Ebook & POD small publisher discussion

Writers should choose publishers who can provide them with things they (the writers) can't provide for themselves. A Big Six New York publisher is going to provide large-scale marketing and distribution, and (generally) some assistance with publicity, along with (generally) high-quality editing, layout, and cover design. Smaller presses are going to provide all of these services, or some subset of them, at varying levels of volume and with varying degrees of success, and it's up to the writer to do due diligence to see to what extent those presses are successful in providing those services.

There are ebook and print-on-demand publishers who sell thousands of copies per title. Format and tools are not alone the measure of how successful a publisher is at selling books. There are ebook and print-on-demand publishers who have what I think of as horrible cover art and layout that nonetheless sell thousands of copies per title.

The bottom line is sales.

It's also my understanding that if the publisher uses POD, it won't hold much weight with agents and large publishing houses. Is that true?

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I'm not sure I understand what you mean by that question. Do you mean that a writer who publishes with a small press that uses print-on-demand as a tool isn't likely to have future projects picked up by agents and sold to large publishing houses? Again, sales are key. If you can sell 10,000 copies of an ebook/print-on-demand title, you have shown that you write highly marketable work, and agents will sit up and take notice. If you sell 400 copies of an ebook/print-on-demand title, don't even bother mentioning it in the queries for subsequent projects.

Some people prefer to work with very small epublishers, rather than self-publishing, because they don't have the time or technical skills to self-publish and they're more concerned with getting their work out there than with making money. Other people haven't done their due diligence and are mistaken about what sales potential of the publisher they've chosen to work with can offer. The first group of people may well be satisfied with the results; the second group probably won't be.

Ultimately, the most important thing is to match your expectations with reality, and that means doing research.

If they do a "terrible" job of anything why would you use them? As mentioned about, an author should go with the best publisher they can get for the goals they have. Who knows, it may be an e/POD. Samhain is e/POD and some of their authors are NYT best-sellers.

rainyofthedark said:

I guess I'm just lost trying to find one solid reason an author would want to use them.

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I have a relationship with a small e-press for the following reasons: 1. they seem delighted with my work and they keep publishing it; 2. they are a market for stories the bigger Christian houses can't handle for whatever reason (at least, this is the reason my agent gives); 3. they promote my work well, within their capabilities; and 4. they send me frequent royalty checks.

I'm not being facetious here. Earlier in my career I had a print/e-book with a bigger house and no promo took place other than what I groped at doing myself. I wasn't very good at it. My sales stank and my royalties were miniscule, then stopped altogether. I like my current publisher better.

rainyofthedark said:

So I'm curious what you all have to say on this (and hoping I posted in the right area):

There are a lot of "small publishers" who use ebook and POD. Is there a point to this? Is there a benefit to an author to use something like that? Especially since many of these publishers do terrible cover art and editing, and I doubt their marketing "team" is any better.

Is there an actual term for these type of publishers?

I guess I'm just lost trying to find one solid reason an author would want to use them. Many books published through these type of publishers wind up on Smashword, for example. I mean, if you're going to self publish, which is essentially ebook and POD, then why not do it yourself?

It's also my understanding that if the publisher uses POD, it won't hold much weight with agents and large publishing houses. Is that true?

If anyone here runs one of these, I'm not knocking it. I just want to understand what the benefit is for an author.

Thanks!

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E/POD publishers fall into the category of small presses. Small presses vary widely, from the very good to the very bad. Cover art varies widely. Editing varies widely. It's important to do your homework and choose well. Some small presses, as you said, do nothing you couldn't slap together yourself. Others, such as Lethe Press, have skilled editors and commissioned cover art, are well-respected in their genres, and regularly win awards.

In my experience, an author will choose a small press because that press is a better fit for their book than the Big 6. Frex, erotica, especially male/male erotica, seems to sell very well in e-book form, so a lot of erotica writers work with e-presses, who pay higher royalties. And some niche genres such as lesbian romance is only published by small presses; the big houses like Harlequin/Mills&Boone don't publish lesbian romances.