If you’re thinking about sending your manuscript to a small publisher, you’ll want to read Christine Cristiano’s post on Funds for Writers.
All writers (or at least 99% of them) dream of being published by a major house, but a great many will decide to target a small press with their work. In her piece, Christine gives the Good and the Bad of going this route.
She doesn’t go into all the details of what is involved in working with a small press, but she definitely gives you things to think about before making the decision, plus she lists what to do in your choosing of a small publisher, then gives some important details to consider.
The comments section here at Straight From Hel is always open for you to tell us your story of being published with a small press, as well as your own advice for authors thinking of taking this route.
5 years ago
Good article. As an aspiring novice author I never even got so much as a glance from a literary agent or large pubs - "No unsolicted submissions" was always emblazoned atop their submissions guidelines page on their website. and dozens of query letters (written carefully and professionally after studying how to write and query an agent and researching the agents beforehand) got me nothing but lots of "no thanks" and "not for me, but good luck" replies.
ReplyDeleteSoooooooooooooo, for me, small pubs was the ONLY way to go. Fist book a self-pub, well, not TRUE self pub, one opf those POD's that will take new talent and pub your book for a fee, and the 2nd book a small traditional pub that paid me a whopping $10 advance! Woo-hoo!
And look at you now Marvin. I'm expecting you to write a book on how to establish your presence on the web. I have no idea if the sales of Owen Fiddler have increased, but your blog has a huge following and you are everywhere -- you've put in a lot of hours on your cyber tour alone -- and you've made a lot of friends (and readers).
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to your stop here this Thursday.
Going with a small press is frustrating and rewarding. You get more independence with a small press and a larger percentage of the royalties, but your book is not in the stores usually. That means the impulse buyers can only be impulsive on the Internet.
ReplyDeleteMorgan Mandel
http://www.morganmandel.com
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
Morgan, I admit that I'm not a big Internet shopper. But I also believe that more and more people are starting to shop online. If you know what you want, you save gas, can sometimes get shipping free, and can comparison shop to get the best price.
ReplyDeleteI seem to usually not know what I want so I go to an actual store and browse. But I'm meeting more people who are small press pubbed, so my shopping methods will have to change.