Jerry's Circumlocution

Publishing? Self? Small Press / Indie Publisher?

From My ConNooga Panel

Image Original Location and a Blog About This Topic by Sonyo Zofia

Publishing: (according to Steve Laube Agency takes 2 - 3 years once agented)

- Top 5 (Penguin/Random House; Hachette Book Group, Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan) including their imprints (i.e. Harper Collins has Harlequin, harper, William Morrow) and other powerhouses (Scholastics, oxford Press, Disney Publishing Worldwide)

- Necessity of an agent. Most do not take unagented submissions.

- ACQUIRING AN AGENT: Develop Query Letter, Synopsis, First Pages, Comparables

o Follow their instructions for submission. Send your best. Don’t make common mistakes ( https://authorspublish.com/the-ten-most-common-manuscript-submission-mistakes/ )

- RESOURCES:

o Writer’s Market 100^th Edition: The Most Trusted Guide to Getting Published ($21.12)

o Guide to Literary Agents 30^th Edition: The Most Trusted Guide to Getting published ($25,49)

o Locate conferences to be In front of agents / submit work to them such as https://atlantawritersconference.com/ (May 6-7, 2022). Expect to pay $800-1000.

o Network!! Use your other credentials

Self Publishing: (self-paced. Quality product achieved in under 8 months)

- Learn ALL aspects of publishing OR al a carte services

o Developmental Editing (content editing) – plot, structure, characters, pace, POV, etc

o Line Editing (stylistic editing)

o Copyediting – consistency issues, spacing, format issues, spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.

o Proofreading – final quality control

- Cover Development – free image, Amazon template, paid cover, wrap?

- Format – epub, mobi, pdf - ISBN # or ASIN -- ARC copies? (like NetGallery)

- Publishing Company: Amazon (KDP) digital and/or print, Draft2Digital, Ingram Sparks

- Launch dates, promotions, marketing

- RESOURCES:

o https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/

o https://www.ingramspark.com/

o https://www.draft2digital.com/

o https://www.upwork.com/

o https://reedsy.com/

o WRITER’S GROUP!! à Corner Scriblers, CWG, your market / genre / niche online (i.e. https://www.scbwi.org/ for kids lit), Beta Readers

Independent / Small Press: (times vary from submission to publication)

- Do not approach until have a good draft (recommend finish Developmental and line edit)

- Consider seeking short story published works to build your resume (probably good for all 3)

- Look for presses that do what you have written. Do your homework on what they have published, how those books fare in the market, and how your book fits.

- AVOID VANITY PRESSES!!!! – scams. Never prepay / hybrid pay. Better to self publish

o Always google press with key words like ”scam” or “vanity”

- RESOURCES:

o https://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/

o https://threeravenspublishing.com/

o https://www.jumpmasterpress.com/

o https://nonconformist-mag.com/the-big-big-list-of-indie-publishers-and-small-presses/

o Writer’s Market 100^th Edition: The Most Trusted Guide to Getting Published

o Read Indie books. See who published them. Contact and open a dialogue.

o NETWORK!!

IN ALL THREE MARKETING LARGELY FALLS ON THE AUTHOR

- Make sure you have the right product for your market (word length, cover design, content)