Small and reputable presses

Woollybear

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Hiya,

I'm approaching the end of my agent querying, and (as I've said from the start) I'm happy to self publish. The process overall is spurring lots of learning, better writing, and so on, so I am happy with the path I have chosen.

I have a cover artist lined up--he's my top choice, and scheduled for October. Very happy.

So, I have about six months between now and then, and am thinking of submitting to some small presses that don't require an agent. A few such presses threw likes my way during pitch parties, and others simply look like a decent fit. Someone on here had said not to query agents and publishers at the same time, that's why I have not subbed to publishers before now (with a few exceptions).

MY QUESTION:

So. I have about ten publishers (presses?) identified. They range from small to medium (and of course Tor takes unagented submissions but I dunno, that sounds like a very long wait to me.) Anyway, ten (about) publishers and my question is: Is it OK to drop the submission on all ten at the same time?

Yes? I think yes. Yes?

one fell swoop, one and done.

yes?

(I'll still be happy to self-publish, and I still expect to. :) The autonomy of SP is appealing to me, but the promotional aspect is daunting to me. ... That's why, in case you're wondering.)
 
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screenscope

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Yes, it's fine to submit to multiple targets at the same time. It's recommended, IMO, or you will die of old age waiting for replies.

I did the same thing after exhausting my agent options for my first novel, or rather after getting fed up with agent rejections, and was signed by a small UK SF/speculative publisher after direct queries to lots of publishers.
 

Marissa D

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Yes, you absolutely can query them at the same time. But (and it's an important but) don't expect much at all in the way of promotion from them. Most just don't have the resources, human or otherwise. Promotion is gonna mostly be on you, pretty much no matter what. Where they might have an edge over self-publishing is whether they have distribution to bookstores (and not just through IngramSpark, but through IPG or through one of the big publishers) and whether their editing is of good quality. Those are the two important points for me, anyway.
 

LJD

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Yes, you absolutely can query them at the same time. But (and it's an important but) don't expect much at all in the way of promotion from them.

Yeah, this. You can submit to them all at once, but... My experience has been that small presses (I've worked with four) didn't do much in the way of promotion. Only one of those four really did anything at all, and my sales were still quite poor. I changed pen names and switched to self-publishing, and have done much better sales-wise on my own. So if promotion is the main reason your are thinking of submitting to small presses...you may end up being disappointed.
 

mrsmig

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Echoing Marissa D. Small presses just can't afford to do the kind of marketing and promotion that the Big 5 do, and depend on social media for much of it - because social media is free. Depending on their personnel and work load, much of that social media effort may comprise sharing/re-Tweeting material from your own platforms. So whether you end up going with a small/medium press or self-publishing your book, be ready to participate in the promotional efforts.

Just FYI - many small publishers will answer the question "can you get my book into brick-and-mortar stores?" by saying "all our books are available through Ingram." However, just because a publisher has their books available through Ingram, that's no guarantee that your books will end up in bookstores. It just means that your book will be listed in the Ingram catalog, along with literally millions of other books. Publishers need a dedicated marketing team to get their books into brick-and-mortar stores. In addition, many small publishers print their books via POD (Print On Demand) rather than offset printing, and offer no incentives to bookstores to carry the books; e.g. no discounts, no ability to return unsold books for refunds. That said, the majority of small publishers will have your books available for purchase through online vendors like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and iBooks.

I'm sure you've checked out all your target publishers in the Bewares, Recommendations & Background Checks subforum - right?
 

Woollybear

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Yep, I'm checking to make sure they're reputable. I think my list started at about thirty and is around ten now. (I've secretly enjoyed being on the other end of rejection, too, /evil laugh)

So, let's say an agent were to offer me rep and in the end that agent got a deal with one of these presses (as is the case with some authors on twitter)--all else being equal, is that a better situation to be in than to have the press accept the same work unagented?

I hope that question makes sense. I think I am asking from the house point of view, is there a difference between a piece of work being agented or not (its the same piece of work in this scenario).

- - - Updated - - -

Oh also, are there any additional details I need to be thinking about for the query letter?
 
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Woollybear

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I changed pen names and switched to self-publishing, and have done much better sales-wise on my own.

Why change the pen name? I've always puzzled over this too. And, I've wondered if a person can call the first book under a new name a debut?
 

lizmonster

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So, let's say an agent were to offer me rep and in the end that agent got a deal with one of these presses (as is the case with some authors on twitter)--all else being equal, is that a better situation to be in than to have the press accept the same work unagented?

From your perspective, you will almost certainly get a better deal with a good agent. (Note the modifier there.)

As far as the house is concerned...I can't say for certain, but a good agent (once again, important modifier!) will have contacts and relationships, and would, I imagine, be more likely to get you read in a reasonable timeframe.
 

LJD

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Why change the pen name? I've always puzzled over this too. And, I've wondered if a person can call the first book under a new name a debut?

In my case, partly for clear branding. I've only published contemporary romance, but had a very set idea of what I wanted to self-publish. I also wanted to have a Chinese surname for my new pen name, as I was focusing on writing rom-coms with Chinese-Canadian characters.

I set up a new author website, but used the same social media accounts, just changed the handle. I never said I was a debut when I self-published my first book, and the link between my pen names is no secret, but I do no promo for the first one anymore.

Plus, I just wanted a new start because I'd had so many (well, one in particular) bad publishing experiences by that point with the first name.
 

Undercover

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There are mid-size publishers you can submit to that are reputable, but it's a limited list. My last two publishers, I got book deals without an agent. I got pretty much everything I wanted at the time and was really pleased with the results. They did a lot to promote my books. But it's extremely hard without an agent, even harder. You have to fight through the slush piles.

This is what I look for in a reputable publisher I want to work with:
Must distribute into actual bookstores. There's a way you can check this with B&N. They have a link where you can check the availability in stores. And if you see them "in stock"? Then great. That means that particular store has them. If it's not in stock like anywhere? That's an indication that they don't even put them in bookstores. I know this to be very accurate because I've checked several times.

Also, are they in libraries? You can check this too by going to Goodreads and the book in question. There's sometimes a "library" link there you can click on. And yes, I've checked this also and this is accurate too.

Do they pay advances? This would mean they are financially investing in you. If they pay advances, this is a good sign.

For me, I always like the publisher to be on Netgalley. This is how you can get reviews and both books (for me) did really well. Also, do they do pro reviews? You can check this on Amazon and see what comes up. Kirkus, The School Library Journal, Publisher's Weekly...etc. Places like that are another good sign.

These are just some of the things I look for in a publisher, and if they don't have it, I don't submit. I have no interest because I've been with small publishers that don't do anything and it's never a good outcome for me, so I steer clear of those places.
 

cool pop

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Good luck on your self-publishing journey! If you haven't, join as many self-publishing forums and groups (on Facebook, etc) so you can get as much info and knowledge as you can. It will make everything easier.

As for your plan, I am confused as to why you'd want to submit to small presses now that you've decided to self-publish. I understand you have some time before your release but you might be better off writing other things so you can get stuff out there. The catalog and back list is an important tool in self-publishing so you want to have as much work out as you can so you can build loyal readership. Instead of waiting for October, you could start on new work (if you haven't yet) and then when you publish in October you will have other work already done that you can get out there.

If you only will have one book out it's going to be hard to gain traction and even promotion won't help much with one book. Readers will want to funnel to other books so you wanna have get to building that catalog. I'd concentrate on that because I can't see why you would want to submit to small presses at this point. As others said, there is nothing they can do for you. Most do not have the money or resources to get you decent sales, you most likely will not make much money at all, and you won't get promotion beyond maybe a tweet or FB post if that, and then you might end up not being paid, etc. Also, your books might be extremely high making it hard for you to compete.

If you are self-publishing, then give yourself the best shot. I would work on building my indie business if you intend to self-publish long term. Put your energy into that if that's what you want to do.

Good luck again!