More News from a New Publisher

Well, I’ve just formally taken on a publicist, on a profit-share basis. We never make a loss on our books. The authors get 50-60% the profit pro rata between them. We’re giving the publicist 20% of the profit.

One of the big problems for small independent publishers is marketing. We don’t have the connection that the big guys have. We perhaps don’t have the power. But we do have a quality product and we need other people to see that. We need to tap into the six handshake idea. We all know 250 people who all know 250 people which means we’re just six steps away form anyone else. Question is: can we persuade the 250 people we know to buy our book and recommend to the 250 people they know. Of course, the system does fall down a little anyway because some of the 250 people I know are the same as some of the 250 people you know.

I’ve given the new free-lance publicist a to-do list. There’s a clear month for research as there won’t be a lot to do until the end of this month. Then we’re ready to roll again, hopefully, on the two summer publications.

We’re also planning a Writer’s retreat. A weekend, concentrating on the Short Story – especially for writing for the Bridge House Publishing Anthologies.

And there is one definite advantage about being a small publisher – we don’t have the overheads.

It seems like a good start to 2009 to me.

Becoming a Publisher

That’s it, then. I’ve bitten the bullet. I am officially a publisher. I’ve been so pleased with Making Changes that I’m going to go for several more anthologies. The call for submission has gone out to my “Making Changes” authors. Over the next few days, I shall be getting it out to as many places as I can think of. I’m planning two more Christmas ones, making a CD of the first anthology, two summer ones, two autumn ones and two non-seasonal ones. I’m really hoping I can get one of my authors to work full time. This would mean making a profit of over £33,000. But with one book we’re taking about £1,000 per month. If we make several books, are we just spreading ourselves too thinly? Or will one book sell another?

It’s work I’m really glad to do. There is something exciting about producing a book. I could do it forever.

I wonder whether we’ll ever get round to publishing full length novels?

Independent Publishers

There is a reaction to the narrowing of the market amongst the big publishers, where it is becoming very hard to get your work even looked at. Lots of small independent publishers are appearing. They find it harder to get their books into mainstream bookshops and they have less contacts within the industry. The public and those who take an interest in literature are slightly suspicious of them. Yet they do all the same work as a normal publisher. They’re actually an ideal outlet if you’re doing something a little unusual. They edit, copy edit, work with printers, set the book up, have relationships with distributors, deposit with the legal deposit libraries, do some publicity. The author must be prepared to do some of the footwork themselves. Also, if you do eventually become involved with a mainstream publishing house, they may frown at possibly slow sales. If that is bearable, this may be the way to go.

I have four of my books with Willow Bank Publishing, under their imprint Butterfly. They have done everything correctly and the first book out, The Lombardy Grotto, looks good. I’ve promoted it myself, like mad and it’s done okay but isn’t exactly a best seller yet.

Publish America is another and has had a lot of bad press. However, I’m very pleased with what they have done with my Nick’s Gallery. They do produce the books without any charge to the author, but leave the promotion mainly up to you.

A friend of mine may be about to be published with Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie. You can’t fault them on being a traditional publisher and they are completely upfront about the likelihood of sales being slow. They don’t ask for payment. Their web site looks good.

All of these are better than self-publishing or subsidy publishing. Their books do tend to be more expensive than those of mainstream publishers. That isn’t always a bad thing. They lead to a book on a shelf. They will probably allow you into the Society of Authors. Most importantly, they may allow you to produce something which is not what the mass market wants but for which there is nevertheless a market.