Small Press: How Solvent?

After an agent accepts our manuscript, euphoria erupts. We turn virtual handsprings and tell everyone the good news.

Your words. Your manuscript. You dream of the New York Times Bestseller list, fame, money, news conferences. But, not so fast.

The agent who you worshipped, the one who offered you a contract, just quit her job at the literary agency. And the agency isn’t interested in your baby. So, you begin again to find representation.

Or let’s say you submitted to a small press. They accept and seem to adore your writing. You sign a contract and you are back in business.

Then, the unthinkable happens and the publisher declares bankruptcy and all your efforts are for naught.

So, what are some of the reasons?

My publisher, Musa, was amazing. To all their authors and

employees, Musa seemed solvent. I received my checks on time and they answered emails promptly. Sadly, I didn’t appreciate how fantastic they were until after they shut their doors two years ago.

The publisher seemed to be going strong. They’d hired more staff, publicists, editors, and creative talent. E-books were offered rather than print. An E-zine was popular. And yet, they couldn’t do it. Maybe they tried to expand too much, an overload of authors. Don’t know. Bottom line, it didn’t work out.

But they did right by us. They promptly return our rights and we received our last checks, every penny.

Example of another, less scrupulous publisher is All Romance e-Books, ARe. They gave their authors three days notice and generously offered ten cents on the dollar for the last quarter.

They came to the decision to keep ninety percent for themselves, you see, so they can avoid bankruptcy. Not that they weren’t raking in the cash. They just decided to keep it.

All the time, they were offering gift cards before Christmas and asking authors if they wanted to advertise on their site. I received a request about the middle of December for an advert spot. Imagine my displeasure if I’d taken them up on it.

They knew they were having trouble but chose to slither along. 

Romance Writers of America, RWA, released a statement that read in part:

RWA finds it unconscionable for the owner of ARe to withhold information so long and to continue selling books through the end of the month when the company cannot pay commissions. RWA contacted ARe but has not yet received a response.

As a last kick in the pants, ARe email to authors stated:

“...published authors are offered rights reversion on condition that they consider this "a negotiated settlement of your account to be 'paid in full'...”

Ain’t that special? Holding the authors' rights hostage?

How do you know if your publisher is running out on you? Given the above examples, the good and the horrible, I'm not sure an author can. Some good links I have posted below might help but in the end, I think we take our chances. 

I'm sticking with self-publishing. Maybe I'm not making a ton of money but it's enough to pay the groceries. I'll be the first to know if my publisher—ME—decides to go out of business. 

Science Fiction Writers of America

ARe Sudden Closing

Why Small Pub Fail

Choosing a Reputable Publisher

I've been doing a lot of research regarding small to medium sized publishers. I'm mostly looking for those who accept YA, so if you are an author of adult novels, this list may not benefit you as much. But as always, do your research before submitting to ANY publisher. Each publisher has specific submission requirements and you don't want them to disregard your novel because you didn't take the time to read their guidelines.

Like I said before, I'm a sucker for a great book cover, so one of my requirements when looking for a publisher is to check out their book covers. The cover of your book is the first impression you leave on your reader. How many times have you been in a bookstore and picked up a book simply because of the cover? To me, the cover is a refection of the book itself. So for those of you looking for a publisher who accepts unagented manuscripts, here is a list of my favorites with a sample cover so you can see their work.

1) Month9: This is a very reputable publishing company that specializes in speculative fiction for teens and tweens.

2) Entangled Teen: All submissions must have a strong romantic element.

3) Evernight Teen: "Evernight is seeking fresh teen fiction that is raw, gritty, and real. We want teen romance, coming of age stories, and cutting edge fiction that today's young adults can relate to. The stories should have real issues, a strong emotional punch, and a plot to keep the reader turning the pages."

4) Clean Teen: They are looking for "well-written YA (young adult) or NA (new adult) novels that are between 50,000 and 110,000 words."

5) Bloomsbury Spark: "Bloomsbury Spark is a one-of-a-kind, global, digital imprint from Bloomsbury dedicated to publishing a wide array of exciting fiction eBooks to YA, new adult, and romance readers. We're looking for fun, genre-driven stories with fresh voices and great hooks. We accept upper YA, NA, and Adult Romance submissions."

6) WiDo Publishing:  "We are currently accepting manuscripts for submission and are especially in the market for science fiction and fantasy, memoirs, and mystery/suspense. In nonfiction, we will consider essay collections and imaginative and outstanding memoirs with a strong platform."

7) Cedar Fort Publishing:  "We want to publish uplifting and edifying books that help people recognize what is important in their lives, books people enjoy reading to relax and feel better about themselves, and books to help improve lives."

8) Harper Impulse: A division of Harper Collins. This is a digital first imprint accepting adult and new adult manuscripts in the romance genre.

9) Shadow Mountain:  "In general, Shadow Mountain is interested in fiction and nonfiction suitable for a national market. We publish a limited number of manuscripts in specialized genres such as children’s picture books, family and parenting, and self-help."

10) Bookfish Books: Publishers of middle grade, young adult, and new adult.

11) Scarlet Voyage: "Scarlet Voyage is a young adult fiction imprint dedicated to providing original stories with a strong voice and an independent spirit. From literary to contemporary romance to crime thriller—across all genres—our books embody our passion for authentic and compelling stories that reflect and explore the lives of young adults. Our mission is to create books that take readers on a voyage and will leave them burning for more."

Obviously, this is not an all inclusive list. Publishers Archive has a complete list of publishers so be sure to check out their website HERE. Hope this helps you find the right publisher for you!

What I learned in school today

At some point in our writing lives we will all - hopefully - be signing a contract with a publisher. Some of us will be fortunate enough to have agents to help us through the process. But for those who don't, it's probably a good idea to learn as much as possible about contracts, rights, and the publishing business.

Today I'm going to tell you about your rights as an author, which ones you typically sign away, which ones are negotiable, and which ones the author should always keep. This is a brief overview and not meant to advise but rather inform, ie, I'm no expert and there's a lot more info out there on this subject.

The following are rights the publisher always keeps: reprint rights, book club rights, and serial rights. The profits derived from these are split between the author and publisher. Reprint rights generally refers to paperback editions of the book, but, according to Donald Maass, "...in some cases--a small-press deal, for instance--we withhold these rights." Book Club rights are what they sound like and serial rights are excerpts of the book - in magazine, or in other books. First serial rights, which are sometimes negotiable, are excerpts of the book BEFORE publication; second serial rights are excerpts AFTER publication.

Negotiable rights include foreign language rights, foreign English language rights, audio rights, and electronic rights. These are the rights the author needs to negotiate with the publish over. For example, an agent might sell the foreign rights if she can keep the electronic rights, or, maybe the publisher will increase the advance if it can acquire the audio rights. It goes without saying that electronic rights are a lot more valuable now than they were say, ten years ago.

Lastly there the rights the author keeps - always. These are Performance rights, as in television, film, plays, video game, etc., and merchandising rights, like calenders, action figures, stickers, dolls...anything based on the characters of your book.

Are you a small-pub author? Care to share your experience?

Researching Small Presses

It's a brave new world in publishing. Traditional wisdom used to be that you must get an agent in order to land a publishing contract, but the e-book revolution has opened the door for independent authors and publishers to compete with the Big Six Publishers. Although there is nothing wrong with getting an agent and going the traditional route, that's no longer the only option for serious authors.

Who should submit directly to publishers?

Submitting directly to publishers may be a good choice for you if you have a quality product that beats to it's own drum. Smaller publishers are often more likely to take a risk on something new or different. Direct to publisher submissions are great for:

• Emerging genres like New Adult
• Genre blends or anything that is "hard to shelve"
• All things quirky, offbeat, and innovative
• Novels that appeal to niche markets
• LGBT & Multicultural
• Romance & erotica
• Anything of quality that never found a good agent match
• Anyone who has self-published or is considering self-publishing

Where to submit?

In my experience, the search for a publisher was more complicated than the search for an agent. The available databases are not as reliable or complete. Not all publishers accept unagented submissions. And not all publishers may be right for your work. This may change as direct to publisher submissions become more common. Here are some places to find publishers:

www.writersmarket.com

Sapphire Star Publishing

www.querytracker.net

Also, don't forget to try a good old-fashioned Google search. This is how I found my publisher, Curiosity Quills Press. I Googled "New Adult Publisher" and guess who I found? You may also try "publishers accepting unagented submissions" or a similar search to find lists created by other bloggers. Here are two such lists right here:

http://naalley.blogspot.com/p/publishing.html

http://sharonbayliss.blogspot.com/2012/04/list-of-publishers-seeking-submissions.html

How do I know if they are good?

Before you query and certainly before you sign, you should research potential publishers. 

First, make sure they're not scammers. You can make sure they're not rotten by looking for them on websites like this:

Crescent Moon Press

Better Business Bureau
Writer Beware Blog
Absolute Write Water Cooler
Publishers Marketplace
Predators and Editors

If they are a traditional royalty paying publisher (meaning they pay you and never the other way around) and they don't have bad press all over the web, then they're probably at least not a scam. But of course, this is your baby we're talking about. You need to make sure they're right for you. Here are more steps you can take:

• Google search. Simple but effective.
• Talk to one of their authors. Authors are just like you and me (in fact they are exactly like you and me) and most will be happy to answer your questions. If you don't feel comfortable approaching one, stalk their authors' blogs and Facebook pages to make sure they are happy campers.
• Use advanced search on Amazon to search by publisher. It's a simple way to see their whole catalog. Make sure you like their covers and that your book would fit in their catalog.

If you're offered a contract and don't have an agent, you'll probably be really happy but also completely freaking out. Here are more steps to handle your inevitable freak out:

• Repeat the steps above. :)
• Talk to your friends who have publishing contracts and compare terms (if they're comfortable with this)
• Have a lawyer review the contract.
• Read How To Be Your Own Literary Agent: An Insider's Guide to Getting Your Book Published  
• Take your time. A good publisher won't rush or pressure you.
• Ask questions. A good publisher will be happy to answer any questions you have. It also gives you a preview of how easy it is to work with them and get your questions answered.
• Follow your gut and do what feels right.

I've been through the process of signing with a publisher without an agent, so feel free to ask any questions in comments!

Questions about the School's In Query Contest

I only received one question through email, so if you have any questions, please ask now and we will answer them.

Question 1:
I'm going to sound like a complete neophyte, but... here goes: I have a couple completed (second draft) manuscripts that I'd like to get into someone's hands... but I have no CLUE how to write a query letter. What do I need to do? Is this contest for me?

My Answer:
YES! This is for you. The first two weeks are going to teach you how to write a query and give you the opportunity to get feedback and fine tune it before our editors read them. It's sort of a mini workshop, stretched out over two weeks. The best part is it's free, so check in every day and go for it!

_____________

Just remember, everything you can learn from feedback will only make you stronger. A year and a half ago I queried a small publisher who turned me down, but the short paragraph of advice they gave me really pushed my writing forward.

During the first week of "School" we'll be posting multiple times a day, spread out over the course of the day--sort of like a mini online conference:

• The Purpose of a Query and How to Write One
• Stalking/Researching Agents and Editors
• Formatting Paper and E-queries
• Submission Guidelines are Your Friend
• Great Places to Read and Get Feedback on Queries
• Sprinkle in some horrible queries showcasing everything you can do wrong, written by us here at UB just for fun
• Short interviews with our guest judges introducing them and their company.

We may even have another surprise up our sleeves, but since I just thought of it I need to confer with my comrades. :)

Calling All Followers With Completed Manuscripts

We've been sitting on something here at UB.

Well, yeah, that too, but I'm talking about something new for our little blog.

Something we've been dreaming of doing.

Something with YOU in mind.

The time has finally arrived to fill you in on our plan to take over the world!

*cough* *cough*

Sorry, not that plan.
What plan? We aren't plotting to take over the world so just stop already.
Now, where were we?
Oh yes. The plan to help you wonderful followers get some quality feedback on your work.

We are excited to announce the School's In Query Contest!

We are devoting most of August to queries: how to's, examples, workshops and the query process in general. The last week of August we will have three wonderful guest judges reading all polished queries for FINISHED manuscripts.

Krystal Wade from Curiosity Quills
Andrew Buckley from Curiosity Quills
Nancy Bell from MuseItUp Publishing
Amy Lichtenhan from SapphireStar Publishing
Donna O'Brien from Crescent Moon Press

If they like what they see, they may request pages and who knows where that may lead you?

There will be more info coming over the next few weeks, but we wanted to give you time to comb through that MS one more time. Maybe even get one more beta reader? Here's what these ladies said they are looking for right now.

Krystal--I love older mc's (18+)! I'd like to see some good dystopian, more male mc's too, and then of course anything scifi/fantasy/paranormal with something new and unusual.

Andrew--I’m looking for adult fiction be it paranormal, sci-fi, fantasy, urban fantasy and/or anything quirky or humorous. No YA or NA please. I like strong protagonists with a unique voice and wonderfully evil antagonists. Please, please, please, no in-your-face sword and sorcery type pieces. They’ve been known to cause sharp pains in my posterior. I’m also looking for cookies. Oatmeal raisin are my favorite.

Nancy--MuseItUp is looking for more dark fiction, horror, as we are light in that department. However, romance, historical romance, YA/MG from a male POV that will entice that sector. Of course, we are open to anything that is well written and crafted. We don't publish literary fiction or poetry.

Amy--We're especially interested in contemporary romance and paranormal romance at this time, although we are accepting submissions in all fiction categories.

Donna--Currently, we are looking for voice rather than specific genre requirements, though we
are primarily a boutique publisher of high quality fantasy, futuristic, and paranormal fiction. We are interested in urban fantasy, dystopian, futuristic science fiction, steampunk, mind-bending time travel, space operas, mythological as well as historical retellings with a twist, epic high fantasy, and the paranormal. We are also interested in paranormal categories of suspense, thrillers, gothica, and mystery. CMP also accepting submissions in the YA and New Adult categories of the above mentioned genres.

If you are interested in playing, what questions do you have about the contest? 
Please email them to unicornbellsubmissions@gmail.com and I'll post and answer all of them for our Friday post. 


...And for anyone who might be interested, look what I found on Google.

Literary Agents and 8-Track Tapes

An interesting post from The Passive Voice titled You Must Have an Agent…Or Not appeared in the blogosphere. 

Actually it is only another in a long line of musings about this industry.

I spoke with one famous fantasy author who believes agents are not the influence they once were in this business. Note yesterday’s post about Fifty Shades and the agents who moan how their philosophy was shot to hell by just one book.

But it isn’t just one book. There is Amanda Hocking who self-published herself into fame. Or John Locke, the first to sell one million Ebooks on Amazon.

Indie Publishing. For another eye-opener, go to Jeff Bennington’s blog The Writing Bomb. Essentially, he is a writer who chose not to wait on an agent but made his own way into self-pub. His blog is chock-full of info.

“But you must have an agent,” the ‘experts’ cry to us unwashed masses. “Write a good book and we’ll accept you as our client,” agents say.

Um, no. They won’t. Because:

The project you describe does not suit our list at this time.
This project doesn't seem quite right for us.
This project doesn’t sound right for me.
I am not the right agent for this work.

My fave is the ‘no response means no’ response and leaving the writer with hours of wasted research into an agent who blows them off without acknowledgment.

So you’ve polished your manuscript to a shiny new penny, educated yourself about adverbs and dangling participles, read every word regarding queries. Now what? Are the agents ignoring your baby? Does the prospect of self-publishing leave you cold?

Pick the in-between route, the publisher.

Apply directly to small pubs like WiDo Publishing, Curiosity Quills, MusaPress, MuseItUp Publishing, Sapphire Star, and Baen Books. Or publishers that tower over the industry, Del Rey, DAW, and Tor/Forge.

So what is your flavor? Are you determined to go the traditional route? Or ready to explore small publishers or even self-pub?