First Book Getting Published

Congrats! What publisher is this, may I ask? Sounds like you are having a great year!!! Good luck to you.

This Morgan James Publishing?

I do so hope you're not being asked to pay for anything, DreamDestroyer.

So you don't have to buy any books?

Congratulations! I went the self publishing route with Amazon for my first novel, but my goal is to have a major publisher take an interest in my novel one of these days. Awesome job!

Yeah I have to buy some books but not the 2,500 their site says. I'm only contracted to purchase 1,000, and that's for the life of our contract, not all up front or during the first year or whatever. But I don't see that as a fee though. I'm happy to invest in myself and buy some books.

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Be careful, DreamDestroyer. It's super exciting to have a publisher want to sell your book, and the excitement could make you blind to the dangers that may be there. No legitimate publisher would ever require you to purchase your own book. They make money off of every book you sell, not off of you directly. You shouldn't have to invest your own money to get your book published and sold with a traditional publisher.

To me, it seems like they're enticing aspiring authors with a higher royalty rate. Congrats, but tread carefully.

I'm posting this in hopes that you haven't signed anything, yet. Maybe it's not too late.

This statement:

DreamDestroyer said:

I haven't had to sign up for anything or pay to be signed with them.

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And this statement:

They pay a higher royalty and they do pay a small advance.

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Are negated by this statement:

DreamDestroyer said:

Yeah I have to buy some books but not the 2,500 their site says. I'm only contracted to purchase 1,000, and that's for the life of our contract, not all up front or during the first year or whatever.

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But I don't see that as a fee though. I'm happy to invest in myself and buy some books.

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It's not "a fee." You're paying for the print run, and the amount it costs to but 1,000 books is going to be vastly more than "a small advance" (which is also meant to cover the life of the contract, as an advance is the publisher's best guess at what the book will make over its life). The point of a publisher is that THEY invest in you. By agreeing to this (ridiculous and unprofessional) threshold of responsibility, you've made sure they turn a profit even if you don't.

Authors should be *given* several books as part of their contract - free of charge - and if they want/need more, then they're offered those copies at a steep discount. Books that go to events and appearances ARE NOT pre-purchased by the author and resold. They're sent to the location BY THE PUBLISHER so that the venue / seller can sell them.

I also get to keep the rights to my story.

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Because they've not purchased them the way a legit publisher would.

This is how vanity publishing works; it's not how trade publication works. Please understand that no one here is bringing up issues to be mean; we're trying to help you. If you honestly believe that there's anything standard going on here, there's not.

As long as you're happy and go in with your eyes open, then I hope it works out the way you want.

DreamDestroyer said:

Cyia - I am given books as well. And I know no one is trying to be mean. Everyone has been extremely nice and helpful on this site. Don't worry, I'm not taking anything personally.

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We just don't want to see you throw away your money on a vanity publisher that almost no one ever makes back. Especially when you said you've got a young child. 1000 copies, even at cost, is thousands of dollars. With three sequels? Multiply that by 4. Your connections may make you some of that back, but most people? Most people end up with 950 books in boxes in their garage and thousands of dollars in the vanity press's pocket. They don't have to push your book if they're making you buy and sell it.

Look at it like this: If they print the books for $3 each, and have you buy the books for $4 each, "practically cost", that's a guaranteed profit for them of $1000. Get a few people a month to agree to that, and they've made bank. You the writer are their customer, not your potential readers. If you don't want to make millions, that's fine. Few do. But vanity publishing almost never makes money for any writer. Most end up with enormous losses. We don't want to see that happen to you, or to anyone.

This is an interesting thread: it makes me more aware of some dangers. But best of luck to 'Dream Destroyer'.

Good luck with it all. Let us know when you break even.

DreamDestroyer said:

Yeah I have to buy some books but not the 2,500 their site says. I'm only contracted to purchase 1,000, and that's for the life of our contract, not all up front or during the first year or whatever. But I don't see that as a fee though. I'm happy to invest in myself and buy some books.

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If you're happy, that's fine - but just for other newbie writers who come upon this thread, this really should ring alarm bells. You invested in yourself when you wrote the book. It's the publisher's job to invest in selling it*.


ETA: * this is to very much simplify, obviously. If you're self-publishing, then it's your publishing-self that invests in the selling. But vanity publishing is a different beast, and it's worth noting here because otherwise the thread might be unhelpful to people who've just begun researching the process.

I wonder if the publisher promotes the book and gets it placed in bookstores? Do they help get appearances and interviews with the media? I published a few non-fiction books years ago with a small regional press, and they had my books out on shelves all over the country, and marketed me as well. Without publisher promotion, the entire burden falls on the author, and bookstores will probably be less willing to carry them.

As far as the author buying copies, I was not required to buy any, was given a few dozen for free, and then I paid the wholesale cost that the bookstores paid (about 40-50%) for any more that I wanted. Over the years, I bought a lot of copies to give to students. Now that they are out of print, Amazon is a lot more expensive for me.

DreamDestroyer - I'm glad you are at least going into this with your eyes wide open. I hope it goes well.

Keep it up! Just get your book out there and see what happens!

I wish you the best, DreamDestroyer! You can do it!