Lesson 18

Writing Class 101 by Rick Kurtis
 Big Decisions. Lesson 18
 Welcome back to another wonderful day. I hope your week was eventful and nothing plagued your way. Mother’s Day is coming. It’s that time of year when we show a little appreciation for that one person who either gave us birth, or the one that raised us with love. Don’t forget to get them something special, even if it is just a visit with a hug. Now that your book is completed, and ready for print, which do you want to consider?

A traditional publisher, a vanity publisher, an agent, or self-publish? I want to talk about publishing before I talk about finding an agent. They are tied together, and here’s my thoughts after going through four vanity publishers.
I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how to write a query letter. I did my letters in college class, and even paid my editor, who was my professor, and a published author check my query letters before I sent them out to about fifty or so publishers by mail, and a bunch of others by email. Some replied with a no thank you, good luck, not open for new submissions at this time, try later, or no response at all waiting for six months, or we will accept only if you have an agent.
So I went looking into the vanity publishers, where they say they are picky. But they take everyone’s money. I thought $2500 for what I received was fair, but after no sales and no communication after the book was completed, even though I had a two-year contract, I decided to pursue an alternative.
I made up query letters for agents, which all want the letter and submissions differently. Some of them sent back a postcard, or an email just like publishing houses, sorry, and good luck. The only difference was with some is that they will only take you if you are referred to them by an author that they already have. So after buying books with the latest listings, Writers Market Deluxe Edition, which comes out every two years, and Hollywood Screenwriting Directory volume 7, I sent out a lot, or maybe not enough. I gave up, not because of the rejections, but because of the frustration in waiting.
Why do I want a publisher who does it all, the book that is? You still have to market. They get ninety percent and you get ten percent. That is like getting one dollar per sale. If you are lucky enough to get an advance, they tell you to buy your own books from them for book signings. There goes your advance and they profit from you.
An agent is the same way. They take fifteen percent of your ten percent in the US market, and twenty-five percent in the foreign country market. Now you’re down to seventy-five cents per book. That is fine if you sell 1 million books or more, but realistically they say the average author sells 250 books in their first year, and it fizzles down from there. That’s $250 in one year, or $187 if you had an agent. Oh, by the way, if you have an artist who did your drawings, the publishing house will give them five percent of your ten percent. I hear it is a big hassle even if you paid for the drawings upfront.
So, I don’t see what is so great about a traditional publisher that you have to jump through hoops for. One woman was so happy working with her publisher because they gave her such great praise that after nine months she quit her job and moved three states over to be next to her publisher for easier meeting’s and such. One month later, they dropped her book, or should I say shelved it, because Oprah had a celebrity coming in, or a new political book ran across their desk. She had a contract and had to buy her book back, or wait until the end of the contract. She finally settled, and had 1000 books in her garage. After a few years she wrote her second book and did it all on her own. She made sales on both books, and made an honest income. She has since done a YouTube and written three more books published by herself. You go, girl.
Vanity pubs are expensive, and do no marketing like they promise. They post your book twice a year in a catalog for bookstores, and have it up on a few websites. I am at least seen throughout the US, Canada, England, and Germany, I think, or maybe it’s the Netherlands. But these are only on online book websites along with 40 to 50,000 other books. You can pull up the sites and page through thousands of books to try and find your cover. After hours of looking you type in your book in the search and there it is. BUT only you will do that, because you know the name of your book and the author, they don’t.
As far as bookstore catalogs, my books are four books out in a sea of 7 million others, and we all know what we do with catalogs. I also learned that when a bookstore does an order, it is a minimum of fifty books. Not a collection of fifty different books, but fifty of your one book. If it doesn’t have the return policy on the ISBN code, it has been said that they shy away from your book and pick something else.
If you let Amazon give you an ISBN, it is said to be a nonreturnable code. Then again, if you buy your own, I don’t think your books can be returned either. This is just a vanity upgrade that they can do for the author. A sales pitch of sorts to hook you into signing. In four years with four books, none of my books have been picked up by a bookstore whether it has the return policy or not.
So, if you believe in yourself like I do. You will keep writing and keep trying. KDP Amazon will post you in fourteen different countries, I think, but they want you to be exclusive only to them and Kindle. I have heard that it is only a three month contract at a time, but if you use their ISBN number, it still might be a hassle when going to other sites.
I haven’t ventured that far yet, but I will, because with 50 plus books, vanity publishing is out of my price range. I could go on and on and on, but will post next week another rant for a follow-up. Until next time, enjoy your week in all that you do, and
 
Happy Writing from rickkurtisbooks.com
UPDATE: Due to the income aspect I did decide to just go with Amazon, the biggest market in the world. Sure I want to get rich from my books, but I can't even if they are in my desk drawer. I also let them give me a free ISBN for the books in order to save money.  The books are in 12 countries and the Ebooks are posted in some other countries bringing the total to more places. Now instead of trying to fight for book sites and worrying that my books will be pulled, I spend my time on marketing and driving people to Amazon. My college grandson said to me, "Why use other book sites that only a few have ever heard of when everyone has heard of Amazon, and amazon pops up first when ever you google search?" Good thinker, that kid. I have released 14 books so far and when my contract ran out on the Vanity they wanted $$ to renew for another year. I had to resubmit with amazon with a new ISBN because the Vanity had an ISBN with the price that was set to high for no sales. I will save the rest for a new lesson down the road. Go have fun and stay safe.