The MeatBeast is getting ready to start looking into publishing some of his stories. I would love some advice as to where to go or how to go about it (first try, long time writer) but I should probably first state a little about the books.
Most of them are Gorey-type childrens books, though tend to be longer in length (around 35 pages average)
They all have illustrations.
They are done in the childrens book format; mostly rhymed and metered, but should probably not be read by children.
I’m also working on longer novels and stories, but am a few months from finishing one. I’m pretty sure I recall there being a few published authors out here, any advice would be wonderful.
I am not an author, but speaking as knowing several people who have attempted, here’s my take…
The most important step if you’re serious about publishing is to hire an agent. Few publishers would consider a book not brought to them by someone’s agent.
If he wants to try something without an agent, the only possibility I think would be to submit works to some of the many literary magazines out there. Though, from what I’ve heard, this can be very tough, and expect quite a bit of rejection to start out.
I don’t have any first-hand knowledge about them, but I do know someone who just got a book published by Publish America, so you might check out their program.
I hope your friend has had a good experience with Publish America, Shayna. I’ve heard some bad stories (and some good) and I’d kind of stay away, just because the reports are uneven.
I’ve self-published a book. It’s non-fiction, which I think is easier to self-publish (and somehow there’s less of a stigma if you self-publish a “how-to” book, which I did). But, a few people who write various types of fiction have self-published and and have done well with it.
If you want to look into self-publishing, do not pay a Print On Demand (POD) publisher (like iUniverse, etc.) to do the publishing for you. There is no need. For the amount of money you’d pay them, you could do it yourself and have complete control and (with luck) more profits. I’m in the process (have been dragging my feet) of getting my book listed on Amazon.com. When you sell on Amazon.com, it’s not obvious that you are self-published. If the book has good production values, it’ll look just as good as any other book on the market.
My book has a lot of illustrations, and they’ve all reproduced very well with some POD publishers I’ve tried out. The book looks really snazzy, I think.
But, really, I think you would be better off trying to get an agent first. I didn’t care about that (I actually relished the idea of producing my own book—it’s something I always wanted to do since I was a kid), but self-publishing isn’t for everyone.
PublishAmerica is definitely NOT the way to go. They’re a vanity press with a little kicker: they pay $1 to their authors to pretend their legit, then overcharge for their books and make their money because they know that the author is going to buy copies to give to his friends or to sell himself. In addition, they don’t send out any review copies unless the author pays for them. Bookstores will not stock their books, since they’re nonreturnable (unlike every other book on the market) and they give the bookstores a much lower percentage of the cover price than any other publisher.
There are several options: one is to find an agent. Literary Marketplace and Fiction Writers Market (available in most libraries) can give you lists; make sure the agent handles children’s books. Then write queries. You can query more than one agent at once, but if one expresses interest, send it to him and no one else until he has made a decision.
You can also look for publishers via the book books mentioned above. See who’s looking for the type of book you’re written an how they want submissions, then send it off, one at a time.
Finally, you can self-publish. This is different from vanity press publishing; you want to find a printer who can print your book (it may be expensive if the illustrations are in color) and get around 1000 copies. Then you go out to book stores and leave them on consignment. Sell via a web page, too, if you can set that up, and spend every spare moment promoting the book. Send copies to your local newspaper to be reviewed. You’ll end up doing better in the long run than if you use a vanity press or POD vanity publisher.
Here’s a link to a writer’s forum that might be helpful in answering some of your questions: Writer’s Forum. The “Whispers and Warnings” section might give you some valuable hints on publishing companies to avoid, and you can post your question about publihsing in the “Freelance Forum.” There are several published book authors who are members of that forum - they’d probably be able to help you.