Thus far in the series, I’ve covered the Four Basic Publishing choices, the NY Big Boys, and Literary Agents. Before we go on to Basic Choice #2: Independent Publisher, let’s recap with a Pro/Con list for the Big Boy publishing avenue.
PROS
- Huge publishing name behind you
- Possible marketing budget & in-house publicist
- Industry connections
- Media connections
- Prestige
- Best shot at NY Times/USA Today Best Seller List
- Likely decent-t0-good bookstore placement
- Wide distribution
- Possible hefty advance
CONS
- Landing an agent and NYBB publisher are about as likely as winning the lottery
- You get a very, very small percentage (2-7%)
- It’s still up to you to market your book, and you see less return per book
- It will take 3-5+ years to see your book in print
- They give your book 90 days to make a splash, then they go on to the next one
- The publishing industry is in a great state of flux at the moment. Things are changing, but the NYBB aren’t changing with them. They’re still working off a century-old business model
- After all the research and querying you may still not get an agent
- After getting an agent, you may still not get a publisher… now you’re 2-3 years into this process, so what’s next?
- It’s, as you can see from the above two, very risky. However, the reward can be great.
Tomorrow we’ll start in on the little guys; i.e. Independent Publishers.
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Can you think of any other pros and/or cons?
Christine Rose 
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