Tag Archives: independent press

Do I Have A Best-seller? You Can Tell me the Truth

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Writers approach me, describe their book or send me a sample and ask “Is this publishable work? Do I have a best-seller? Tell me the truth!”

I can tell you if I think your idea has market potential. I can tell you whether I laughed or  cried and wanted to keep reading your manuscript.

But then people say, again, “Tell me the truth. It’s okay, I can handle it. Does this book deserve to be published?”

So here is the truth. Books, like people, do not get the fate they deserve. Horrible books have won readers.  Astonishingly good books remain unpublished and unread.

I usually say, “Would you be glad you wrote this book if you knew no publisher will buy it?”

It happened to me. My agent loved my book and was confident she could sell it–but six months later no publisher had signed on.

In the past, the story ended there. You might look for another agent to represent that particular book. You might self-publish, as I did, on Lulu and later through Amazon. I was delighted to see my book in paperback and hardcover and e-reader form, and pleased by many positive responses from readers. My name did not become famous nor my pockets fill. But I am still glad I did it.

You have an advantage if you can sell your book to a name-brand publisher, but big sales are only likely if that publishing house decides to turn you and your book into a star. The publishing world–not readers–decide who wins this game.

Occasionally we hear about self-published books that rise via word of mouth. One way or another, you will need a good book, luck, and time to do considerable publicity.

As the publishing world changes, the best advice to writers hasn’t changed. Write a book because you want to. Try to get it to readers any way you can. Don’t count on justice.

Choose An Indie Press

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We tend to focus on the big-name publishers like Random House or Knopf. But there are thousands of other well-respected presses with long histories that I would be proud to see publish my own writing. The difference between a “small” or “indie” press and a “vanity” press is whether you must pay the publisher. You might choose a “vanity press,” for convenience and service, over self-publishing.

An indie press should have good relationships with distributors that will get your book into stores. An indie press can also release your book in an electronic form and help you with marketing it online.

You can’t just mail your manuscript to the big New York houses; you’ll need to get an agent first. But indie presses will accept unsolicited manuscripts and are more likely to take on a book that a mainstream house will consider too risky. They may be looking for experimental or shocking work, but not necessarily. The widely-popular novel The Time Traveler’s Wife was first published by MacAdam/Cage Publishing. Water for Elephants was first published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.

For a comprehensive database of small and independent publishers, go to Duotrope.com. Before you send out a manuscript, look at the publisher’s list and see if you sense a similarity in taste. In your cover letter, you’ll want to say, sincerely, that you chose this publisher because you admire the books it brings to the public. Make sure that your manuscript is truly ready for serious readers. You’ll need to copy-edit it carefully or hire a copy-editor and you may first want a critique from a writers’ group or a professional editor.

Your imagination, story, and writing skills will sell your novel or memoir, and your knowledge and insight will sell your non-fiction. But taking care of the details and getting high-quality help will ensure that you’ve given your work its best chance. All writers–at all levels–need editors.

Only people with little knowledge of writing or the publishing world think that they can pour out their hearts, mail Random House a fat mound of paper with typos and weird margins that no one else has seen, be received with open arms and go on to make millions. It’s a lovely fantasy. Write a short story about that writer! With the fantasy off your chest, you can take your next steps.