In another article in this series, I discussed the evolution of publishing and how the opportunities have exploded for authors to have their works published. In this article, I will discuss the original form of publishing, commonly called traditional publishing, what it is, and why an author may or may not want to go the traditional publishing route to get their work published.
It used to be the choices for authors were easy. The only way you could get your book published was to have a publishing company offer you a contract. With this traditional method, in return for providing editing, proofing, design and printing as well as guidance and experience at no cost to the author, an author gives away any rights and control of their book to the publisher. The publisher makes their own decisions as to editing and cover choices, often times effecting changes that the author may not agree with. While an author may have some input, the final decision is up to the publisher which often causes friction between publisher and author.
An example of such a conflict, and one that has played out over the past several years with many different authors, has involved cover choices. In each situation, the author's story involved a person of color. However, the cover the publisher chose showed a person of Caucasian decent.
While the author argued that it was necessary to be true to the story, the publisher looked to the bottom line, believing that Caucasians would not buy a book with a person of color on its cover. Because the author gave up their rights to the book, the publisher had the final say. [But the times may be changing. Just this past year, a publisher received enough backlash from the general public about their misrepresented character on the cover, that they withdrew the book and re-published it with a new, correctly characterized cover].
In exchange for giving up all rights to their book, the publishing company pays an author an advance against future royalties that may or may not be earned back by the sale of the book. This advance can be anywhere from a few hundred to millions of dollars if you are already a best selling author. While smaller presses are more likely to give new writers a chance, that chance would be reflected in a smaller advance offered to an author. But no matter how large or small the advance, this advance is not "free" money to the author, as the publishing company deducts future royalties out of the advance until the publisher has recouped its investment.
With traditional publishers, the publishing company is betting the book will sell, at a minimum, enough copies to cover the advance, so the size of the advance is based upon the number of books the publisher thinks it can sell to cover its costs. If a book does not sell, the publisher would be out the advance they paid the author and they will not get their costs covered. If the book does sell, the publisher's costs are covered, their advance is paid off and future sales bring in money not only for the publisher but for the author as they begin to get ongoing royalties. However, these royalties are only a very small percentage from the sale of each book, usually on average of around seven percent. Therefore, for an author to actually make money from their book, there has to be a large number of book sales.
In the second part of this article on traditional publishing, I will discuss the games publishers play and the pros and cons of choosing to go with a traditional publisher.
Candace C. Davenport is a retired attorney and published author whose love of writing led to co-founding a small independent publishing company, Our Little Books. Our Little Books ( http://www.ourlittlebooks.com ) is dedicated to publishing inspirational, educational and fun little books for pocket or purse. Candace encourages all people to find their inner muse and become published authors with their own little book, either for pleasure or for their business. Sign up for a free report on how Becoming a Published Author Will Improve Your Credibility and Make You an Expert in Your Field at http://www.ourlittlebooks.com/free-report/. Enjoy!
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