What Writers Need to Know About Publishing and Imprints

 As writers and poets, after writing a poem, a piece, blog article, or book, our goal is to publish. Today there are three main paths to do that: traditional, hybrid, or self-publishing. These are besides submitting short pieces or poems to literary magazines or blogs and usually means seeking to publish novella length or longer manuscripts. Going from manuscript to published is a journey more complex today because of the many options. The term “imprint” is synonymous with publisher. You or a company you form could also be the publisher.

 

Traditional

Traditional book publishing is when a publisher offers the author a contract and, in turn, prints, publishes, and sells your book through booksellers and other retailers. The publisher buys the right to publish your book and pays you royalties from sales, typically 8-10 percent.

If you want to publish a book traditionally, most writers need to find an agent. To find one, you must identify the right category for your writing. If you are or want to be a non-fiction writer, you will need to submit a book proposal with three sample chapters and a synopsis of each chapter. If you are writing fiction, you must have a completed manuscript.

Once these steps are accomplished, you’re ready to write a query letter to send to potential agents whose job it is to ‘sell’ your book to a publisher. There are no guarantees that an agent will take you on. Their domestic fee is usually 15% of your book royalties.

The five biggest publishers in 2021 are Simon and Schuster with 16 imprints, Penquin/Random House with 23 imprints, Hachette Book Group with 16 imprints, Harper Collins with 5 imprints, and Macmillan, a German company, with 7 imprints. These imprints are sub-companies that publish under unique names.

Hybrid Publishers

A hybrid press or hybrid publisher is a publishing house that operates with a different revenue model than traditional publishing while keeping the rest of the practices of publishing the same. The revenue of hybrid publishers comes from both book sales and fees charged for the execution of their publishing services, such as editing, design (the cover also), layout, proofing, production and printing, and marketing. Some of these hybrid publishers offer package deals at different tier levels and costs, usually starting at $500 and going as high as $10,000. Also, the length of the manuscript adds to the cost the longer it is.

Others do it all for 50% of royalties like TCK Publishing with no author fees. Each hybrid, including some vanity presses, have different terms, so you must do your due diligence and compare. A list of 42 others can be found at https://www.tckpublishing.com/list-of-hybrid-publishers/

Self-publishing 

This is the publication of media by its author without the involvement of an established publisher. The term usually refers to written media, such as books and magazines, either as an ebook or as a physical copy using POD (print on demand) technology, which prints each book as ordered. In self-publishing, the author bears all the costs and risks but earns a higher share of the profit per sale, which could be as high as 70% (Amazon KDP) after printing costs are subtracted.

Steps on how to self-publish a book, all done by the author:

1. Write the book
2. Self-edit the book
3. Professionally edit and format the book (hire an editor)
4. Get illustrations (if you’re writing a children’s book)
5. Get a book cover design (you do it or hire)
6. pre-Market the book
7. Publish (print/ebook/audio)
8. Market and promote including Book Launch
9. Keep up with book maintenance
10. Work with a self-publishing company, order copies

 

Some self-publishers or aggregators you should check out are: Amazon/KDP, Digital2Digital, IngramSpark, Bookbaby, Lulu, Blurb, StreetLib, Barnes & Noble Press, PublishDrive, and Diggypod. Some only produce ebooks, like Rakuten Kobo or Smashwords, many produce print copies and ebooks both. They have different terms and prices, and in many cases offer services like hybrid publishers do. Also, they have varying royalty rates and distribution channels. There are over 1,000 to choose from, so again, perform due diligence.

These companies have platforms where you can upload your manuscript and cover, preview it online, hit approve, and your print book or ebook is available within 24-72 hours either for next to nothing in cost or for agreed-upon fees. If choosing to self-publish, it’s best to produce both print and digital ebook versions. Audio is trickier, and recommended.

About publishers and imprints

Firstly, don’t get copyright and publisher mixed up. You as the author are the copyright holder, whether you register your work with the U.S. Copyright Office or not. The publisher is the publisher, with certain rights that you as the copyright holder have ceded to them, such as permission to use your work, a percentage of your royalties on book sales, or where your book will be distributed. Any services the publisher performs are in a contract, especially with traditional publishers. With hybrid and self-publishing, the terms are usually what’s contained in your selected platform as you use their services. Usually, this means you abide by their stated requirements and formats to publish your book and there isn’t a separate contract.

For example, on Amazon KDP I can utilize their Cover Creator software to make a front, back, and spine for my book, or I can upload one I might have created myself or hired a designer to do for me. I like Amazon KDP since they can produce a printed softcover, printed hardcover, and ebook version of my book.

Secondly, whoever assigns the ISBN number to your book is important. Every book and sometimes ebooks, needs its own ISBN. This number is available in the U.S. from Bowker for a fee of $125 for one or $295 for 10. My Company owns a block of ISBN’s and sells them at $60 apiece with the designation, like KDP, “independently published.” The publisher's name assigned to the ISBN is the imprint, or publisher. With many self-publishers like Amazon KDP, you can use their ISBN at no cost. However, as the registrant of the ISBN, they are the imprint unless specifically registered in your name as the author, i.e. independently published. Amazon also uses their own numbers called ASINs.

For example, below is how Amazon KDP treats ISBNs:

ISBN options	Cost	Publishing	Imprint	Publisher field in the Book’s detail page	Requirements
KDP Free ISBN	Free	Only with KDP	Automatically registered as “Independently published” in Bowker	It will show imprint name “Independently published”.	We’ll register your free ISBN, so no further requirements are needed from your end.
Your own ISBN	You cover the cost of the ISBN	You can publish outside of KDP	Register your own imprint with Bowker or local ISBN agency	It will show the imprint name you enter to publish your book.	When entering your book’s details ensure the information you are providing matches with the information you’ve registered in Bowker. You won’t be able to publish your book if there are any mismatches between this information.

 

Regarding the “Publishing” field: This is key. Many authors set up their own businesses just so they can be the publisher or imprint. In the chart above, although Amazon is the largest retailer for books (67% of ebooks), if you use their ISBN you are limited to them. If you have your own imprint or use ABLiA Media LLC, my company, you can publish on KDP and anywhere else you want.

It’s most advantageous, therefore, to have the ISBN under your control.

In a future post, I’ll describe how to set up your own “Publishing” company or imprint. It’s not that difficult nor expensive.

 

What are First Serial Rights?

The first goal of any writer or poet is to write, ideally something original in their voice that captures their readers. You can only capture readers’ minds or hearts if you publish and they can read your words. Luckily, thousands of literary outlets and journals exist to do just that and are eager for good content. When you first submit an original piece or poem and are selected, paid or not, they will require First Serial Rights.

Here’s a typical Term and Condition:

  “We are entitled to first serial and reprint rights. That is, we are allowed to be the first publisher of your work before the rights revert to you, and we are then allowed to republish your work if it is chosen for an award or an anthology. These publication rights extend to all formats (digital and print) and locations, and once your poem is accepted for an anthology, you agree it can be featured in our digital and print issues, which are sold to [publication name or org name] readers.”

By submitting, you are telling them they are the first to use your piece. Second, you are giving them the right to republish that piece. Sometimes it might say “First North American Serial Rights (FNASR)” meaning only pertaining to North America, but increasingly and with online publications and the internet, “world” is more common. In the example above “all formats and locations” means the world.

All writers or poets submitting their work to literary outlets or publications, whether print or digital/online, will have to agree to language similar to this in order to be published if selected. If you don’t agree, withdraw your submission, since it is unlikely the wording will change. This right of the publisher, “first serial and reprint rights” is always implied. It’s your job as the submitter to make sure there are limits when the publisher can issue your work, and for how long he holds the rights to do so. Generally, two years should be the limit. All rights revert to you (as in the example above), at some point, which should be clear.

During this time and afterward, it is not only courteous but accepted practice that if you submit the same piece to another publication; you state where and when it was first printed. This usually is done on the piece itself. Reprints of your work that previously appeared in another publication are “second serial rights.” These rights are nonexclusive, meaning you can submit or sell the piece to many publications at the same time.

In other words, your piece or poem is not “exclusive” to the publication that first printed it. If they ask for that, consider what that means to you and if you agree. Many publications accept reprints, so think of that too.

Other rights to consider are “simultaneous rights” that give you the ability to sell work to publications that don’t have overlapping circulations, and “all rights,” which means you sell all the rights to your work to the buyer, and you never get another nickel for the piece, no matter how many times they publish it.

One thing. You always own the copyright in the piece, and as the author that always remains with you.

One more thing. Don’t plagiarize. 

 Guest Blog

How to Incorporate Feedback Without Destroying Your Story

By Chandra Shekhar, December 6, 2021

Feedback tells us what we are doing right and what we could be doing better. The advice and suggestions we receive from beta readers, fellow authors, and other sources can help us transform our flawed-but-promising story into a publishable piece or even a glittering masterpiece.

   Ideally, the process will be almost painless.

   The reality, however, is quite different, as any author who has ever attended a critique session can attest. You go into the session expecting to receive little criticism and lots of praise, but often it turns out to be the other way around. You find yourself assailed from all sides by brilliant suggestions that have one simple flaw — they will require you to completely gut your story and rewrite it from scratch.

It is a chastening experience. Even the thickest-skinned writers can’t help but feel disheartened at moments like these and fantasize about skinning their colleagues with a blunt knife.

   What’s the solution? How does a writer handle adverse—but well-intentioned—criticism?

   I don’t have an answer for this in the general case, but I have discovered one trick that’s helpful in certain situations when a reader points out what appears to be a serious or even fatal flaw in your text. This trick not only makes it almost painless to fix the flaw, it actually deepens the plot and strengthens the story.

   The trick I’ve found is to fix by incorporating. Let me explain with a couple of examples how that works.

   Example 1: Let’s say you’ve written a play in which the following dialogue appears:

                John: We should leave soon.

                Jane: Leave where?

                John: Where? To the reception at the Chamber of Commerce, or course.

                Jane: Oh.

                John: So will you go and get ready? It’s getting late.

                Jane: Let’s just stay home.

                John (staring at Jane): Are you kidding? Don’t you know how important it is for my job that I show my face at this event?

                Jane: Screw your job.

Someone in your critique group tells you that the dialogue doesn’t ring true, because Jane is not the type who will swear at her husband. The criticism is valid, you feel, and wonder whether you should change the dialogue slightly:

             John (staring at Jane): Are you kidding? Don’t you know how important it is for my job that I show my face at this event?

             Jane: Stop worrying about your job.

This addresses the criticism, but at the expense of losing some punch in the dialogue. Here is a better way to rewrite the dialogue:

                John (staring at Jane): Are you kidding? Don’t you know how important it is for my job that I show my face at this event?

                Jane: Screw your job.

                John (open-mouthed): What’s the matter with you? I’ve never heard you swear before. At least, not at me.

                Jane (beginning to tear up): Sorry, John. I’m not myself today. Ever since I got that letter from Cecilia.

                John: …

See what I did there? I incorporated the criticism into the dialogue, and by doing so, I not only fixed the flaw but also deepened the interaction between John and Jane.

   This is a simplistic example chosen for the purpose of illustration, but the point it makes is broadly valid. Whenever you encounter criticism that rings true but would be painful to address, try to incorporate it into the text itself. This will make your text critique-proof, at least as regards that particular flaw. The process will be relatively painless. And it will add depth to your narrative.

Example 2: This is a paragraph from my first draft of a short story about a serial killer:

      With the remaining officers out on emergency patrol, Fiona and Prince were left to man the precinct office. Prince moved his desk closer to the heating vent while Fiona kept her overcoat on. Both kept glancing at the loudly ticking wall clock, anxiously waiting for midnight.

In the story, the above scene takes place in a US city in August. One reader wondered why Fiona would wear an overcoat in mid-summer. For some reason, I had overlooked this very obvious flaw. Unfortunately, the plot requires the event to happen in August and Fiona to have her overcoat on. How to reconcile these two conflicting requirements?

My first impulse was to relocate this story to the southern hemisphere, where it would be winter in August. Then I realized many other elements in the story would make no sense if I did that.

Then I came up with this simple fix:

                With the remaining officers out on emergency patrol, Fiona and Prince were left to man the precinct office. The weather that summer had been unseasonably cold, and as the sun set and the evening shadows crept over town, the office grew chilly. Prince moved his desk closer to the heating vent while Fiona kept her overcoat on. Both kept glancing at the loudly ticking wall clock, anxiously waiting for midnight.

Adding that single sentence not only addresses the (valid) criticism but also brings in an eerie element that contributes to the feeling of dread that pervades the story.

                Mission accomplished!

 

Chandra Shekhar came to the US from India in 1987 to study Artificial Intelligence. After a decade of work on self-driving vehicles, facial recognition, and video surveillance, he switched to the less lucrative but more benign field of journalism. After studying science communication at the University of California, he worked for several years as a freelance writer for the Los Angeles Times, Cell, Princeton University, and other outlets. He taught for a year at the writing program at Stanford University, which inspired him to write his first novel, Mock My Words, and launched his career in fiction writing. 

   He is currently working on Thirst for Power, a novel about the intertwined lives of an idealistic young man, a scheming politician, a romantic professor of English, and an enigmatic social worker, set against a background of political, social, and climate change.

   Chandra is also a prolific writer of short stories, flash fiction, and humorous verse. An illustrated collection of his shorter works titled Unintended Consequences, Illogical Extremes, and Other Ironies of Life is in progress.

Here are links to his novels: 

Mock My Words and Unlight, both on Kindle