When writers talk about the publishing journey, conversation about publishing options often focuses on two possible routes: querying literary agents versus self publishing, often called Indie publishing. People debate the merits of landing an agent who can sub to the Big 5 publishers as opposed to working without an agent or publisher. Thanks to readily available Print on Demand technology, many authors now choose to self publish, and many have done very well.
What often gets left out of the conversation is a third option: publishing with a small press. For some reason, people seem to forget that small presses even exist! But there are many, many publishers outside of the Big 5, and working with one can be a viable option for writers who prefer not to self publish.
As a writer, I’ve had both good and bad experiences with small presses. In this series of posts, I’ll be discussing some pros and cons of working with a small press, including questions you ought to be asking before you sign the contract. Today, I’ll start with the reasons why people choose this option.
Why Publish with a Small Press?
- No agent necessary!
Unlike most of the Big 5 Publishers, small presses usually accept submissions directly from authors. Having an agent is still to a writer’s advantage, because an agent can help negotiate better terms in a contract. But an agent is not necessary to the degree it is if you want to be picked up by a Big 5 press. In my experience, it’s easier to land a small press contract than to sign with an agent.
There are many potential pitfalls to working without an agent. For now, I’ll just note that if you do receive a publishing contract while unagented, you can hire a lawyer with knowledge of the publishing industry to look over the contract, or submit the contract to the Author’s Guild for legal review. This may help with negotiations.
- Niche Books Welcome!
Sometimes small presses are able to take a chance on books that might be too niche for the trad market, whether in terms of genre, word count, or other factors. There are small presses that specialize in genres such as horror, fantasy, or romance. Some of them do very well, producing bestsellers in their chosen genre. For example, niche sub-genres like Regency fantasy may do well as indie books or small press books, even if Big 5 editors aren’t interested.
This flexibility is due in part to the fact that many small presses use Print on Demand (POD) technology rather than offset printing. In traditional publishing, a publishing house uses off-set printing to print a run of books—say, 5,000 books. That means sinking a lot of money not just into desigining the book, but also printing it! If the book doesn’t sell as well as expected, the publisher loses money. The extra copies may be sold at a discount or destroyed.
A small publisher that uses POD printing still has to sink money into editing, proofing, cover design, etc. However, there’s no “run” of books that must be published at the publisher’s expense, so the publisher doesn’t need to invest as much money into each title. There are downsides to POD, but the upside is that a lower investment sometimes means the publisher can afford to take more risks. If a book doesn’t sell well, there’s less money to be lost, and no unsold copies to worry about.
My experience: When I finished writing the work that eventually became Secrets at Selwyn Castle, I didn’t query agents with it at all. Why? Because, at 43,000 words long*, it was not really long enough for most publishers. It fell in between the length of a novella (less than 40k words) and the standard length of a full novel (70-80k and up). But I already knew of some small presses that DO publish shorter romance fiction, so I shopped Selwyn Castle directly to small presses rather than querying an agent.
* In case you’re curious, the final version of Selwyn Castle is longer, but still falls under 50K.
- Faster Time To Press!
Writers joke that the motto of the publishing industry is “hurry up and wait.” This applies to many stages of the process, from querying to subbing to waiting for the book to release. If you follow writers on social media, you’ve probably noticed that there’s often a gap of two or even more years between when a book is sold to a publisher and when it is released to the public.
Small presses often (not always) have a shorter time to press than do larger ones. Some of this has to do with not using offset printing; some of it has to do with the smaller scale of the company. For example, I signed a contract for my Beau Monde Secrets series in August 2023, and the first book will release in August 2024. The time from contract to release will be only a little over a year! That’s slower than the speed of many self publishers, but faster than working with a Big 5 press.
If the book you want to publish is particularly timely for some reason, the faster time to press may be an important factor. I suspect for many of us, though, it only impacts our impatience! Personally, I wouldn’t make time to press a determining factor in choosing how to publish; I just view the fast turnaround as a bonus. - You’re Not Footing the Bill!
The three points above are really about the ways small presses differ from trad publishing. However, writers sometimes ask “Why work with a small press when you could just publish the book yourself?” That’s a good question, and definitely something you should ask yourself, because many writers do quite well with self-publishing. The profits in self publishing may be higher, because you aren’t limited to just a small royalty.
However, if you self publish, you essentially ARE the publisher. You are responsible for finding (and paying for) editors, proofreaders, cover designers, book designers, and book promotion. You’re the one footing the bill for everything. This means that writers with a higher disposible income have an advantage, because they may be able to afford better editors, cover designers, etc.
Some indie writers argue that you can self publish without spending any money. They know more about it than I do, so I won’t contradict them, but I would urge caution. Yes, you can design your own book cover in Canva, but it will only be as good as your design skills! If you have good design skills and/or are willing to sink time into learning, this can be a good option. But if not, you may end up with a bad cover. Unfortunately, readers often DO judge books by the cover, so a poor cover may fewer people give the book a chance.
The same is true of editing, proofing, and marketing. If you have the skills, or have friends who are willing to trade skills with you, you may be able to produce a high quality book without spending any money. But not everyone has the necessary skills or connections. Moreover, there’s a lot of truth to the saying “You don’t know what you don’t know.” For example, if grammar and punctuation aren’t your strong suit, you may not realize how much you need an editor and proofreader who can make sure you’re using commas correctly. Some readers care a good deal about sentence-level writing, so poor editing and proofing may mean losing readers.
An advantage of publishing with a small press rather than doing it yourself is that a reputable small press handles the cost of cover design, editing, proofreading, formatting, etc. A good small press will also market the book at their expense, though marketing efforts vary a good deal from one press to another. You shouldn’t have to sink thousands of dollars into a book if you’re working with a small press. In fact, presses that charge money for these services are considered vanity presses or hybrid presses. While some writers report good experiences working with hybrid presses, most people I know recommend against working with one.
My experience: I could never have created a cover like the ones Dar Albert created for the Beau Monde Secrets series (see example below)! I could have hired a talented cover designer, but it would have cost a good deal of money to buy covers for all four books in the series. Since I’m working with a small press, I don’t have to foot that bill. - You’re Not On Your Own!
My final point is related to the one above. When you work with an experienced small press, you’re working with people who know the industry. They know (or should know) more than you do about editing, formatting, and marketing a book. Some writers don’t mind learning all the different roles involved in publishing, but others of us would prefer to focus on writing as much as possible. All writers have to promote their work, but there’s a difference between being entirely on your own for marketing as opposed to having a partner to help you promote your book.
My experience: One of the things I like best about working with a small press rather than self publishing is that I have partners helping me make my book better and helping me get the published work out to readers. For example, the conflict/tension in Selwyn Castle is stronger, thanks to my editor. I personally struggle with marketing, but getting a marketing plan with clear steps outlined makes the task a little less daunting.
That said, this is an area where a lot of caution is needed, because not all small presses are alike. Some of them make much better partners than others. In my next post, I’ll talk more about potential problems working with small presses, drawing both from my own experience and what I’ve heard from other writers.
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