Income to the writer is by royalty.

Independent self-publishing, like vanity publishing, requires that you bear the entire cost of publication and handle all marketing, distribution, storage, etc. on your own. With this option, whatever publishing services you eventually enjoy will have been put together by, guess who? You! So you have a lot of say and a lot of control over all aspects of your book’s production and marketing... and the work that goes with it.

Print-on-demand (POD), or print-to-order publishing

Print-on-demand publishers (POD) are not publishers in the traditional sense but purveyors of publishing services to authors. They charge a fee for publication ranging anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars.

Again, anyone who is willing to pay will be published. They don’t routinely provide editing or proofreading and don’t do a lot of screening of submissions. However, many do offer some assistance with book marketing, depending on the “publishing package” you choose.

Most of all:

Having a book physically produced and available, regardless of the publishing option you choose, does not mean it will automatically be purchased by anyone. The most important decisions you will make around publishing will have to do with marketing and promoting your book after it is produced, and retaining rights – or not.

Caution

For any self-publishing option, your bill at the end of the day will be less if you exclude the services of a professional editor, or decide to use Aunt May or your spouse. If you’re serious about publishing and selling your book, use a real editor. Again, regardless of the publishing option you choose, an editor can make the difference between wide readership and your book being read only by your close friends and relatives.

For more on publishing:

Self publishing

Print-on-demand or print-to-order publishing