Indie Publishing
I've been thinking a lot lately about publishing. There have been discussions on forums all over the place about kinds of publishers and the books they produce.
You've got your big NYC publishers, that put out all the books you see in the stores. It's a myth they put tons of money behind each and every title they publish, but they do get all the books into the catalog. I'm hearing rumblings from their mid-list that the authors are having to do much more in the way of promotion than they used to.
Then you've got your mid-sized publishers. Not the big six, but big enough. Also mostly in stores, though perhaps on a regional basis.
Small press. There are tons of these around, some bigger than others, some better than others. These guys have a tough row to hoe, because the bookstores most likely won't stock the books, although there are exceptions. Some have a distributor, which helps with stocking, some don't. Which leaves them to fight for the online market share. They've got to push their way through all the compeition to make themselves stand out, along with their authors.
Lately I think the term 'small press' has become a dirty word. At least that's the feeling I'm getting from some people. "Oh, it's a small press, so it can't be a good book"
Boy is that ever wrong!
First of all, we all know that even the big NY pubs put out stinkers. We wonder what kind of drugs the editors were on when they accepted the book, and which monkey in the Brooklyn zoo did the editing.
There are some WONDERFUL books put out by small presses. And I'm going to encourage everyone to poke around on the internet and check them out. Most of their books are on the publisher's website, or on Amazon if you prefer. Many of the authors have excerpts on their websites, so you can check them out ahead of time. There's all genres too, some publishers specialize, some dont.
I vote we change the name of small press to 'Independent Publisher". If it's cool to see an indie file, it can be cool to read an indie book.
Actually I'm going to make this a new feature of the blog - Featured Independent Publisher. It'll be a weekly thing. Then I can feature some Indie pubbed authors. Gottat think it out a bit more, but it has promise.
There are self/vanity/subsidy publishers too, but I don't have time to talk about them today.
Okay, you all have a great weekend. Now go discover some new books!
You've got your big NYC publishers, that put out all the books you see in the stores. It's a myth they put tons of money behind each and every title they publish, but they do get all the books into the catalog. I'm hearing rumblings from their mid-list that the authors are having to do much more in the way of promotion than they used to.
Then you've got your mid-sized publishers. Not the big six, but big enough. Also mostly in stores, though perhaps on a regional basis.
Small press. There are tons of these around, some bigger than others, some better than others. These guys have a tough row to hoe, because the bookstores most likely won't stock the books, although there are exceptions. Some have a distributor, which helps with stocking, some don't. Which leaves them to fight for the online market share. They've got to push their way through all the compeition to make themselves stand out, along with their authors.
Lately I think the term 'small press' has become a dirty word. At least that's the feeling I'm getting from some people. "Oh, it's a small press, so it can't be a good book"
Boy is that ever wrong!
First of all, we all know that even the big NY pubs put out stinkers. We wonder what kind of drugs the editors were on when they accepted the book, and which monkey in the Brooklyn zoo did the editing.
There are some WONDERFUL books put out by small presses. And I'm going to encourage everyone to poke around on the internet and check them out. Most of their books are on the publisher's website, or on Amazon if you prefer. Many of the authors have excerpts on their websites, so you can check them out ahead of time. There's all genres too, some publishers specialize, some dont.
I vote we change the name of small press to 'Independent Publisher". If it's cool to see an indie file, it can be cool to read an indie book.
Actually I'm going to make this a new feature of the blog - Featured Independent Publisher. It'll be a weekly thing. Then I can feature some Indie pubbed authors. Gottat think it out a bit more, but it has promise.
There are self/vanity/subsidy publishers too, but I don't have time to talk about them today.
Okay, you all have a great weekend. Now go discover some new books!