What I'm having a problem with, mostly, is the fairy tale that being signed by a big house automatically equals success. It does not.
Major houses, again, don't put out just "a few" titles each. No one knows what or who will be the next big thing, so every new author is a gamble. But I've already covered all of that.
Does anyone understand what a back list is? Or why a marketing team is vital to a major publisher?
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/bookbiz/advice/majpub.htm
This article alone tells you a lot about what to expect in reality with a major publisher.
http://www.ehow.com/list_5858743_list-top-publishing-companies.html
2,000 a year . . . I guess is "a few"?
I've already said this, but I'll repeat it. Major houses simply cannot be fiscally responsible and put money behind every single book they offer in their catalog. They put money behind ones they know or believe strongly will be a success.
A book store has x amount of square feet of shelf space available. They have more than one major house, plus many minor houses competing for every single inch of shelf space. Each major house has a catalog of thousands of titles vying for that shelf space for each bookstore. Sure, you may get a few books in one store, in one city, but there are absolutely no guarantees saying you will get shelf space in even half of the stores of a particular chain. That decision is up to the manager of each store.
Alright, my research was a bit off on some of those books, I'll give you that:
http://www.jimchines.com/2009/09/self-publishing-myths/
But not all of them. Christopher Paolini is in an area of grey apparently.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eragon
Notice he spent some time doing a promo tour. Most new authors, and many established authors, with a major house would have to do the same thing to promote their books, so how is that any different in the amount of effort?
Vein, I don't disagree about the norm, but I also responded to that in an earlier post about going overboard or using fiscal common sense. It's up the individual author to use common sense in what they spend and where they market, etc. If more people paid attention to what they were doing and used some common sense, that "norm" may not be such a "norm" anymore.
And yes, I agree with you that most of them are still looking for that professional contract, but that also backs up my argument. The professional contract they get is because they were willing to put in the effort on their own to begin with and the major house noticed them, saw that they wouldn't have to bankroll this person, they already built a platform etc., because that person was willing to put in the effort for their own success.
I just, personally, prefer living in reality, and realizing that a signed contract with a major house does not automatically equal success, best sellers lists, and major money in the bank. There are back lists and marketing teams for a reason. Our job, when signed to a major publisher for the first time, is to get OFF of those back lists. Which takes effort.
Major houses, again, don't put out just "a few" titles each. No one knows what or who will be the next big thing, so every new author is a gamble. But I've already covered all of that.
Does anyone understand what a back list is? Or why a marketing team is vital to a major publisher?
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/bookbiz/advice/majpub.htm
This article alone tells you a lot about what to expect in reality with a major publisher.
http://www.ehow.com/list_5858743_list-top-publishing-companies.html
2,000 a year . . . I guess is "a few"?
I've already said this, but I'll repeat it. Major houses simply cannot be fiscally responsible and put money behind every single book they offer in their catalog. They put money behind ones they know or believe strongly will be a success.
A book store has x amount of square feet of shelf space available. They have more than one major house, plus many minor houses competing for every single inch of shelf space. Each major house has a catalog of thousands of titles vying for that shelf space for each bookstore. Sure, you may get a few books in one store, in one city, but there are absolutely no guarantees saying you will get shelf space in even half of the stores of a particular chain. That decision is up to the manager of each store.
Alright, my research was a bit off on some of those books, I'll give you that:
http://www.jimchines.com/2009/09/self-publishing-myths/
But not all of them. Christopher Paolini is in an area of grey apparently.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eragon
Notice he spent some time doing a promo tour. Most new authors, and many established authors, with a major house would have to do the same thing to promote their books, so how is that any different in the amount of effort?
Vein, I don't disagree about the norm, but I also responded to that in an earlier post about going overboard or using fiscal common sense. It's up the individual author to use common sense in what they spend and where they market, etc. If more people paid attention to what they were doing and used some common sense, that "norm" may not be such a "norm" anymore.
And yes, I agree with you that most of them are still looking for that professional contract, but that also backs up my argument. The professional contract they get is because they were willing to put in the effort on their own to begin with and the major house noticed them, saw that they wouldn't have to bankroll this person, they already built a platform etc., because that person was willing to put in the effort for their own success.
I just, personally, prefer living in reality, and realizing that a signed contract with a major house does not automatically equal success, best sellers lists, and major money in the bank. There are back lists and marketing teams for a reason. Our job, when signed to a major publisher for the first time, is to get OFF of those back lists. Which takes effort.
