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(The following article is an edited excerpt of the article “The Sure-Fire Way to Get Published” from the book Get Your Book off the Ground by Suzanne Male & Anthony Santoro) THERE are two distinctive methods that can be employed to get your book on a book-store shelf. One involves the sending of manuscripts to publishers — whether that is directly or via an agent. The second is to self-publish your work. Before you sniff and say “that’s not getting published”, let us explain how this much-maligned version of publishing can be a positive move. Mainstream publishing has been the traditional route of writers, and still today is the most favoured. Self-publishing has been largely spurned by writers and publishers, condemned as an indicator of poor quality. But these days, the bevy of publishing tools available to the savvy individual, as well as print-on-demand advances and opportunities, make this attitude outdated. There are various reasons why you should not rule out self-publishing and instead consider it a viable option. For a start, the mainstream publishing process can often discourage a writer from continuing the craft: a writer writes a good story, sends it in to a publisher, only to have it rejected. Undismayed, they try again, this time sending it to another establishment, only to be rejected again, and again, and so on. For some, one rejection is enough of a catalyst to hang up the pen. These days it is rare for unknown first-time novelists to get a publishing deal, let alone a big advance payment on royalties. There are thousands of wonderful books out there being rejected because publishers are scared of taking a gamble on someone new and unknown. The more guarantees the book will be commercially successful the better; so if the author has written a previous book that has sold well, then taking on that author is less of a gamble for the publisher. That’s not to say that getting published by a big publisher doesn’t happen for an unknown, so it shouldn’t be a barrier to trying to get your work published by a mainstream publisher. UPSIDES AND DOWNSIDES There are upsides and downsides to both getting published by a mainstream publisher and publishing your work yourself. There is a saying among published authors: “A publishing contract is a hard thing to get in to, and even harder to get out of.” Certainly, there is the element of sour grapes in this remark; nonetheless, it rings true with many writers. It is a universal truth that getting published, or even the agreement to be published, is only the beginning of the journey, and that journey is not always smooth. A publishing contract means the author relinquishes a certain amount of control over their book — the publisher has ultimate say over the cover and editing. Even the future rights of the author can be limited because of their contractual obligations.
Previously, a writer would have little or no choice but to look to a big publishing house to see his or her book in print. Today the story is very different — all the tools are readily available for the author to go it alone.
Years ago, the technology and costs of printing a neatly bound, well-presented book was reserved only for the budgets of large publishing houses, which had the capacity to order big print runs and pay for marketing and distribution. So self-publishing was not always appetising for the burgeoning writer to consider. Then there was this “If it’s not good enough to be accepted by the publisher, then it’s really not a good story and, maybe I can’t write” idea, which discouraged people from travelling the self-publishing route. But times have changed: in two ways. Firstly, the aforementioned technology has become more accessible. Secondly, writers have slowly disabused themselves of the ‘almighty publisher’ notion and come to realise that even they do get it wrong occasionally, often rejecting brilliant written work they receive, and publishing not-so-good work. The Internet has brought an incredible opportunity for writers. With forums, social networks and other communities on the Internet, a self-published writer can communicate directly with potential customers and sell books internationally. By applying simple mathematics, publishers are looking for ‘the’ book — the one that will hit the bestseller lists and support the scouting for other such books in the market place. Publishers you see posting ‘no unsolicited manuscripts’ signs on their websites ask only that they receive manuscripts via agents. Literary agents then are engaged as scouts for the publisher. They will bring your manuscript, along with others, to a publisher to test interest and, hopefully, sell the publishing rights. If you are one of the lucky ones, you and your agent will negotiate a publishing deal. An advance may be discussed and your book will be printed after editing and proofreading are complete. Then your book will be presented to the publisher’s distributor who does the legwork and sells it into bookstores. The publisher will get a cut, the agent will get a cut, the distributor will get a cut, the bookseller will get a cut and, at the very end of it all, you, the writer, will get a cut. That’s a lot of cuts out of a novel retailing for $24.95. But if you’re still wading through your rejection slips, marketing and how much you get after the publisher, agent and distributor take their fees are a little further down the track to be concerning yourself with just at the minute. Let’s postulate you’ve written a masterpiece; well, as far as you are concerned, anyway. You’ve given it to your friends, family and other people to review and they concur. You’ve sent it in and received it back from publisher after publisher. Still, your opinion holds and you’re determined to get it printed. You can persist with publishers and rejection slips, give up, or you can self-publish. SELF-PUBLISHING SUCCESS James Redfield self-published The Celestine Prophecy in 1992, garnering a groundswell of interest from booksellers and readers that made the book a success. Two years later Warner Books bought the rights and the book spent more than three years on The New York Times Bestseller List. Don’t be afraid of self-publishing. There may be a lot to learn, but it could mean you are not writing for the benefit of the dust mites in the proverbial bottom drawer. Plus, you get to keep the lion’s share of the profits, and are in full control of what happens to your book along the way. To read the full article, read Get Your Book off the Ground. To read reviews and purchase your copy – click here. Anthony Santoro is the author of the Mike Felice Detective Novel series. His next book, Last Decent Man, is due out in September 2009. Suzanne Male is the proprietor of SminkWorks Publishing (www.sminkworks.com) and author of A Year of Writing Inspiration.
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