Publishing Options for Authors-Part 1-Traditional

Jump to Comments

A reader, Benjamin, asked us to write about publishing options from the perspective of which might best serve an author’s needs.

In this short space, we will first answer the inevitable question of copyright and then summarize the first of these options, traditional publishing, giving advantages and disadvantages to authors. In our next entry on this topic, we plan to discuss self-publishing (regular, POD, vanity, and a few other options). Our last entry in this series will focus on web publishing (web-zines and other venues) and provide a short list of resources you can reference for details.

Although hand printing presses are not beyond the realm of possibility, we will not be discussing that option due to our finding inadequate information on the mechanics thereof. (We do plan to comment on the modern equivalent, the photocopier!) Anyone have some up-to-date advice for today’s pamphleteers who would like to build their own hand printing press?

First, to answer the inevitable copyright questions. In the U.S., a written work is automatically owned by the author upon its creation. The author does not have to apply for copyright; it is his or hers by act of authorship. Copyright protection is another thing. If your work circulates widely, if it is popular or controversial, you may want to register your copyright as a means of protecting your interest. Publishers purchase rights from authors because authors own those rights to their material. Unless an author sells All Rights to a work or writes it as work-for-hire, he retains the copyright, and therefore, any rights not sold to the publisher.

Traditional Publishing

Traditional publishing comes in two basic sizes, large and small.

• Large - The large publishers are those you always hear about, whose books abound in stores everywhere, whose authors appear on talk shows, who give million-dollar advances.
  • The Dream - Being published by a large publisher is like a dream come true for most authors … until it happens … and the advance is missing about three zeroes, the book can’t be found anywhere, the author finds he must spend more money than his advance trying to market enough books to ever see a royalty check in his lifetime … only to find his book is no longer in print.
  • Pros and Cons - For authors with a ready-made readership or an agent with lots of clout (which usually means the author has a ready-made readership), the traditional method works because the dream becomes reality. To the rest of you, we say: be satisfied with the knowledge your book was either published or rejected by a publisher whose name your friends will recognize. One final consideration, a plus or a minus depending on your point of view, is that a large publisher will take nearly every decision, including those regarding the content of your book, out of your hands.

• Small - The small publisher, small press, university press, alternative press, regional press, etc., is distinguished more by its focus than its size. A publisher averaging a dozen eclectic books per year may not be considered in this group; whereas, a publisher averaging two dozen books restricted to a topic or category of topics, such as small town histories or the Southwest (U.S.), would surely be. That being true, it is almost certain a publisher of fewer than 3-4 books per year would fall into this category, regardless.
  • Cons - Usually a small press lacks the distribution and marketing avenues of the larger publisher. The internet is narrowing this margin of disadvantage, however. Print runs are smaller, advances are smaller or non-existent, and you, the author, will have to promote the book vigorously for it to sell. At first, this seems no better than going with a large publisher–and minus the dream.
  • Pros - The “up” side is that an unknown author has a better chance of being published by a small press than a large publisher–if his work is of quality. The author generally has more input into the various aspects of the book’s publication and promotion. Unlike many (not all) self-published books, the quality of the small press’s published version will be worthy of the content. Right or wrong, reviewers and booksellers do not despise books published by small publishers as they often do self-published books.

Our next post will continue this discussion of publishing options available to authors and their advantages and disadvantages from the author’s perspective.

If you have any specific questions about what we’ve discussed so far, let us hear from you. We don’t have all the answers, but we often know where to find them!

9 Comments

Filed under A Word to Authors