MAJOR PUBLISHERS

OF INTEREST TO THOSE INTERESTED IN MAJOR PUBLISHERS--don't want anyone to be disappointed again.



http://www.midwestbookreview.com/bookbiz/advice/majpub.htm

Thanks for sharing, Alice! Makes me wonder why we try so hard . . .

I've heard stories backing up this article for 30 years. The few who become really big names have it made, everyone else does not. It's all in the contract and that's where a good agent and especially a good lawyer comes in.
As I've mentioned before, a fellow I know bought back the 15 or 20 books published by one of the biggies and had them all reissued by a regional publisher because they are set in a single city. It was the only way to keep them available.
On the other hand, I know a few people who get the full treatment - big advertising budgets, expensive book tours, etc. - because they were fortunate enough to write a blockbuster early in their careers. There aren't many so fortunate.

I guess my point is--is it worth all the fuss and muss to get a major publisher for so little?


If you can dig a hole in 5 minutes and get paid $20.00, why spend 5 hours digging the hole and end up with $30.00?

Time is money.

People who boast of thousands in advances ought to tell us how many hours they spent earning them . It wouldn't hold a candle to a salaried job.

None of us know how long we will live. Why not spit out our best and
let it go where it goes. I would hate to spend my remaining years awaiting the whim of a publisher.

That's me!

Quite right, Alice! Who says that those who take shortcuts to publication via POD publishing are vain? What could be more vain than spending hours and hours polishing a manuscript to suit a fickle market that lasts for a few months?

Shelagh,

It is a great way to die frustrated and unfulfilled. Because if you don't attain, you will be miserable and if you do, you will be only slightly less miserable.

cc

Alice wrote:

I guess my point is--is it worth all the fuss and muss to get a major publisher for so little?

It takes the same fuss and muss to get a small publisher, though, right? There are no guarantees with anything. Most small businesses fail after a lot of money and effort spent, should they even bother?

cc

domenic Pappalardo wrote:

Should we even bother? we all die, should we even bother too live?
It's not the failing we should fear, it the never having reached out we should fear.

Well, that was kind of my point...

LC,

It all depends on the business. Some of them should never have been begun.

Some books ought not to have been written.

For example: If I were to open a business to counsel discouraged writers--it would fail.

Why? Because I would give them an aptitude test and when they failed it, I'd say, "Get a job, do it now, before you starve.

If you want to dream--do it on your lunch break."

Ok, but like that lottery commercial says: "You can't win if you don't play!"

Don't equate living and dying to being published by a major or a minor house.

We are talking publishing not survival here.

By the way, I did not author this link, just passed it on.

Naturally you will all decide your own goals--just don 't expect everyone to share or even sympathize with them.

We all have 24 hours in a day. You have no more or less time than I do.

I have no time or patience to seek a major pubisher.

Everything that guy said about major publishing houses applies to minor ones, too. So what's he saying - "Don't bother writing, it's unlikely it will go anywhere for you?"

What does he get out of being a volunteer book reviewer? Talk about a waste of time.

One more thing -is he an author or editor with a large house? If not, why is he speaking authoritatively about how they operate?

cc

Guys we must all remember that to the writer, their book is a passion. To a publisher, the book is a product. After you sign the contract and accept the advance your passion is their product and that is how the publisher will treat it. I will also add that if the product does not sell it will be discontinued just like a bar of soap that does not move.

That is a harsh way of looking at it, but about sums it up from the punlisher's standpoint.

Thank you! You proved my point--it has to be a 100% effort.

That means I have no time to eat, sleep or see a doctor.

I have no time for travel, to entertain friends, to play with my grandkids.


Then when my dream is accomplished --was it worth it?

dtpollard wrote:

Guys we must all remember that to the writer, their book is a passion. To a publisher, the book is a product. After you sign the contract and accept the advance your passion is their product and that is how the publisher will treat it. I will also add that if the product does not sell it will be discontinued just like a bar of soap that does not move.

That is a harsh way of looking at it, but about sums it up from the punlisher's standpoint.

Totally correct.

Thank you, Helen, Dick, Shelagh, LC, Domenic, and DT for your thoughtful responses.

Alice wrote:

Then when my dream is accomplished --was it worth it?

My first textbook took an ungodly amount of time, money and energy to write. I missed out on some stuff I would have otherwise participated in.

But seeing it stacked on college bookstore shelves, on college bookstore websites marked "required" ...yeah, it was worth it.

The money's not bad, either.

Good, I am happy for /with you.

Many people write - books of fiction, textbooks, songs, what have you, and they dream of hitting the big time. Most are fully convinced that what they have written is as good as anything on the market, and the fact is that many of them are that good. True, many are, but sadly most aren't. Most are just average and while they are good enough to satisfy the friends and family of the author, they just don't come up to the requirements that a publisher has.

Of those that do meet those requirements, most will get lost in the world of agents, query letters, and rejection notices, and will never make their way past the desk of the author.

Of all of those, some will be self published and will bring a bit of satisfaction to the author, along with, perhaps, a bit of local acknowledgement of their talent and their work.

However, there is a large amount of product being created, and a small spot for it to be placed. Even if a person understands the odds against his/her work being signed by a major house, they continue to work away, thinking that theirs might be the one. I am convinced that the single worst thing that can happen to the rank and file author is for one from their ranks to be discovered, to become the next Stephen King or J.K. Rowling, because it gives hope to all of the others that they have a chance. A chance, yes. And many are satisfied with that possibility. So long as one makes it now and then, the dream can remain alive. It's not a realistic dream, but it's not a hopeless one either, because we all know that one of us, somewhere, somewhen, will indeed become the next great author. One of us will become rich and famous, the name that is on everyone's tongue, and so we continue to grind out words. Stringing pages together into some kind of coherent story, keeping the dream alive, and always thinking that the dotted line is just one novel, one textbook, one song away. For most of us it will never happen, but for that one that actually grabs the golden ring, it will all have been worthwhile. And then his or her name will be added to the list of those overnight sensations that have risen from the ranks of the nobodies and become somebody, and so the dream will go on, perpetuating itself, and allowing anyone with the drive and determination to grab a piece of it for ourselves.

We have debated here the pros and cons of working hard, studying, polishing, striving, but we all know that even with all of that, the one that makes it will have to have a bit of something else. It is that something that gets our name picked out from the crowd, and without it, all of the hard work in the world will do us no good.

I say that if a person wants to write, and if a person wants to dream, they should do so. But it is my firm belief that unless they come face to face with the fact that they may never make it, they will live for years in a world of stagnant dreams and wilted hopes.

It's a sad and dreary picture, but what the heck, someone here has already said it. If we don't give it a shot, we have no chance of it happening. I'll keep writing, keep seeking out a publisher that I think will do all they can for my work, keep writing, and keep dreaming.

That is because the article is full of crap. At best, the author is naive and full of half truths, at worst, he is lying. I'll go with naive.

First, where this article is published has no bearing on it's correctness. It could have been published in the New Yorker and it still would have been wrong.

I wrote the author and expressed these points. I made sure to let him know my name and my list of books:

1. The author here confuses marketing and promotion, which overlap but are not the same thing. Marketing is what a house's marketing department does: gets the book in front of chain buyers and distributors, places ads in relevant journals. It is in the house's best interest to market the book to the best of their ability, to make back the money they spent on editing and production.

Houses promote a book based on projected sales figures, with known quantities getting the most money and rest of the list getting the rest of the money, evenly divided. A book that exceeds sales expectations means that the author's next book will have a larger budget.

Houses market their books for a year, at least. After that, it is still marketed, but not as much because by 12-18 months they should have made their money back. The book remains in the house's catalog ("Big chain buyer if you like this book, you'll like this book" or "This author sold XXXX amount of his last book. You may be interested in his next book").

A season is way too short for the marketing of a novel. He has this confused with magazines where a season is a very long time indeed.

Promotion is things like an author's website, his twitter feed, blog and swag. They can be part of marketing or compliment but it is not the the same thing.

2. This is argument is counter intuitive; So a publisher goes through all the effort to buy your book, edit it and put it through production only to to do no PR on it? Really? Think about that. Does that makes business sense at all?

3. Book tours are never specified in contracts. It's all rolled up in marketing. If an author wants to do one on his own, that's fine. The publisher will help by arranging signings and sending stock ahead for you.

If your house wants to send you out on tour, you can turn it down. Some will for health reasons but it is your interest to do so. It helps sales and it benefits you the author because you get to meet the strangers who are buying your books. A win win for everyone.

4. Eventually, as time passes, your novel will slide down the publisher's list and may even get to the point where you think you should get your rights back.

Every book contract has an out of print clause. For example, if a book fails to sell 300 copies in two consecutive quarters, the author can demand a new edition (complete with new marketing, etc) or have his rights reverted.

Buying your rights back is very, very rare. If a book stops selling, a publisher will revert the rights back to you. Its in everyone's best interests.

5. Rights of first refusal are very rare and reserved for very big sellers. I would never agree to such a deal because what happens if a second house wants to pay more for my new novel? Contracts can have deals for multiple books, which is negotiated in advance and has an out clause (the first book didn't sell, you decided to quit writing and become a monk, etc).

6. The fact the author of the article cites his experiences from the 80's should the major tip off that's all is not up and up. Much has a changed since then. The arguments about the totem pole are all irrelevant to the discussion.

Sure, a house, like any business, puts its profit margins first, but to say that a house isn't always acting your best interest is incorrect; a house succeeds when it's authors succeed. It is in their interest to treat their authors with respect. For example, google random house+scam, or Baen + complaints. See what you get.

The big houses are very flexible, because they have more resources than a small press. If they see your book is selling well (in let's say Boise, Idaho) chances are they will exploit this by maybe arranging an interview for you with a local radio station.

As for turnover, eh, it happens, but not as often as it once did and sure, it can be bad, especially in the middle of the production process, but that can happen with any size press.

In short, it seems the writer of this piece seems to have an axe to grind and by doing so, is giving out non-useful advice.

To answer a poster's question: what is the benefit of a big house? Your book in every Barnes and Noble and Borders. And a non-trivial advance.

cc

E. Don,

So good to see you--I knew you would have your head screwed on straight.

I have missed you.

kdu,

Thank you for your expertise.

Your writing style is so polished and gracious. Whatever would we do without your predictable verbal vomit?

We will never know as you stay very near.