Hello,

So, over the holidays I finished my 1st book.

Do any of yall writer types know where I can find:

1. an editor
2. publisher

It's like 99% done, just need to know what to do next.

Also, it's cross genre, so it doesn't necessarily fit the standard model.

You've given nowhere near enough information to get a final answer, but I can suggest next steps for you. (For background, I've worked as an author, co-author, editor, and ghostwriter on 9 books so far.)

Publishing is a business deal. You need to figure out what business services you need.

Do you even need a publisher? Do you need a distributor? You already mention needing an editor. Do you need marketing? Do you need retail agreements? Digital or physical? If physical, POD or offset, how many each of hard or soft, what size of print run can you afford? What business services do you need? Publishers have an awful lot of potential features of what they can provide and what those services cost.

Once you know the list of services you actually need, your favorite bookstore will have books that have listings of all the major publishers and hundreds of minor publishers, along with the services they provide and the specialties they work with. Work through the listings methodically, and talk to them all until you've got a deal. You'll also want to start shopping around for a lawyer at that point, both because they have connections and because they'll be working with the contracts you'll be signing.

Once you know what you need and have talked with your lawyer the first few times, you will be ready to start shopping around. It's far better if you have more money and are using the publisher as a paid service. That is, you pay them for the services they provide up front. It will cost you many thousand dollars but you'll require far fewer sales to reach profitability. It can be better to do an online plus POD service starting out if you're self funded. If they need to front any of the money there will be two phases to the deal, one phase before it's profitable and another after a threshold is reached and it's profitable. The exact terms will depend on your needs and the services they'll be providing. Before you sign with anyone, you'll need to work back and forth more than once with your lawyer to help you negotiate what's fair in the agreement. Good lawyers understand the costs of the various services and can help you get fair rates.

Just like publishing games, the more you need from them the harder your pitch becomes. If you need a lot of services the more it will cost you. If you're looking for them to invest in you, front you money, and pay for the books, don't expect a lot of money from the deal, and in addition your pitch needs to be amazing and you'll be rejected many times. If you've got the money to self-publish and are only looking for retail agreements that's rather easy.

hmmm

Well Self publish might work too.

I'm looking for:

1. an editor
2. publishing distribution for ebook
3. No hard cover or physical book planned at this time
4. making cover art.
5. Future Audio book production.

I think that's it.

I'd be willing to do physical print if needed, but I don't really want to pay for that at this time.

frob said:
You've given nowhere near enough information to get a final answer

The issue is I don't know what questions or criteria I should be asking or looking for.

Have you considered publishing with Packt?

https://www.packtpub.com/

GeneralJist said:
2. publishing distribution for ebook
3. No hard cover or physical book planned at this time

For distribution of an ebook there are plenty of options. Amazon is the biggest with kindle direct publishing requiring little more than an html file and an image for the title. If you are comfortable with software tools you can use that same document to build/compile every other format out there. You're on the hook for everything else with the business if you go that route, but it can work well if you are marketing through your own channels.

There are many ebook publishers out there targeting specific platforms and specific readers or specific genres. I mentioned publisher lists, they also include electronic-only publishers. Understand the tools they use against piracy are also helpful since otherwise anybody with access to the file can make unlimited copies.

Be careful of contracts, you almost certainly want something that has a non-exclusive agreement since you've done all the work yourself already. If a publisher wants an exclusive deal they need to be putting quite a lot on the negotiating table.

GeneralJist said:
4. making cover art.

Find an artist with the style you like and contact them. Often it's in the range of a couple hundred bucks, especially for ‘unknown’ artists when they're starting with something that wouldn't have seen the light of day otherwise. Artist friends are best, and asking around at local art schools is inexpensive.

GeneralJist said:
5. Future Audio book production.

If you don't need it now, it's something easily done later.

GeneralJist said:
1. an editor

This one is the most difficult. Skilled editors are amazing. If you go with a publishing house they'll provide professional editors, at professional rates.

taby said:

Have you considered publishing with Packt?

https://www.packtpub.com/

hmmm 1st time hearing of them.

Looks like they are more of an educational option?

My book is a mix of mental health journey auto bio, and Sci Fi elements.

It's not really a standard “how to” for game dev.

so I just heard back from my 1st publisher submission.

https://triggerhub.org/​

And they essentially say they be willing to look at it deeper, and have extensive edits to focus on the mental health angle. but they would want me to cut a lot. From what they are hinting at, It sounds like they want to cut a lot of the Game dev and gaming journey, as they are a publisher focused on mental health.

So, now I need to decide what to do.

I sent them back an email saying I'm open to continued dialogue.

Without knowing exactly what they want to cut, and edit, I don't know how to proceed.

Also, would it be better to hold out, and find a publisher that is willing to accept most of the game dev journey, as I'm looking for a continued publisher to work with, aka accept most of the book as is.

Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks yall.

GeneralJist said:
Any advice would be helpful.

Look into your own mind and heart.

hmmm

ok,

So I've submitted to a few other places.

We shall see.

I submitted to this place called author House, and they got back to me really quick, but it looks like they want me to pay a couple thousand for a package:

https://www.authorhouse.com/en/catalog/black-and-white-packages​

I personally find that a bit frustrating.

I mean, really, I wrote the book, I thought traditional publishers get paid from a % of sales?

@frob

What do you think?

Is the above package a good deal?

I was also a little put off, as it seems the person who called me didn't even read anything about my book, and asked me “so what's your book about?"

beyond the above, how does this usually work?

Edit:

so, after a bit of basic research, it seems the above organization is a bit scamy.

The hunt continues.

You're unlikely to get a publisher deal, where the publisher pays you an advance and distributes your book to retail outlets.

You'll have to self-publish, meaning you have to bear all the costs for printing, and nobody will distribute it for you. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanity_press​