And the second half: is anyone still with me? Thank you!
We're going to be hiring professional proof-readers and editors in 2009.
But if you’re already requesting submissions, you need editors now.
We already have staff with business (sales) experience.
Are they experienced in book selling? And does this mean that you have a sales and distribution system in place that will get the books into bookshops? Because if not, they’re not particularly significant at the moment.
We want to get new writers published and distributed as widely as possible
And for that you need a sales and distribution service in place—which means you need to hire a national sales team, and find a wholesaler or distributor which is willing to take you on.
although we do have a contract written out it still needs to be sanctioned by our sponsor.
You might like to approach the Society of Authors to help you with your contract. I think that they do that sometimes.
my next-door neighbour runs a printing company - guess where we're going to get our offset-printing deal from should we need a couple of thousand books? In the meantime, we are right to stick with print on demand to keep costs down.
Perhaps you should visit Behler Publications’ blog and find out what their editorial director thinks of publishers which rely on POD, and the reasons for her opinion.
We can only do so much but we will be asking our authors to give their wholehearted efforts if they want to go beyond being 'just another POD book'.… I think the phrase is 'shoe leather.'
The thing is, most writers want to be writers, not salespeople. And most books which are promoted this way sell very few copies. It’s not a good choice for a writer who wants to write books rather than sell books, or a writer who wants to be widely read.
Please don't be under the illusion that we are offering something that compares to a standard main street publisher. We cannot do that for several reasons (apart from the obvious).... I would not be talking to you right now, and I would undoubtedly toss your ms in the bin (all due respect) without a second thought… I would only want you if you were a money making machine.
If you don’t recognise that your business has to earn money right from the start, you’re doomed to fail. Publishing is an expensive business when it’s done right: have a look at Snowbooks’ various blog posts about finance, returns, and costs. They had over £100,000 in finance when they set up, and they’ve had to finance returns of over £45,000 without letting it affect their business. Could you afford that?
I've read so often recently that even major publishers rarely offer advances anymore, and then only because a book is viewed as a guaranteed 'hit' (if it's written by a celebrity or by the likes of Stephen King, for example); most of the time nowadays, publishers prefer to offer a percentage of sales - am I mistaken in this, though?
You’ve been misinformed. Advances are standard for most reputable publishers. A friend of mine has a novel coming out from Myrmidon, a tiny UK press, and she’s been paid a reasonable advance; I’m writing a gift-book for a small publisher right now, and have been paid a good advance—over £1,000. No one recognises my name. And I’ve never even met Stephen King.
There. I think I’m done. I hope it was a help, to Steve, Guy, and anyone else who might read through this whole thread. If anyone has stuck with me through all of my comments, they deserve a drink. As do I: cheers.