Historical Fictionistas discussion

Has anyone found a good publisher who is not outrageously expensive and has a decent marketing program? I've searched the net and have not come up with one.
Thanks

Almost none truly market. Many are relatively inexpensive, however, you often get what you pay for. The "do it yourself" sites such as Createspace and Ingram are probably best. Sorry, that is the best I can offer.

Sigh, I have to concur. If you are publishing nonfiction, you can publish cheaply and hire a marketer, but even then they'll expect you to do most of the work. For fiction you're really out of luck.

I appreciate you taking the time to respond.
Thanks again. If I find anything I'll post it.

I didn't go through a 'publisher' but had my book formatted for printing & gave the file to a book printer and he printed the book as a paperback with my choice of cover. The more you print the lower the individual unit cost, just get quotes. The marketing is the hard part.
Good luck

Thanks, I'll look into that.

Thanks, I'll look into that.

I went with a print-on-demand publisher and learned that when you do that it's easy to sell on Amazon but nearly impossible to get bookstores to carry it. The up-front cost is too high and the profit margin too small for them.

I hear that it's important to get the book into stores so I guess that's out.
Thanks

This thread is in the wrong section. It should be in the author's section. I will see if I can move it. If not, I would appreciate it if you would.

I guess you succeeded, Jasmine, because right now it says it's in the Goodreads Author Zone.

Abigail wrote: "I went with a print-on-demand publisher and learned that when you do that it's easy to sell on Amazon but nearly impossible to get bookstores to carry it. The up-front cost is too high and the prof..."

You can't get any bookstores to purchase your book from CreateSpace, the Amazon-owned print-on-demand publisher, because ALL bookstores everywhere hate Amazon. However, you can publish POD with CreateSpace to get your Amazon coverage and also publish POD with IngramSpark (although they charge fees to upload the book) to get Barnes & Noble, Waterstones, etc coverage.

For Amazon ebooks, you have to use Kindle Direct Publishing and that's 80%+ of your e-sales. You can choose to push ebooks out through IngramSpark, too, for Kobo and other e-book sellers.

Also, if you ever want a bookstore to order your books through IngramSpark and put them on their shelves, even for author book signing events, you have to allow returns. So that's an additional layer of anxiety but one we haven't been bitten too badly by--we've only had five books returned since 1 January.

Irene wrote: "Has anyone found a good publisher who is not outrageously expensive and has a decent marketing program? I've searched the net and have not come up with one.
Thanks"

My advice is don't use any publisher you have to pay. Period. Never. Rather, spend what money you have on a cover designer, a copy editor, and a book formatter--in that order of priority. A good, professional, not cheesy cover is essential, full stop. If you want me to stop reading your book before I finish it, have it full of weak grammar, misspellings, and typos. And crisp formatting for both print and e-books, is part of your brand. Anything less than top-notch in these three areas shows disrespect for your readers. Remember, you're asking them to plunk down $5 for an ebook or $15 for a print book AND give you 8 or 10 hours of their lives. You owe them your very best.

If you have any money left in the budget after those three, look into a line editor, and if you have trouble with structure, plotting or pacing, perhaps a developmental editor. They're not cheap, however.

I agree with Jeffrey, re editing money well spent. I had my book assessed by a male and edited by a female, and I am sure this helped when it was picked up by a 'real' publisher.
As they say one has to spend a bit to make a bit . . :- o)

Just bumping this topic...

I'm in Australia, where trade publishing is on its knees so maybe not the best example of what is possible. However, I've had four books (three novels) commercially published by small presses, but am about to self-publish for the first time.

This is my business model...I'm paying to have the book professionally made, with an outstandingly beautiful cover. I'm doing just a small print run (300) which I'll sell through my personal networks and the local bookstore which has sold hundreds of my books in the past. That will give me my money back, plus also leave me a few for promotion.

I will also do ebook and POD which will be pure profit.

This won't be realistic for everyone because it's expensive (up front) and I am at least (a little bit) established. But I think it will work for me. I don't expect it to cost me and it will get the word out.

I'll let you know how it goes as it should be ready for a soft launch later this month.

Interesting approach! I look forward to hearing your updates.

Here in the USA, my last book was published by a small publisher on a POD basis. It was distributed by Ingram with a 55 percent discount, but the POD charges made it not economical for bookstores to stock it. A hidden pitfall.

Zumaya Publications. I've worked with them in the past. They did some events pre-pandemic like science fiction conventions and book festivals, and they send out review copies to bookstores and other people a lot.

The middle of the pandemic was not a great time to bring a book out (as per my post above). It's done OK but I regard it as just a soft launch so far and as soon as I realistically can I'll make a bigger splash.

Abigail wrote: "Interesting approach! I look forward to hearing your updates.

Here in the USA, my last book was published by a small publisher on a POD basis. It was distributed by Ingram with a 55 percent discou..."

I've thought that too, Abigail. I noticed that some of the highly successful authors' paperbacks are sold at a price which my PoD cannot match, so once again the big publishers are likely to win.

I'm new to Goodreads and this group, and new to the publishing game. Last year, I finished two historical novels and started approaching agents with one of the manuscripts. Got responses, two full manuscript requests, but no go in the end. When I realised how time consuming the hunt for agents is (if you do it properly), I decided to fill the waiting time experimenting with KDP self-publishing to see if I could get some unsollicited, unpaid (!) and objective feedback to my work from anonymous readers. I enrolled the books in KDP select and got some good response but the time-slots in which you can promote your book are very limited. Looking around for other venues, I realised there's plenty of willing readers out there ... if you're willing to pay top-dollar. Even Goodreads charges you a hefty sum just to give away your books for "free"!
Meanwhile the agent hunt (more like a lotery, though) goes on.

I, too am new to the publishing treadmill. I had a polished manuscript for about a year of queries, conferences, agent letters and open calls before I got a publishing contract for a very small press. The process has taken two years to get to the actual, physical book (sometime later this year?) and it has been arduous.
I did not want to go self-published or POD because my local bookstores would not carry the books. Now, at least I can do appearances and signings if we ever get back to normal.

Is it possible, John, to buy author copies and then sell them on to bookshops? Is that allowed? Feasible?

Anna wrote: "Is it possible, John, to buy author copies and then sell them on to bookshops? Is that allowed? Feasible?"

Our local bookstores are adamantly opposed to online anything - since it takes away from their business. If you were going to try, please meet with the owners/managers first and ask how they would manage it.
My book is based on a local hero and it is crucial to my sales to have copies in the stores .

Every store is different. In my experience most will take copies if the author is local and the book is well produced. It also helps to have a backlist and a teensy bit of a reputation. I've had stores all over Australia accept my book but it's such a hassle doing this yourself.

J.L. wrote: "I'm new to Goodreads and this group, and new to the publishing game. Last year, I finished two historical novels and started approaching agents with one of the manuscripts. Got responses, two full ..."

I agree that finding an agent is the most difficult thing in the world to do. I published my debut novel with a small independent publisher (no agenat required), but, after a year and a half, she removed it from her catalog because it didn't sell well enough for her. So, if you go that route, that's something to look out for in a contract. I'm still serching for an agent for my next book. If I don't connect with one soon, I'll submit to other small presses after I've established an email list and I'll be sure to read the contract very carefully

Eileen wrote: "I published my debut novel with a small independent publisher (no agenat required), but, after a year and a half, she removed it from her catalog because it didn't sell well enough for her. So, if you go that route, that's something to look out for in a contract. "

That doesn't sound unusual to me. I presume all rights have reverted to you? Every contract I've ever signed has had provisions for poor sales and termination.

Yes. Right reverted to me.

John wrote: "Anna wrote: "Is it possible, John, to buy author copies and then sell them on to bookshops? Is that allowed? Feasible?"

Our local bookstores are adamantly opposed to online anything - since it tak..."
Yeah, pretty much. I've been selling online for awhile with my bookstore, and sales are a fraction of what I typically get in-store.