Tag: traditional publishing

Kelly Speaks

Houghton Mifflin Declares Bankruptcy

It is becoming more and more clear that the publishing industry is seeing a major shift from traditional publishing to POD publishing. Traditional book publishers are also facing pressure from the online availability of published material, including e-books. Houghton Mifflin declaring bankruptcy is one event that is illustrating this shift.

Houghton Mifflin is a textbook publisher who has been struggling for various reasons. This isn’t a tiny company who is suffering. With a history dating back to 1832, Houghton Mifflin’s products serve 60 million students in 120 countries. They also publish legendary classics such Curious George and Lord of the Rings.

Houghton Mifflin recently declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy to eliminate $3.1 billion in debt. The publisher plans to restructure the company in hopes to again become a profitable business.

Despite the struggles among traditional publishers, non-traditional publishers are thriving and that is great news for self-publishing authors.

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Vice President of Outskirts Press.  In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog at http://kellyschuknecht.com.
Cheri Speaks, Choosing a Publisher

Self Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing

There are many similarities and differences between self publishing and traditional publishing. Before deciding which option is right for you, you need to understand the two types of publishing. Here is some information to get you started.

What Both Offer

The outcome of both types of publishing is the same: your book is published. Therefore, there are some services offered by both traditional publishing companies and self publishing companies. These services include:

  • wholesale distribution
  • automatic online listings with top online sellers
  • marketing support to help you sell your book
  • book orders are filled for you

What is Different

While the outcome is the same, the process is very different. For starters, authors who decide to publish with a traditional company must find an agent or submit query letters directly to publishers. This process can be daunting and discouraging since authors get more rejection letters than acceptance letters. Self-published authors must research companies prior to publishing, but they don’t have to worry about agents and editors determining the value of their book. They determine the value of their book.

Another main difference is the control. You determine the content, layout and price of your book. With this freedom, comes the responsibility to thoroughly review the galley proofs provided by your self publishing company. You will need to review the text and layout of the proofs.

When choosing a self publishing company, be sure to do your research. Find out what services the company offers. Don’t be afraid to ask questions or to talk to other authors to find out their experiences. Be sure to find a company, whether traditional or self publishing, that matches your goals and values.

Cheri Breeding ABOUT CHERI BREEDING: Since 2005 Cheri Breeding has been working as the Director of Production for Outskirts Press. In that time, she has been an instrumental component of every aspect of the Production Department, performing the roles of an Author Representative, Book Designer, Customer Service Representative, Title Production Supervisor, Production Manager and, Director of Production. She brings all that experience and knowledge, along with an unparalleled customer-service focus, to help self-publishing authors reach high-quality book publication more efficiently, professionally, and affordably.
Self-Publishing

Self-publishing and Harlequin Kicking-up Dust

A mass of heated discussion is being shouted around the publishing world in the wake of recent announcements by Harlequin and Thomas Nelson to step in the direction of self-publishing.

Responses have exploded across the industry from the New Yorker to Publisher’s Weekly. Crotchety, curious, and shocked are among the many opinions swirling about, with the resurgence of the term ‘vanity press’ included in the semantical outcry of the literati.

Shocking at best. Inevitable indeed. Masturbatory? Opinions will be opinions. While I cannot fault traditional publishing houses from offering genuine detraction of these decisions – they are business too, after-all. As authors we must be wary of drinking the cool-aide. Not an easy thing to do. Writing is a personal, often intimate endeavor, which propagates a natural to desire for validation – something agents and traditional publishers have a monopoly on.

If writing is an art, publishing is a business. In business, components such as, ingenuity, creativity, evaluating risk, and (gulp), diversification have a proven track record. Those elements should be considered on the micro and macro levels – the success of your own book along with the industry in general.

Agent Richard Curtis provides a rather pragmatic perspective on the subject worth taking a look at on his site E-Reads. What are your thoughts?

– Karl



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Choosing a Publisher

Excellence in Self-Publishing…and Beyond

“I was told not to self-publish…it will kill your writing career before it starts.” This advice was pressed to author Lisa Genova from a literary agent just a short time before she did self-publish her novel on early onset Alzheimer’s, Still Alice. 

Genova did self publish—and flourished. She spent a year successfully selling and promoting her book. Several media spots in her local Boston area helped gain a wider audience and shortly after winning the Bronte prize for excellence in romantic fiction her book was auctioned out to traditional publishers on a six-figure contract.

It’s no secret that self-publishing is gaining steam in the book world in it’s own right, with it’s own advantages. And in the case of Genova and many other authors, self-publishing can be a calling card of sorts, helping get your book noticed all over the industry, and even in those big (often cloistered) traditional houses.

While it is never guaranteed that any particular book will be picked up by a traditional publisher, there are a few key elements in self-publishing that will help your book gain as much attention as possible. And why not enjoy all those advantages of successful self-publishing, regardless. 

  1. Custom Cover Design. You’ve got great content, pertinent and insightful. Truly great words to share. How do readers find those words? A professionally, custom designed book cover.
  2. Cover Scribing. Now your cover has sparked interest. Where to next? The book back cover or webpage synopsis. Writing sales copy is a specific skill. Have a professional copywriter help sharpen those few, important paragraphs.
  3. Editing. Now you’ve got an open book in reader and reviewers hands. What will they find? A published author and professional editor once commented that even after proofing her manuscript for the 50th time she couldn’t manage to catch many apparent problems. An editor herself, she reluctantly opted for another professional editing service—and claimed that decision to be among the most significant in her entire publication.

These 3 key elements are among just a few of the services and options available with the rapidly growing world of full-service self-publishing.

As always, have fun and keep writing!

Sincerely,

Karl Schroeder