A few weeks back I decided to contact a publisher and send my first three chapters and all the required info. My novel is nearly completed (editing and final draft being sorted). I informed them that it wasn't quite finished and hoped I may get some feedback as this is my first venture as an author. I was delighted when they wrote back to me. They have offered to do a short run of my book to see how it goes , if it sells then they will look at pressing more. The publishers specialise in a different genre of books than the one I'm writing so this would be a different path for them. Should I accept the first offer ( they are based near where I live, which would make it handy for meetings) or should I hold fire until other publishers have been approached?
Ps, on a lighter note I would like to share a tale which made me smile. Whilst researching an area which is crucial to my story, I asked the locals ( after sharing ale with them), where would be the best place to bury a body. Five of the people in the establishment came up with exactly the same spot!. Slightly worrying I would say :-)
Dear Jeff
Your words have covered all that is running through my head at the moment and I thank you. The first three chapters I sent in plus synopsis were fully edited, however they haven't requsted the others before making a decision to print. They do want to know the full word count which I'm hoping I will know by three weeks time. I'm wondering if they are just making a decision based on my reputation as a song writer. This would be a strange thing to do as each style is totaly different and I'm not sure if those who have bought my songs will buy the novel. My followers on fb have shown a lot of interest but that does not guarantee sales, unless they buy it out of curiosity . I may email one of their authors and ask him his advice, he's been kind enough to play my music on his radio show and has just released another book with them.
Carolyn, I hope it goes fantastically for you it sounds great.
What bothers me about it is that it sounds too good to be true: you sent them an unfinished manuscript, that still needed editing and final drafting, the publishing house doesn't specialise in your genre, and they're prepared to do a run to see how it goes, and then maybe print more on the basis of that. I'm so hoping it's because they recognise the quality of great writing, and can see a market for it, because if not, it's a very bad business decision by them - they're going to risk the costs of registering for an ISBN, in-house editing, the type-facing, the book cover, the cost of printing, postage, etc etc which mount up, even for a small run. They're taking a gamble, and if it doesn't pay off, they lose money.
That's their risk, and they know that, and there's no risk to you at this point. (Except you'll be giving them the rights to publish your book, and you won't get them back without a fearful melodrama and possibly years of wrangling if it does go wrong.)
Ask them what their marketing strategy will be, how they will promote the book, and what they expect you to do. I was a bit concerned they suggested you sell them at concerts, but hey, if you have followers of your music, they might want to buy a book you've written, and it's all about social networking these days. You should have a facebook page and a twitter account and you will need to spend time self-promoting.
Here's the thing: if they suggest you kick in any money for this limited run, any money at all, run a mile. As fast as you can. I hope I'm wrong, but don't let your dream of being published be dragged into Vanity Publishing, where the company take none of the risks, but just your money...
Sorry I'm sounding caution, and I hope it goes amazingly for you, but keep both eyes open, and I'll write a written apology to your publisher when it all works out! (Having said that, they'll agree with every word I've said if they're kosher, because they will hate the vanity publishers as well, for giving publishing a bad name).
Best of luck!