Reputable trade and independent publishers don’t advertise for authors in newspapers and writing magazines. Publishers are inundated with submissions. They don’t need to look for authors!
Reputable trade and independent publishers don’t ask the author for money, ever, for any part of the publishing or marketing process. However, don’t always expect an advance (or a large one) on royalties from a small or niche publisher. The industry might not like to admit it, but the size of advances is reducing quickly and some small publishers cannot afford anything more than a few hundred dollars in an advance.
Trade and independent publishers sell books [mostly!] – not only author services.
The Independent Publishing Magazine helps you to find out How To Avoid The Vanity Publishing Trap – don’t miss to read it! .
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Thank you so much for this information. Here I thought places like Random House and their imprints were reliable places. I guess I need to rethink this. I can’t tell you how much this information has opened my eyes and prevented me from making some big mistakes.
Here is my question though. If you can’t afford to pay an advance to the writer, when you deal in BOOKS, then what the heck are you doing running a publishing company in the first place? The writer is the only reason you exist. If you can’t afford to pay your primary supplier, then you should open some other kind of business. The cover artist gets paid. The editor gets paid. None of these people would even have jobs if the writer hadn’t written the book. So sorry, I’m not buying that crap about how publishers “can’t afford” to pay the writer for the product that allows them to exist in the first place. Please.
Agree with you: if they can’t “afford” to pay the author, they shouldn’t open a publishing company. But I suspect it is not about being able, it’s about being greedy and taking advantage of unsuspecting authors who want to see their books in stores and the image to be a “published” author.
Well Done! Totally awesome information!