I signed a two-year contract with a small press in August. They did an excellent job on my cover and formatting, and my book (I actually had it critiqued here- YA Sci-Fi "The Scorching") is set to release later this month. They mainly print-on-demand but get books in stores when possible. My book is available for preorder through their website already, and upon release it will be available on Amazon and B&N.com. My wholesale discount is set at 50% and it is returnable with no fee, so I'm hoping that I can get it in stores as well, especially for book signings.
Anyway, my publisher does some promoting via their website, social media, and supposedly they send out a press release and send out copies to be reviewed, but other than that they expect their authors to pay for a lot. They recently sent me links to sign up for Ingram Advance, several writing contests, and several conventions, all of which range from $50 to $150. Of course none of it is required. Same goes for buying my own books. They provide a discount and encourage us to sell our own books, but it's not mandatory.
I was pretty blunt. I told them I wasn't planning on spending my own money, and that if I could do that I would've just self-published. They told me most successful authors start out investing some of their own funds these days, but that if I didn't want to do it I shouldn't worry about it. They weren't too pushy about it or anything, but I'm starting to wonder if they don't make more money off their authors than they do book sales.
Since I haven't spent any money, technically I've already made a profit based on preorders alone. But after talking to some of the other authors in my publishing house, it seems most of them never have to worry about doing taxes because they barely break even. There are a couple successful authors, but I think they also self-publish other titles so they have a larger platform.
I knew signing with a small press would be different than a big publisher, but is all of this normal? Should I be spending my own money on these things? Is it worth it? Ingram Advance seems good on paper, especially because I want to try and get my books in stores... but it's $125 (which includes a standard listing and additional ad space in their newsletter or something, according to my publisher), and I have to go through the publisher (they said they will send me an invoice if I decide to do it).
My gut is telling me to avoid giving my publisher any money. As far as I know, it's supposed to be the other way around. I feel like as long as I avoid their clever traps, it could still be a good thing. I got a free cover, editing, formatting, some promotion, and distribution. It was way faster than finding an agent and going traditional, and way cheaper than self-publishing (as long as I'm careful).
My book has gotten really positive feedback from my test audience (multiple beta readers, two critique partners, two proofreaders, a librarian, and two of my reading lab classes). With a good cover and good promo, I think it could be a great start to my career. I just need to know if I'm making the right choice to avoid spending my own money on it. I can hopefully set up book signings, readings, Q&As etc. that don't require much investment on my part. Is that plus social media enough?
Anyway, my publisher does some promoting via their website, social media, and supposedly they send out a press release and send out copies to be reviewed, but other than that they expect their authors to pay for a lot. They recently sent me links to sign up for Ingram Advance, several writing contests, and several conventions, all of which range from $50 to $150. Of course none of it is required. Same goes for buying my own books. They provide a discount and encourage us to sell our own books, but it's not mandatory.
I was pretty blunt. I told them I wasn't planning on spending my own money, and that if I could do that I would've just self-published. They told me most successful authors start out investing some of their own funds these days, but that if I didn't want to do it I shouldn't worry about it. They weren't too pushy about it or anything, but I'm starting to wonder if they don't make more money off their authors than they do book sales.
Since I haven't spent any money, technically I've already made a profit based on preorders alone. But after talking to some of the other authors in my publishing house, it seems most of them never have to worry about doing taxes because they barely break even. There are a couple successful authors, but I think they also self-publish other titles so they have a larger platform.
I knew signing with a small press would be different than a big publisher, but is all of this normal? Should I be spending my own money on these things? Is it worth it? Ingram Advance seems good on paper, especially because I want to try and get my books in stores... but it's $125 (which includes a standard listing and additional ad space in their newsletter or something, according to my publisher), and I have to go through the publisher (they said they will send me an invoice if I decide to do it).
My gut is telling me to avoid giving my publisher any money. As far as I know, it's supposed to be the other way around. I feel like as long as I avoid their clever traps, it could still be a good thing. I got a free cover, editing, formatting, some promotion, and distribution. It was way faster than finding an agent and going traditional, and way cheaper than self-publishing (as long as I'm careful).
My book has gotten really positive feedback from my test audience (multiple beta readers, two critique partners, two proofreaders, a librarian, and two of my reading lab classes). With a good cover and good promo, I think it could be a great start to my career. I just need to know if I'm making the right choice to avoid spending my own money on it. I can hopefully set up book signings, readings, Q&As etc. that don't require much investment on my part. Is that plus social media enough?