Get Published - (Guide)
Introduction
The world of publishing has changed and continues to change at pace…
Once upon a time publishing was dominated by traditional publishing houses who reject far more authors than they accept.
The strength of a traditional publisher is the quality of their book products; however, the weaknesses are the authors’ loss of control, tiny profit margins and ridiculously long timescales.
The revolution of self-publishing transformed the established landscape and gave publishing control to authors to determine how, when and where their books will be published. The most significant benefits include author control, shorter timelines and much-improved profit margins. The main weakness is that self-publishing has a reputation for producing poor-quality books; however, when self-publishing is done well, you can’t tell the difference between it and a traditionally published book.
PublishU combines the best of traditional publishing and its professional production with the best of self-publishing, its swift timelines and higher profit margins, and new global distribution models.
#1: Publishers
What are my options for getting my book published, and what are the pros and cons of each?
Option 1: Traditional Publisher
Traditional publishers typically excel at the quality of the book product. The cover has been designed well (although there can be disputes with the author about the cover image). The manuscript has been copy-edited and proofread. The typeset manuscript looks professional. There is the possibility of your book being in bookshops but unless it’s a big selling it won’t be restocked.
There are three main weaknesses to the traditional publishing model:
Firstly, the publishing timescales. Agreeing on a publishing contract takes at least six months, whilst your book proposal works through various commissioning processes and committees. Once a contract is signed, publishers require 14 to 18 months from submission of the manuscript to publication of the book. So, at best, you look around two years from the initial conversation to the published book. In that time, the world could have changed, and frustratingly, what you wrote about could have become outdated.
Secondly, author royalties are low, with the publishers taking a substantial cut. Generally, author royalties are only 10% of the cover price.
Thirdly, physical book distribution will be limited to you and your publisher’s home country and jurisdiction. Your publisher may be part of an international company or collaborate with publishers in other countries; however, these are only considered if your book does very well in your home country first.
To explore securing a traditional publisher, you must find an agent or try a direct approach to publishers; however, they will increasingly only work through agents.
Option 2: Self-Publishers
Self-publishing gives you, as the author, control over your book. You make all the decisions, you can engage friends and acquaintances to help with the production of the book, and you get an author royalty of approximately 35%.
There are two main weaknesses to the self-publishing model:
Firstly, with total control comes total responsibility. You are ultimately responsible for producing your book, and if you haven’t done it before or you don’t do it very often, mistakes happen sometimes, big ones! This is why self-published books have a reputation for being poor quality.
Secondly, you are responsible for marketing. In reality, traditional publishing does very little marketing for your book; it’s all about leveraging your networks and platforms. When it comes to self-publishing, you are utterly responsible for all marketing.
To explore self-publishing, search the term on your Internet browser and trawl through the many options.
Option 3: PublishU
PublishU is a hybrid publisher that combines the best of traditional publishing, self-publishing and new global distribution in one offer for you as the author.
The main disadvantage is you have to take main responsibility for marketing. Remember that the marketing offered by traditional publishers is thin and in self-publishing you hold complete responsibility.
There are six significant benefits to PublishU publishing:
Firstly, world-class design and production of your book are as good as, if not better, than traditional publishing, together with a collaborative approach so you can shape the final book.
Secondly, a 100-day publishing timeline, from submission of your manuscript to global publication and you holding a physical copy of your book, is 100 days.
Thirdly, print-on-demand production means you do not need to invest thousands in creating a stock of your book; it is available anytime. When you order your book, it is immediately printed, shipped and received within 24-48 hours.
Fourthly, your book will be distributed globally from day one; there is no waiting to see how it does in your home country before other people worldwide can buy a copy.
Fifthly, a profit margin of approximately 35% of the cover price. This is approximate because the cost of ink, paper and print varies from country to country, as does shipping, taxes and exchange rates.
Finally, a bi-annual sales report with a month-by-month breakdown of your sales figures across each of your book formats and royalty payments within 30 days.
To explore publishing with PublishU, send a WhatsApp message at 07444 111222 (+447444 111222).
#2: Money
How much will publishing a book cost me and how much will I make from it?
Costs
As explained, traditional publishers have historically paid authors an advance on royalties; however, this is rare for first-time authors, and an increasing number of authors are asked to pay for the first x thousand copies of their book. That cost of x thousand copies is generally in the £3,000 price bracket.
The cost of self-publishing depends on which provider you use; however, typically, these are around £3,000 for production plus stock.
PublishU charges £2,495 to publish a standard 30,000-word book in paperback and Kindle formats. Options are available for longer books, including images and hardback and/or audiobooks.
Royalties
Authors are mainly paid through royalties paid to them by their publishers.
Traditional publishers pay author royalties of approximately 10%; for example, on a £10 book, the author will receive £1.
Self-publishers also pay author royalties of approximately 35%; for example, on a £10, the author will receive £3.50.
PublishU also pays author royalties of approximately 35%; for example, on a £10, the author will receive £3.50.
NB Some self-publishers quote a misleading author royalty percentage. Beware because this is misleading; it is before deducting the cost of the book’s production.
Sales and Royalty Statements & Payments
Traditional publishers and self-publishers give authors a sales and royalty statement yearly, with royalty payments made within 60 days.
PublishU gives authors a sales and royalty statement twice a year, with payment within 30 days. The sales numbers are broken down month-by-month and format-by-format to help you understand what is working within your marketing.
Advance on Royalties
Traditional publishers have historically paid authors an advance on royalties. They would estimate how many books you might sell over an initial period and calculate the royalties those sales would earn. This amount would then be paid to the author at the point of signing a publishing contract before they write the book.
Advances and royalties continue to be paid, but only to big-name authors or to authors the publisher particularly wants to attract. Increasingly, traditional publishers are not offering advance or royalties but asking authors to commit to buying x number of books in advance. This reduces the financial risk for the publisher in taking on a new and unknown author.
Author Copies
Authors can buy copies of their book at a special wholesale price, referred to as author copies. Naturally, these copies also do not attract a royalty payment from the author.
The author is free to sell the books directly to customers and make a higher profit margin or to a third-party seller and make a turn or gift the books to people who might help them promote it, such as media, influencers and collaborators.
Traditional publishers provide author copies at approximately 60% of the cover price; for example, a £10 book can be purchased for £6. Self-publishers and PublishU provide author copies at approximately 35% of the cover price; for example, a £10 book can be bought for £3.50.
Earning
Alongside the receipt of royalties, authors have another significant earning opportunity. Buy author copies and sell them directly to customers. If you speak at an event and sell 100 copies, you will earn an additional £400 (if traditionally published) or £700 (if self-published or PublishU). This is a helpful amount to add to the honorarium or fee you are paid for speaking.
#3: Contracts
What do I need to understand about a publishing contract and what points should I look out for?
Global Rights
One of the critical aspects to understand, discuss and agree on within your publishing contract is ownership of global rights. Traditional publishers want authors to sign their global rights to them. This is problematic if they only publish your book in your home country because it prevents you from publishing elsewhere.
In self-publishing, you can retain global rights and pursue other opportunities as needed.
PublishU publishes your book globally, so you have what you want, need and deserve from day one.
Ownership
Book ownership can be complicated, but at its simplest, the author owns the book’s IP or Intellectual Property, and the publisher owns the book’s format. The copyright page within the opening pages of a book asserts these rights.
Copyright
Copyright is a type of intellectual property that protects original works of authorship, which becomes apparent as soon as an author fixes the work in a tangible form of expression, such as publishing a book.
There are exceptions to copyright law that allow the use of copyrighted works without the copyright owner’s permission. In the UK, this is captured within ‘Fair Dealing’ (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/exceptions-to-copyright), and in the USA, within ‘Fair Use’ (https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/).
Sacred Texts
Sacred texts such as the Bible provide permission to quote. These rules vary from translation to translation and can get complicated. If you are going to quote from the Bible, it is recommended that you choose one translation, stick to it and ensure you follow its copyright rules.
#4: Production
How is my book produced, and who is responsible for what parts?
Every manuscript goes through a production process that transforms it into a book. Different formats have different requirements, so publishers generally start with a paperback edition and build out from there to create other formats. These include hardback, ebooks, such as Kindle and audiobooks, such as Audible.
There are six steps to the production of a book:
Step 1: Submission
A publishing contract will state a date by which the author must submit the final draft of their book manuscript and other information required for the cover in order to begin the production process.
Step 2: Cover Design
A cover is more than a cover. It is an essential marketing asset. Choosing an impactful front cover image, title, and subtitle is necessary, as are the back cover paragraph, endorsements, author photograph and bio.
Step 3: Edit
Different approaches to editing and different languages are used to describe them, which can be very confusing. I like to think of editing as shining and polishing your manuscript ready for publication.
Every publisher has a house style when it comes to writing and will expect authors to follow this in their editing process. PublishU calls this our ‘Writing Style Guide’ and includes instructions on how to write dates, reference other people’s work, and whether to use the Oxford commas. It is essential to follow your publisher’s house style.
In the ‘Writing My Book’ course, I recommend three stages to the editing journey:
Stage 1: Personal Edit
An author undergoes a personal edit after writing a book from beginning to end. PublishU provides the ‘Editing My Book’ pathway to walk authors step-by-step through this process. This includes advice about using AI-driven editing software to take some of the heavy lifting out of it.
Stage 2: Private Edit
Once an author has written and personally edited their book, I recommend that they ask two, or at most three, critical friends to review their manuscript. A critical friend is not someone who always tells you that you are wonderful - those people serve an essential role in our lives, but this is not a time for them. Instead, it would be best to have the people willing to tell you the hard truth. You must brief them correctly; you are asking them to comment on the big-picture view of your book and chapter by chapter. You are not asking them to look at grammar and spelling! Once you have feedback from your two or three critical friends, you can consider their comments and make another editorial sweep of your manuscript.
Stage #3: Professional
When you have a publishing contract and submit your manuscript to your publisher, they will undertake a professional edit. These edits come in many shapes and forms and can often be a painful review process. PublishU provides a copy edit as standard and a premium edit as an option.
Step #4: Proofread
Some publishers complete a proofread after the edit, and others after the typeset. PublishU completes a proofread after the edit to ensure a manuscript is correct and clean before it goes to the next stage.
Step #5: Typeset
Typesetting is basically formatting a manuscript to make it look beautifully laid out on the book’s pages and ready for printing.
Again, every publisher has a house style when it comes to typesetting manuscripts. They will have variations for different genres of books, such as fiction and nonfiction.
Step #6: Signoff for print
Every publisher will require the author to ‘sign off for print,’ that is, agree that the edited, proofread and typeset manuscript and cover are final and ready to be published and made available to the world. This is a critical stage because making changes after this point comes at a cost.
Conclusion
As an author, the transforming world of publishing offers you some exciting opportunities.
I hope this resource has provided you with the information you need to make the best publishing decision for you and your book.
If you have yet to write or complete your book manuscript, I would like to invite you to undertake the PublishU ‘Writing My Book’ course. In this course, I will be your personal book coach, enabling you to write your book in 100 days.
If you have a manuscript and are ready to discuss publishing, let’s look at our manuscript review and publishing services. Please WhatsApp message Matt Bird on 07444 111222 (+447444 111222).
