WORK:Is Electronic Publishing For You?

If you’ve tried to get your fiction published lately, I may not need to tell you that it’s becoming harder then ever for a new writer to break into a “traditional” publishing house.

Over the past decade or so, publishers have merged and acquired each other, so that although you may see many different imprints on the spines in your local bookstore, in reality they represent just a few giant conglomerates. And like most big businesses, large publishing houses tend to play it safe, giving the public more of what always has sold well in the past--the same big names, the same predictable formulas and stock characters, and the same easily-recognizable genres.

The fiction writer faces a particular challenge, because fewer and fewer publishers seem willing to accept fiction. The Writer’s Market lists hundreds of publishing houses, but look closely and you’ll see that only about a quarter of them deal in fiction. Then, of course, you have to pick out the ones that want your particular genre! You may find that list depressingly short.

An agent can help skew the odds in your favor, but finding a good one isn’t easy. An agent wants to know he can make money by representing your work, and if you’ve never published anything before, he’s taking a gamble. Then there are the unscrupulous ones who’ll take you on for a recurring fee, and make their money that way instead of by selling your work.

One possible way around the situation can be electronic publishing. I recently turned to e-publishing after more than 20 years of frustration.

In the late 1990s, I sent my supernatural thriller, DANCE WITH THE DRAGON, to all the major publishers and agents dealing in horror novels at that time. Even though some complimented me on the writing, they all turned it down--partly because of the prevailing belief that “horror was dead” in the 1990s, and partly because it crossed genres, inserting real vampires into a thriller-type plot. I think it also wasn’t gory enough for the period, when ultra-violent “splatter-punk” had come to dominate the horror market that did exist.

I had decided DD was probably unpublishable, and filed it away, when I heard about a new electronic publisher, Amber Quill Press, that was looking for vampire novels. I put DD into an e-file and sent it to the editors. Two of the top people read it and loved it, and Amber Quill immediately sent me a contract. Suddenly, a book I had given up for “dead” was going to see print--my first novel-length publication!

I still did not know quite what to expect, because I’d never dealt with an e-publisher before. Doing a line edit by e-mail with an editor who lived in Canada was another “first” for me, as was debating ideas for the cover art by e-mail with an editor in the Midwest. But I felt gratified when, about six months later, Amber Quill produced a handsome book that I felt did credit to my story, in both electronic and trade-paperback forms

I traveled to horror conventions and events to sell my book in person, and sent out publicity materials online to spur the electronic sales. Both Amber Quill and I sent the book to reviewers and contest sites on the Internet. DANCE WITH THE DRAGON received many good reviews, as well as the 2004 EPPIE Award for Best Horror Novel from the Electronically Published Internet Connection.

Since that time, I’ve published two other books with AQP, the mystery RIDE A DANCING HORSE and the sci-fi thriller BLACK FLOWERS. At conferences and in my writing groups, I often talk with authors who are more “traditionally” published by both large and small houses, so I feel I can offer advice for the writer trying to decide which route to take.

A new author will receive the most cordial reception from a small publisher, whether electronic or traditional. Both types can operate more economically these days than in the past, because the computer has made it much easier for them to assemble a good-looking trade paperback (slightly larger than a mass-market paperback, and usually sturdier). These publishers produce books either in small print runs (a couple thousand or less), or as print-on-demand (POD), which means the book is created as it’s ordered. This represents a low initial commitment on the publisher’s part and less waste in terms of returned books. Because of this, a small publisher can afford to take on a new author whose subject matter or style may be different from the norm.

Of course, you can always self-publish through a so-called “vanity press,” which may ask you for several hundred dollars up front and charge additional fees for editing or promotion. But the small publishers to which I’m referring don’t charge their authors anything, and they usually pay high royalties on any books sold--25-35 percent, as compared with 6-8 percent for a traditionally-published, mass-market paperback. The down side is that they may pay no “advance” or a minimal one.

There are other drawbacks, too. Without a big publishing house pushing your book, you’ll have a slim chance of seeing it on the shelves at Borders or Barnes & Noble. If you work with a small, traditional publisher that accepts returns, you may be able to persuade the local B&N to support you as a hometown author. If you are POD, you may also be SOL; the big stores want to be able to send back any books that don’t sell, and to whom do you return a book created just for you? The author can offer to buy back the unsold books, but that can become a headache for everyone involved.

With a small publisher, you also won’t see any ads or reviews in Publisher’s Weekly or The New York Times. A small house doesn’t have the budget to do much advertising, or the clout to get serious notice from major reviewers. In fact, you’ll pay for almost all the advertising and publicity yourself, except for what you can do free online. None of those glamorous, international, J.B. Fletcher-type book tours, unless you’re wealthy enough to foot the bill yourself!

Before you start thinking a small publisher isn’t worth the trouble, consider that even a mega-publisher these days does little to promote an unknown author of a new paperback. If the author travels to a conference to sell his book and talk on a panel, a big company might pick up his hotel bill but not his meals or travel expenses, and he’ll still be flying below the radar of Publisher’s Weekly. At least at a small house you’ll get more attention and have more control over the production of your book. Also, with traditional publishing, if your book doesn’t “sell through” its print run in the first few months, it will be considered a flop. It will go out of print, and you may have a hard time getting the publisher to accept a second book. Most POD publishers will keep your book available for as long as they and you agree to do so, and will happily take on your second book and your third, as long as they are equally well-written. It doesn’t really hurt the small or POD publisher financially to keep your book “out there” for a longer period, which may be what it needs to catch on.

In closing, a writer planning to try the electronic route should compare publishers carefully. Here area a few tips:

* Don’t pay a “vanity” publisher unless you’re fully aware of, and satisfied with, what you will and will not get for your money.
* In dealing with a small publisher, be wary of signing a long-term contract (more than two years). It will hamper you from re-selling your book to a larger house if it happens to catch on and attract serious attention.
* With an e-publisher, look for royalties substantially above what you would get from a traditional publishing house, because you’ll need them to make up for the smaller sales.
* Look for a publisher who offers royalties plus a sizable discount, such as 40 percent, on any of your own books that you buy to re-sell.
* Know that your first-year sales will more likely number in the hundreds rather than the thousands. Still, how high they go is really up to you--if you have a terrific book and are willing to work hard, a small publisher can help to make your dream come true!

E.F. Watkins is the author of DANCE WITH THE DRAGON, RIDE A DANCING HORSE, BLACK FLOWERS and the forthcoming PARAGON, all from Amber Quill Press. Please visit her bio page at http://www.amberquill.com/bio_Watkins.html , and her web site at www.efwatkins.com .

Watch for review of DANCE WITH THE DRAGON by Jacqueline Lichtenberg middle of 2005.

Note that one of our Professionals in Residence who reviews Vampire novels here, Margaret Carter, also now publishes with Amber Quill Press and has recently published her first Mass Market Paperback.