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Margaret I. Carr

Editing, e-publishing and extras

Finding a publisher should be easier now, right? Many paper publishers have websites and, I assume, all electronic publishers do. For print or paper publishers, if you've 'done your homework' by checking the current books in the bookstores that are similar to yours to find out who published them, you can log on and check out the publisher's website for information that is bound to be more current than anything in print.

But what if you can't find anything that is similar to your book or what if you are more interested in e-publishing than paper? Before you start searching, I suggest you make a list of what you want to find. Figure out what is essential and what is desirable but could be waived in order to get something else.

My list of essentials included:

They don't charge for anything. (I'll pay for registering my own copyright, but everything else should be paid for by the publisher.)

They are selective and they edit.
They buy only appropriate rights and have a reasonable time limit after which everything reverts to me.
They pay reasonable royalties and in a reasonable time.

Looking at my list tells me I probably should be looking for an e-publisher. Most paper publishers want more rights than I consider appropriate and take quite a while to pay royalties. True, they usually pay advances but that is on my 'would be nice' list, not my essentials list. Also the time factor is important to me. I don't want to wait a year or two or three to see my book published!

There are a number of lists of URLs for e-publishers that can get you started. My favorite is on Piers Anthony's website. His newsletters onsite also give some interesting information about his involvement with e-publishing. Unfortunately, after looking at the e-publisher he has invested in, I decided it doesn't meet my list of essentials but there are lots more on his list.

I quickly found that I formed strong opinions about whether I was interested in an e-publisher just looking at the website.

If it is loaded with typos, grammatical mistakes, spelling errors, words that are the right size but have a meaning different from that implied by the context or diatribes about greedy print publishers, I lose interest fast! Even if they say that they scrupulously edit all the works they publish, I find myself wondering what they mean by editing. Sure, there's more to editing than spelling, punctuation and grammar but if they can't see those errors on their website how can they see errors, simple or otherwise, in the material they are going to publish? Others look very good but specialize in a category I am not interested in writing. This site would be great for many romance writers. I also looked a little further at some of the Print-on-Demand sites and recently followed a link a friend said looked interesting to this site They don't do ebooks. They do paperbacks and may do hardcover for ones that sell well. The site looks good. There was only one section where I noticed typos and they were obviously typos, not complete carelessness or ignorance. I still found myself feeling rather skeptical about their approach. Only three books available, not available anywhere else, all by the same author and not a genre I have any interest in.

So why even mention it? Simple! Under 'For Authors', the section on Plot, 'Commonly Made Mistakes' is worth a visit. It reminded me strongly of the advice in Jack M. Bickham's 'The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes (And How To Avoid Them)' but is written in more colloquial English. I highly recommend visiting this site and reading the material in their 'For Authors' section. (You will also note the absence of any sample contract or what rights they buy.)

I haven't found the publisher I'm looking for yet, but I have learned a lot in the search and much of it from sites I wouldn't have thought could have anything.

More on e-publishing in the July Mid-Month Bonus.