| With the introduction of online bookselling, the | | | | huge CEO and executive salaries, corporate |
| competition to get your book published is even | | | | inefficiencies, and a need to show profits, means |
| greater - or is it? Not too many years ago the | | | | that they can only pay you - the author, the one |
| only way to get your book published was to send | | | | that did all the real work - a few cents for each |
| a manuscript to a large publishing house and hope | | | | copy of YOUR book that they sell. |
| they liked it enough to publish and distribute it. | | | | There is an alternative, Print on Demand, POD. |
| Even then, there was no guarantee of success | | | | Several POD printing firms have sprung up in the |
| because the publishing houses did little or nothing | | | | last decade, making it easier for an author to get |
| to promote a book unless it was written by a well | | | | their work published. With the Internet online |
| known author or likely to garner some impressive | | | | bookselling marketplaces growing as they have, it |
| sales. Whether it might have been in the best | | | | is even possible to market your own book |
| interest of the publishing house to promote a | | | | alongside those published by the biggest publishing |
| book did not seem to matter, advertising dollars | | | | houses out there. Other than a marketplace |
| were only pumped into those works most likely | | | | commission of about 15% on the sale of your |
| to return multifold returns for the publishing house. | | | | book and the price of printing, you do not have |
| Another drawback to having a large publishing | | | | to give anyone a penny to publish your book. On |
| house publish your book that is still true today is | | | | top of that, you do not give up any of your |
| the distribution of revenues from sales of YOUR | | | | rights to your own work. |
| work. If you are "lucky" enough to have a major | | | | It no longer makes much sense to beg a big |
| publisher "accept" your work and publish it, you | | | | publishing house to publish your book. Of the |
| are on your way to receiving pennies on the dollar | | | | hundreds of thousands of books they publish each |
| for each copy they sell. Did you ever wonder | | | | year, few make the authors rich anyway. Why |
| why you are given such a small percentage of | | | | not take the entire matter on yourself. You will |
| the sales revenues - maybe as little as 2 percent? | | | | need to do most of the marketing yourself |
| Well, it boils down to corporate profits and | | | | anyway, and setting up a website to promote |
| shareholder dividends. Almost all of the large | | | | your book, writing some articles to draw attention |
| publishing houses are publicly held stocks, and like | | | | to it, and mailing it to customers that buy it will |
| any other stock, shareholders expect double-digit | | | | secure the profits for you instead of some |
| growth on their investments. That, combined with | | | | corporation. |