“Book Publishers What You Need to Know and Why! --An Expert's Step-by-Step Guide”
Here's the secret to knowing what to expect from book publishers!
by Steve Manning
For this article I’m going to be talking about book publishers, not book publishing services. There’s a very distinct difference that could mean a lot of money in your pocket. Here it is: A traditional book publisher takes care of all the publishing costs of your book and subsequently harvests a substantial part of the revenue, assuming there is any.
So when people call me and ask how much it costs to have a book published, my answer is, if you’re going with a traditional publisher, it’s not going to cost you a cent. In fact, you should end up making several thousand dollars right from the beginning.
With a book-publishing service you’re reaching into your own pocket right from the very beginning. You’re paying for pre-printing production, design, printing, packaging, distribution, promotion, storage and everything else.
But let’s confine our focus to the more traditional publishers out there.
You, or more likely your agent, approaches the traditional book publisher and asks if they’re interested in your manuscript.
If they are, it’s because they see it as a potential profit center. They’re not doing it for any altruistic reasons. They’re not doing it because you’re a very nice person. And they’re not doing it because ‘this is a story that must be told.’ Traditional book publishers publish books because it makes economic sense to do so. They sincerely believe that after they’ve paid you some money and invested in all the production, distribution and promotion, wholesale and retail slices, there will be ample money left for them.
Just in case you’re wondering, that’s not often the case. Statistically, six out of ten books fail to make back the advance for the book publisher (that’s the money the book publisher pays to you and your agent just for the manuscript). One out of ten books they publish breaks even. And perhaps two out of ten makes a lot of money for the book publisher.
Time for a little unabashed, self promotion: If you haven’t asked for my Free CD, “How to Write a Book On Anything in 14 Days Guaranteed!” then you’re just plain nuts! It’s free, no charge, but you can bet this $100 CD will be carrying that price tag very shortly. How do you get it? Just email me at Free CD, Please, or CD_please@writeabooknow.com and make sure you include your name, your mailing address and your telephone number in the email. Now, back to the article…
My glib response to this is that book publishers know what they’re doing only 20 per cent of the time. You’d think after all these decades, and centuries, they’d have a better batting average. I’d like to think that, given their expertise, they could hit it out of the park at least half the time. But that’s simply not the case.
So when an agent or a book publisher is considering your book, they really aren’t thinking about the merits of the content, or the exquisite writing style, or the impact the book will have on society, although they may declare that all three are uppermost in their minds. What they’re really concerned about is whether this book, your manuscript, will sell significantly well to earn back the financial investment they’ll make and bring them a profit as well.
They’re paying the money, they’re taking the financial risks, so don’t be surprised when they want editorial changes made, the title altered from what you think is appropriate, artwork changes to the cover, and so on, and so on. They’re not criticizing you, they’re just trying to minimize their risk and maximize their potential.
Ironically, one of the ways traditional book publishers try to minimize risk is to keep promotional, P.R. and advertising expenses to an absolute minimum. The budget for each book from a first-time author is pretty small. In fact, the biggest complaint first-time authors have with their book publisher is that they didn’t have much of a promotional or marketing budget.
The strategy, right or wrong, is that additional funds from the book publisher are freed up for promoting the book, once it starts to sell well. You’ve got to shake your head a little with that one, but that’s the way it works in this industry.
One of the big advantages of working with a book publisher is that you’ll receive significant distribution. Your book will be everywhere. Okay, maybe not everywhere, but their distribution contacts will have it into stores all over the world at just about the same time. That widespread distribution can be a real benefit for you if you’re using your book as a jumping off point to either additional business, or your second work of fiction.
The downside of working with a traditional book publisher is that you’ll probably make a lot less money going this route, than if you had a well-oiled and effective self-publishing machine.
But if self promotion really isn’t your strength, then working with a traditional book publisher may be just the right way to go for you.
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Time for a little unabashed, self promotion: If you haven’t asked for my Free CD, “How to Write a Book On Anything in 14 Days Guaranteed!” then you’re just plain nuts! It’s free, no charge, but you can bet this $100 CD will be carrying that price tag very shortly. How do you get it? Just email me at Free CD, Please, or CD_please@writeabooknow.com and make sure you include your name, your mailing address and your telephone number in the email.
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