Posted by jo on April 26, 1999 at 14:07:08:
In Reply to: DON"TWASTE TIME LOOKING FOR PUBLISHER! posted by sumhara on April 07, 1999 at 07:59:22:
...once you have the book in print it is easy to make money.
I think this statement is misleading.
1) Publishing is the easy part. Anyone with a few dollars can publish a book. Selling it is a much more difficult proposition - especially fiction!
2) Distributors and wholesalers that can get your book into bookstores expect between 55 and 65%, sometimes more. Plus you pay the shipping cost to them, and from them when the books are returned.
3) How good are you at collecting unpaid bills? Bookstores and wholesalers, if you manage to get your books into them, are notorious for not paying or paying very late.
3) A good publicist, to get you the media exposure and reviews you will need before those late-paying bookstores and distribution channels will even touch your books will cost you several thousand dollars.
I don't want to turn people off from self-publishing, but neither do I want to say how easy it is to sell out of even 1,000 copies of a title. I know too many people who have a basement full of unsold books and broken dreams.