For many writers, a dream is to be published by the big six, which include Random House, Simon and Schuster, HarperCollins, Macmillan, The Penguin Group, and Hachette, though recently they have become the big five, since Random House and Penguin merged. They all have multiple imprints and typically pay much bigger advances than you can expect from a smaller publisher.
But is a big publisher the best approach for marketing your book? And will a big publisher actually want to publish your book, if you are not already famous or have a very large following in the social media?
Certainly, it can be great for bragging rights to have a big publisher release your book. But unless the publisher expects it to be a big book with a large promotion budget backing it – which is usually reserved for high profile authors, your book can easily get lost in the many books the big six publish. And as an author you may have to take on much of the promotional burden or expense yourself. Routinely publishers send out review copies, but that may be all they do, except for those books selected for the big book treatment. And even if you do get publicity, that still might not turn your book into a best seller – or result in any better success than with a small publisher.
For example, about ten years ago, Random House published one of my books – Do You Look Like Your Dog? featuring photos of owners who looked like their dogs — through its Broadway imprint as a novelty illustrated book with black and white photos. The publisher’s publicist even got some TV exposure, including two segments on Good Morning America. But even that exposure didn’t save the book from limited sales of about 4000 copies, since it was published as a quick impulse book which anyone could flip through in a few minutes and didn’t have to buy. Thus, even with the biggest of the big publishers behind it, that doesn’t guarantee big sales for a book.
On the other hand, some books can thrive with small and medium sized independent publishers, especially if it’s a niche book with a focused market, such as a self-help book, an inspirational or religious book, or a business book. And often a big publisher will not publish such books from new authors or authors with limited sales in the past, since these publishers only want books with high-profile celebrities and experts.
As for advances, if you do find a big publisher interested in your book, the advances are likely to be higher, since a big publisher has a larger budget. But don’t expect the huge advances paid to the high-profile celebrity authors which can be six or seven figures. Instead, a typical advance for most new or “mid-list” writers is about $5000-20,000, while a smaller publisher will offer less – commonly around $1000-5000. But the royalty rates are commonly around the same for a paperback book (generally 10-15% of net, with the percentage going up with more sales) and about 25-40% for an e-book, though 25% seems to be the common standard. Thus, while the advances may be smaller, if the book does well, you can earn as much being published by a small publisher.
One possible advantage of a smaller or medium sized publisher is that your book may get more attention, simply because the publisher is introducing a smaller number of new books and so is more committed to supporting the sales of each one. Then, too, if yours is a niche book, a publisher with a targeted audience may be well suited to distribute to that market.
Finally, a big consideration is who wants to publish your book. Often, you won’t be able to find a big publisher, if you don’t already have a high-profile platform, a large following, or a history of big sales for previous books. But an independent publisher may be more receptive to publishing your book.
Thus, a good strategy in pitching a book, unless it is a book with limited sales to a limited audience, is to pitch it to both big and smaller independent publishers. Then, first see if a big publisher is interested and what kind of deal they are offering, and if so, weigh your options with any offer from a smaller independent publisher. In either case, the publisher will look to you to do much of the publicity and promotion. Or if a big publisher isn’t interested, you can still work with a small publisher – and though they may be smaller and the advance may be smaller, you can still do quite well – and with some strategic marketing and promotion, you can even sell more books than you would with one of many new books that is introduced by a big publisher but gets lost because the publisher is so big and releasing so many books.
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Gini Graham Scott, PhD, writes frequently about social trends and everyday life. She is the author of over 50 books with major publishers and has published 30 books through her company Changemakers Publishing and Writing. She writes books and proposals for clients and has written and produced over 50 short videos through Changemakers Productions. Her latest books include: TRANSFORMATION: HOW NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, BUSINESS AND SOCIETY ARE CHANGING YOUR LIFE and THE BATTLE AGAINST INTERNET BOOK PIRACY