R.C. Beaird asked Elspeth Grace Hall:

Hi Elspeth. It's been a while, remember me? How are you doing? I wrote a comic book and someone wants to publish it, but I don't have an agent and I'm not sure what to do. They said, We operate on a profit share, all rights and territories and have strong representation in the US with as manager, agent and attorney. If you are interested in joining us I’d be delighted to publish your book." Any ideas? Thanks, Randall

Elspeth Grace Hall Hi Randall, course I remember you. Firstly well done and secondly be careful. You need to ask for a draft contract and go over it with a fine tooth comb. Some "profit shares" actually demand you pay part or all costs up front and then pay you back in % of royalty (which will never materialise) others will publish your book, list it on amazon/lulu and then say you have to pay all marketing. Then you are left with the choice of either keep the small royalties from online sales which will die out after about a year or invest the royalties in marketing which may or may not work. On the other hand there are genuine small publishers that in order to publish as many books possible with limited resources will sign a royalty share contract (I'm on a 50:50 contract) they publish the book and market it. You get your percentage of the royalties and they recoup their costs with their percent. In this case the post sales royalties is a form of insurance for them. If you turn out to be a flop they have only lost the cost of the print run. If you are a moderate success (ie. they recoup their costs in 6 months) they may ask you for a second book on a slightly bigger (for you) royalty share (starting rate for a paper back is 12% to the author according to google). If you are a runaway success then they may offer you an upfront payment for your next book.

Check the publisher out through reviews of their previously published stuff. If they have a book in your local library then that's a good indicator. Ask them how long they hold the rights. I have a 10 year contract on each of my books which means if a bigger publisher comes along and says "hey we like your stuff and by the way can we have your back catalouge." then I can only sell them any previously published book if it is older that 10 years or forfeit any royalties I make to my current publisher for the remainder.
I hope this helps. Elspeth

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