From my own publishing experience and conversation with other first time authors in my network, I realized the publishing houses that charge more than 30k as publishing package cost are worthless. Because they will make your book available in the market and give you 5%-10% royalty. But, what after that? What about sales of the book? Who is responsible for it? No, not the publisher at all.
The AUTHOR has the sole responsibility of selling the books. For instance,
Example of publishing package
Publishing package = INR 50,000
Book Price = INR 200
Royalty = INR 20 per book (maximum)
You will have to sell a minimum of 2500 books, and that too all by yourself.
Before selecting a publisher just think how much time can you wait to earn a decent amount of royalty? If you are ready to wait for a year, then why not wait initially for 6 months (the time taken by top publishers like Penguin random House, Rupa Publications etc to approve/reject your manuscript); in case your manuscript is rejected, I would say choose a publisher that charges the lowest fees for editing and printing.
In a discussion with another first-time author (who spent 40k only for editing, and had to sell about 400 copies with no support from the publisher), I came to know that even Chetan Bhagat sold 500+ copies (all by himself) for his bestselling novel and then gained popularity. If you feel, you will become rich after writing a book, I am sorry to upset you. It is not the way the process works. If you are a celebrity, your book will be a bestseller within the first 6 months. If not, you must toil the hard way. Sorry, but that’s the book publishing business for you.
So, try to keep few things in mind before selecting a publisher:
- Send sample chapters and synopsis to various publishing houses;
- If selected, send them the complete manuscript
- Choose a package, the amount of which is not difficult for you to recover
- Always prepare your buyer’s list before the book is made available in the market
- Post-release promote your book on social media for at least a year aggressively.
Reality bites hard, but it is good to research few publishing companies before finalizing one. Happy writing! Authors have to build a market to at least break even, if not a bestselling novel. So, what do you plan to do?
Another point to remember is that the publisher should have a good market presence. check all these points and then invest your hard-earned money. The book is your baby. be careful of whom you are handing it to.
