Small Indie Publishers

I can understand confusion. I have been living in it for a month now. *smile*

Thanks for the reply.

This all began with my dumb misunderstanding that Sue Silverman, DK Christi and Sue Sunshine were the same person. DAH!!!!! I was checking out new smaller publishers for a book I have ready for publication and wanted to try someone else for my client than go the NY route.

ChattyLady, I sent you the info you wanted in a pm. Did you get it?

Yes Sue and will contact you soon but am waiting for so me pictures going in the book and they are coming from Alaska where the woman the book is about lives during the summer months... Thanks for sending what I asked for.

Good, I am glad you received it, ChattyLady. No hurry here.

Sue Sunshine wrote:As with all things I see generalizations about small presses. Yes, most of them don't get your book into major bookstores and on the shelves. That doesn't mean that others don't. As with big publishers, little publishers have quirks and have specialties. I think if you are interested in small presses you need to check each one out individually that you are interested in, and talk to them about your needs. They would be more willing to accommodate you, the author, than the big boys.

Even though I am a small press I am taking the time to get my authors on the bookshelves. If they are not on the shelves, they don't sell. If they don't sell, I don't make money. Whether the author wants to make money or not, I do. I am not publishing just for the fun of it.

So please watch the generalizations when talking about writing or publishing. Not everything is as it appears.

Thank you.

Sue, I have a question. As I'd stated earlier, I was disappointed that my publisher, like most or all small indie pubs, couldn't get my books onto Barnes & Noble's shelves. According to what you said, perhaps in another post, you weren't going to have that problem, which meant, I thought, that you'd planned a print run instead of using POD. An actual print run of books is so costly that most small pubs, even those who've been in business for years such as Whiskey Creek Press, can't afford to do so.

I was in B&N yesterday to buy a book for a friend, and while there, I decided to check your company's new release, which you said was released in November. I couldn't find it, so I asked. They do not stock it, they said, since it was POD. And since it was POD, like all the other small pubs I know, they could order it with a prepay order.

So how is your company different?

Small publishers can get their authors' books on the shelves on a book by book basis. I am in the process right now (should have started sooner, my fault) of getting Notes in A Mirror in Barnes and Noble, Borders, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, Hastings, etc. It is a slow process, and like I said I should have started sooner. Being only me doing everything right now, I have to choose priorities.

Some of the requirements for small pubs to get onto the shelves of the major book sellers is sell sheets, marketing plan, two copies of the finished book, synopsis, teaser, etc. Each one wants something different.

So I am different because I am making an effort to get my authors' books on those shelves across the nation. Most small pubs don't even try.

I wish you well, Sue, but my publisher and I have both talked to B&N's corporate offices and they won't accept POD on their shelves. An author's local CRM may allow a few on a consignment, which isn't a good deal for the author, but that's how it's been in the past and how it currently stands.

My current publisher is active in many online sales venues, has our books available in print, ebook, and Kindle. My plotting how-to sat at my publisher's Amazon's Number One spot for quite a while, and I have two novels with them. One has won a couple of awards. Still, at royalty time, it was pretty pitiful. There's simply not much money to the author unless that author's books are on the major chain's shelves nationwide. And that's not to be confused with the term 'available' with the chains. Most any book can be ordered.

And it's not just my publisher. I've talked to many writers who are published with the small indies who use POD process. Usually, those publishers are small operators, do not have a trained professional staff who assure that every book has been through their vetting process and has been edited by professionals - not only for grammar, as any school teacher could be qualified in English and grammar, but for story structure, POV drifts, etc.

The vetting process is extremely important. Major chains could be in serious trouble if a lawsuit occurs from something a writer included in his/her book and it wasn't properly checked.

Those are just a few reasons why it takes so long for a major publisher to release a book after it's been signed, while a small indie can crank them out in as little as a few weeks or months.

For some writers, this process is fine. Money isn't that important to them. So it all depends on what the writer wants from his/her books.

I do what an author told me: stroll the bookstore aisles, find books in your genre and write down the publisher and submit to them.

Small presses can get into bookstores. It's all in their sales, marketing and distribution.

zizban wrote:I do what an author told me: stroll the bookstore aisles, find books in your genre and write down the publisher and submit to them.

Small presses can get into bookstores. It's all in their sales, marketing and distribution.

This is where I start and then I follow up with internet research.

Afinerosesheis wrote:

zizban wrote:I do what an author told me: stroll the bookstore aisles, find books in your genre and write down the publisher and submit to them.

Small presses can get into bookstores. It's all in their sales, marketing and distribution.

This is where I start and then I follow up with internet research.

Excellent!

Oh I love Random House, Putnam's, and all the other biggies. Problem is, you need an agent to submit your manuscript to them, and today, getting an agent to read your material is a frustrating process, to say the least.

There are classes and books on how to write query letters, more classes on synopses, and each agent is different. Some want the old standard, "I'm seeking representation for my ????" and then go into the blurb. Others want the hook first. Some want a three-paragraph beginning, middle, and end to the query blurb while still others ask for one paragraph.

Then, if you get past that hurdle, you have to include the synopsis, either with the query or later, if you're lucky enough to get an agent interested. Again, there are books and classes instructing us how to write the darn thing - and a list of do nots.

It's enough to make your head spin. Some agents take several months to get to your material while others respond in a week or two. Guess like everything else, it all depends on what's happening in the office that day and how much time the agent has.

And fortunately, it is a buyer's market. As James MacDonald says, start at the top and work down.

So true.