Hah, biblical truth, Filligree. My agent and I are aghast at the most recent run of contracts--totaling 10 for one book in the last nine months. Only one offered a significant advance (before that on another YA book) and we had to meet them head on with a knife in one hand and a money bag in the other (six others were in the bidding end of it). Not to be a Donny Downer, but I've grown increasingly disgusted with small press and their antics in the past two years. Many, if not most, have developed into author mills (and they are cleverly disguised as such), which is great for the publisher in a quantity sense but a death blow to the author. Who wants to make less than a $100 for a book in a year's time? Who wants to shoulder the entire promotion and marketing load without and SIGNIFICANT support from the publisher? Who wants to surrender most of their rights and be confined to a very long contract term?
In some corners I've been called "The small press king."
That's an insult.
My starry-eyed readers and buyers of my books think I'm famous, including my neighbors, doctor, pharmacist and all their staff.
At the speed of light, I told them the truth about the industry and small press publishing and advised them to wait until I'm written up in the NY times and appear on a major best-selling list. In other words, any one of them could be a published author today without too much trouble.
Tri--Bedazzled, bewildered and befuddled.