Getting your book published by a publishing house has never been easy. Getting published by a major publisher is even more difficult for aspiring authors. This is especially true today because of an ever-shrinking market and a focus on profits.
What’s causing the shrinking market?
Consolidations of publishing companies acquiring one another is causing a shrinking publishing market. This means fewer choices for authors, more power in the hands of fewer publishers and greater profits for shareholders of those companies.
Why is this a problem?
This is a problem for aspiring authors because it limits the available publishers to only a few houses. These few houses now control a greater share of the market and are highly selective of authors they choose to work with. Many refuse to work with new authors and instead focus on existing authors that are highly profitable. Additionally, editors in the New York are trained to look for very specific qualities in a book. This leads to a myopic way of thinking when considering authors to work with. If you aren’t a celebrity writer, you have a much more difficult time getting noticed by the big publishers.
How to get noticed?
Authors that want to be noticed by the major publishers will need to be “loud and proud” of their work. In other words, they need a platform to get noticed.
The easiest way to build a platform is to use social media sites like Facebook or Twitter. You will need to create an account that focuses on you as the author and markets your book(s) to others.
Another way to get noticed is to create a website. It doesn’t have to be complicated. It could be a simple website that markets you as an author and shares your book(s) with others. Having some reader testimonials is also helpful. It’s o.k. to use friends for this!
Once you have done this, you will need to market your webpage and social media presence. You can do this either by asking your network to share your site and posts, or you can pay for marketing services and advertising.
You need a great manuscript!
Let’s face it, if you have a great manuscript, your chances of becoming a successful author are greatly increased. It should be free from spelling and grammatical errors. It should read well and be professional. Your book should also be completed and not a work-in-progress.
If you are a more of a storyteller and not someone with strong skills in grammar and spelling, you will need an editor. This adds to your costs. There are a number of professional editors out there for hire.
You need a literary agent.
In the major publishing world, you will need a literary agent to represent you. No one at the major publishing companies cares about Jane Doe the aspiring author from Kansas or how great her book is. They only care about making money and as much profit as possible. Taking a risk on a new, unproven author is too risky for them. This is why you need representation.
A good literary agent will be your access to the major publishers. They already have relationships with the firms and they are professionals. However, getting an agent to represent you is not an easy task. In all likelihood, you will need to send out dozens of manuscripts and query letters. These agents may or may not be interested in you. The top agents are almost certainly uninterested in non-celebrity authors. Your best bet is to find a smaller agency and work with them. The cost to you will be less and they will work harder for you than the bigger agencies.
Profits?
Once you have been selected by a major publisher, you will need to sacrifice some control over your book and a larger share of the profits than you might expect. Remember, they are a corporation and they are investing in you. They will be putting up the funds to publish your work, market your book, distribute your book, etc. Working with a major publisher means that you will be working under a legal contract with them. This contract may allow you to keep some of the rights to your work. It may not. Be sure you read the fine print! Your literary agent should also help with this.
There are a number of ways the contract negotiation could go. You may be paid a flat sum of money for your book. You could be paid royalties for every copy sold. It all depends on the contractual agreement. However, working with a major publisher typically means that you will receive 10% or less of all book sales profits. It may not sound like much, but as a venture capitalist once told me, 10% of something is worth more than 100% of nothing.
Alternatives to the major publishers
If you are constantly rejected by literary agents and the major publishers, you need to rework your manuscript and make it spotless. Even if your manuscript is perfect, there is no guarantee that you will be successful getting the attention of a major publisher. Your best bet is to find a hybrid publisher or to self-publish. I recommend the latter because it is easy to do, cost effective and you keep the majority of the profits. By selling an e-book, you can keep 100% to 75% of the profits. For print copies of your book, your profits will be between 50% and 35%. This is still much more than what you would see working with a major publisher.
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