Traditional print publishers and e-books

gracemichael · Sep 13, 2010

I attended a writer's conference this weekend where the main speaker was a a gentleman who is both an author and the acquisitions person for a traditional print publisher.

He commented that an author's nonfic manuscript is a perfect fit for an e-book if traditional publishers have said the manuscript is a good idea with potential but the market is too narrow (which is exactly the feedback I am getting from both agents and a few publishers).

I am not foolish enough to think that my manuscript will be the next huge bestseller, but, if I do go in the e-book direction and it does sell well, what do traditional publishers think about a book being an e-book first? I have heard of self-pubbed books that do well enough that a traditional publisher picks it up, but what about for e-books?

KMTolan · Sep 13, 2010

Speaking from the fiction side of the e-book house, I wouldn't think it any different for an e-book than a self-pubbed paper book. If the book is that good, a publisher might pick it up.

"Might", however, is a pretty hefty word. I have a suspicion that the incidence rate is probably less than one percent. I would send a novel to a reputable e-book publisher for more coverage (and some credibility) rather than e-book it yourself. Not unless you thought you could do a better job selling it, of course.

Kerry

BenPanced · Sep 13, 2010

Commercial publishers ("traditional publisher" is a term coined by one of the scammiest scammers to ever scam a publishing scam) will look at your sales if you decide to self-pub first. If you're able to sell a lot, usually in the neighborhood of 10,000 or more, you'll have a better shot.

Old Hack · Sep 13, 2010

If you self-publish in e-book format then you might well attract a whole heap of attention. But you also might not. And if you are after a commercial deal then the sales of that e-book edition will directly affect whether or not publishers are going to be interested in putting out a print edition.

If you're absolutely confident that you can sell a whole bunch of copies (and by "whole bunch" I mean at least 5k, and probably more than 10k) then it could be your path to commercial publishing. If you don't sell that many, then it will be a reason for commercial publishers to avoid you: not just for this book, but for your next and your next and your next.

veinglory · Sep 13, 2010

Also, if you sell 5k, but the publishing thinks the potential readership is only 10k, that doesn't leave enough to interest them.

It seem to me that a self-published ebook would work when the publisher didn't know there was a readership, or didn't think your work would interest them--if it was astoundingly successful it could contradict that judgement.

efkelley · Sep 13, 2010

Yes, there's no real bias against self-published ebooks. If it sells well, you can get some commercial attention.

Know that they may want you to take down the publication in favor of their own ePub though. That can be a sticking point, actually. Odds are very good they'll want the electronic rights, but odds are very good the electronic rights are putting some food on your table (especially if it's selling well enough to get their attention). That's a cart in front of the horse though.

gracemichael · Sep 13, 2010

Thanks for the responses everyone. I'm still in the 'thinking' stage on this one. Still have some more queries out (and still some to send out), so I'll probably wait until I've exhausted that avenue and then reconsider.

Deleted member 42 · Sep 13, 2010

I would be very cautious about this; the ebook market is still a file-format nightmare.

I'd give it at least a year and keep doing print queries with reliable-I-can-find-their-books-in-bookstores-in-the-real-world publishers.

Luke King · Sep 16, 2010

Plenty of self-published authors have been picked up by Amazon Encore.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000373401

I'm not sure if they do non-fiction, but I don't really see what you've got to lose by publishing it as an ebook yourself.

azbikergirl · Sep 17, 2010

Check out this post by Amanda Hocking and read her blog posts. http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/topic,36603.0/topicseen.html
She has done very well self-publishing ebooks, and agents are contacting HER. That's not to say this is the norm -- she's a very good writer. But it's not unheard of.

Old Hack · Sep 18, 2010

azbikergirl said:
Check out this post by Amanda Hocking and read her blog posts. http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/topic,36603.0/topicseen.html
She has done very well self-publishing ebooks, and agents are contacting HER. That's not to say this is the norm -- she's a very good writer. But it's not unheard of.

My bold.

I've read through the link you provided, and I've had a quick look at Ms Hocking's blog, but can't find any information about agents contacting her. Could you point me in the right direction, please?

Gen · Sep 19, 2010

I'm not the original poster about Amanda Hocking, but I saw the post on KindleBoards that she made about her contact with a big name agent:

http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/topic,33901.0.html

Apparently, she did contact him first, but he responded quickly. This thread gives the history.

She's quite an inspiration.

Traditional print publishers and e-books

gracemichael

wondering ...

KMTolan

No drama

BenPanced

THE BLUEBERRY QUEEN OF HADES (he/him)

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

veinglory

volitare nequeo

efkelley

ow

gracemichael

wondering ...

Deleted member 42

Luke King

azbikergirl

I really do look like this.

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

Gen