As an author, you have several options when your manuscript is completed and ready for publishing. First and most commonly known, of course, is to query to an agent or directly to one of the Big Four publishing houses. This can be a difficult process as these agents literally receive thousand of queries and can be very discerning when choosing whom to contact or request a full manuscript from.
Another option is to query among the many independent presses available. There are myriad indies out there these days; more pop up each day, it seems, and are willing to take a chance on new books and authors that fit their particular genre.
Third is self-publishing your book. Many writers have found success via this route, as long as you're willing to spend the money on a good editor and a quality cover artist. This will ensure you have a good product hitting the market, standing out among the competition in your genre. Finally, market your book appropriately to garner attention.
So why do I title my post with the words "author beware"? Because of a lesson I've learned about a particular kind of independent press. There are so many really wonderful, exceptional independent presses I've had the pleasure of working with this last year, who will accept your work and market it well.
I read an article recently by a good friend of mine that I wish I'd read last year. It literally warns against the type of independent press I've had a terrible experience with myself. She's an editor of some repute, and her warning is about independent presses that will use your book to launch their own press so they can publish their owner's or family member's books.
This is what happened to me. When I submitted my manuscript, I was offered a contract within a week. I was so excited I was in tears. I had a publishing date set within six months; the press spent the summer posting reviews of my book. Little did I know most of those reviews were coming from the over 100 ARCs (Advance Reader Copies they give away for free to get reviews). They saturated the potential market of buyers. Most of the people who posted those reviews never posted them on sites where they would impact other readers, like Amazon or Goodreads.
The publisher's owner released their own husband's book in February of that year, along with the book of a friend.
Immediately after my book came out (within a month) another book was released. The author of that book had contacted me with concerns about accepting the publisher's offer because it came so fast. I told her I had had good treatment so far because the owner had been very nice to me up to that point, and had already even offered me a contract for a trilogy, which I thought was odd, since they didn't even know how the first book was going to do.
She accepted their offer. Her book has been doing exceptionally well, and has even been put on several award lists; I am ecstatic for her.
The problem? Once the publisher had numerous authors sending them contracts based on the reviews they posted of my book, they stopped promoting it. Once the new author was successful, they never posted another review or marketing post of my book since. The audiobook of my second book was supposed to be recorded in the fall after my first book was released, but that never happened.
In January, they contacted me to tell me they had decided not to publish the second and third books except on ebook. They claimed not to have any knowledge of the contracts for the fourth and fifth books they had offered me, one for an origin story related to the trilogy and one for an untitled work. No audiobooks would be completed for the trilogy, nor any hardcovers or paperbacks. To this date they have still not promoted my first book in any way.
Why? I can only assume for the very reason my friend warned about. This new independent press picked up my book, promoted it all summer to show how diverse and inclusive they are, attracted a lot of new authors, and are now closed to submissions until 2025 due to all the contracts they've signed.
They've also contacted every author they have contracts with for 2022 and informed them they are not completing any audiobooks for any of their books either although they did complete one for their owner's husband's book which was published in February.
It's heinous and a complete betrayal that a publisher would treat an author this way after promising such a lucrative future and care and support. The lies I was told have caused irreparable damage.
It had helped immensely that I have found so many other great presses and had positive experiences with them. I've been so impressed with how wonderful indepedent presses can be.
Just-do your homework. Are they too eager to accept your work? Have they contracted the work of every writer who sent them a manuscript? Are their works well edited? (My publisher's one anthology is not edited at all.) Submit a short story. Most good indies who accept your stories will send them back with edits.
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