Hey there. Welcome to Nothing but the Words. I’m your author coach Candice L Davis.
When I coach my clients to write their books, we tend to spend many hours talking to each other over several months.
During that time, I tend to get close to my clients. I become invested in their success, and of course, I become invested in the success of their books.
So when one of my coaching clients recently told me he had a really bad experience with a publishing services company, I was really concerned.
Typically, I refer my clients to publishing services providers I trust. But this client had already connected with a provider before he and I started working together.
The bottom line was that he didn’t get the services he wanted and he signed a contract that included some elements he didn’t understand at the time and didn’t want after he understood them.
In this episode, I’m going to share with you some of the best practices of good self-publishing companies and some of the red flags from self-publishing companies I would steer you away from.
Before I dive into those things, I do want to say this. I don’t think the company my client worked with is fraudulent at all. Nothing I’m saying here is meant to imply the company scammed my client in any way. My best guess is that the owner created a business model that took a bit from traditional publishing, but that just doesn’t work for me. Here’s why.
The traditional publishing process is completely different. This is a compressed version of that process, but here’s what it looks like.
Depending on the type of book you’re writing you submit your manuscript or a book proposal to a literary agent.
Typically, unless you have some relationships or connections, you can submit to many agents over many months before you find someone who wants to rep your book—if you find someone.
Then the agent shops your book to publishers like Harper Collins and Penguin and small presses. Most of the books you see in a bookstore have been published by a traditional publishing company.
If the stars align, and you get and accept an offer, the publisher pays you an advance for your book.
Your agent takes a commission. But when you publish with a traditional publisher, you don’t come out of pocket for any of the publishing process.
At the same time, you aren’t paid any royalties from your book until you make enough book sales to pay back or earn out your advance. In other words, if you get a $20,000 advance, you won’t get any more royalties until you must earn $20,000 in royalties, to pay back the advance, before you earn any more money.
You do not pay out of pocket for your book cover design or your interior layout design or your book editing.
So why doesn’t everybody publish with a traditional publisher?
Only a small percentage of authors get picked up by a traditional publisher. It’s also a process that takes much longer than self-publishing. There are lots of other differences, but I want to jump into what this episode is really about.
Self-publishing with Publishing Services Companies.
A publishing services company provides services in exchange for a fee. They will design your cover, create your layout design, help you register your book, and even provide editing services. But it all costs money. You pay for those services. A full self-publishing package, without copy editing or proofreading, typically runs from $900 to $3000, depending on how customized you want those services to be.
A good publishing services company will provide the services you need in a timely and professional manner. Those services typically include book cover design, interior layout design and help with registering your ISBN, copyright, and the like.
A Good Publishing Services Company should not expect any royalties on the back end.
A good publishing services company should ensure you own the copyright and ISBN for your book.
A good publishing services company should provide you with the files for your cover and your book interior so you can upload them to any printing company or bookseller you choose.
A good publishing services company will not handle your money. Instead, the company will give you some instruction or help to create your own accounts with Amazon and other printing companies and booksellers. That way, you connect your bank account for payment. You can access all the records for your sales, and you always have transparency about how your book is selling.
Red Flags to Watch out for with Self-Publishing Services Companies
If the company calls itself a publisher but expects you to pay a fee, you need to investigate more deeply. If they expect to be the publisher of record for your book, you’d better be getting something valuable in exchange.
If the company is registering your ISBN in its name, this is a red flag. This is a number that identifies your book and the publisher
If the company will own the copyright for your book, please run in the other direction.
If the company wants royalties on the back end, after you pay for their services upfront, I recommend you look elsewhere
If the company wants to publish your book on Amazon and with other booksellers, then, once again, you should be getting something in exchange for that. I recommend that you publish under your own imprint or company name.
Let me be clear. There are definitely some scam artists out there, ready to take your money. But most of the self-publishing companies whose practices I disagree with aren’t fraudulent. They’re upfront about what the agreement is. It just isn’t an agreement I would want one of my clients to sign.
That’s all for this week. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d really appreciate a positive review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcast. Reviews go a long way to helping new listeners find the show. And they mean a lot to me.
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Thanks for listening to “Nothing but the Words,” I’m your author coach Candice L Davis, and I’ll see you next time.