Many authors share a dream. Acquire an agent, get a contract with one of the Big Five publishers (Simon & Schuster, Penguin Random House, Hachette, HarperCollins, and Macmillan) with a big advance, have a successful book tour, and end up on the bestseller list. Although this can happen, for most authors it doesn’t. The good news is that even though this exact scenario is rare, it doesn’t mean having a published book is out of reach. There are many options available and one of those is signing with a small publisher.
WHAT IS A SMALL PUBLISHER?
A small publisher, also called an independent publisher or small press, is defined as a publishing company that publishes fewer than 10 books a year and/or makes less than $50 million annually (as a comparison, Penguin Random House brings in over $3 billion each year).
A “true” small press is still a traditional publisher in the sense that the publisher assumes all the costs involved with the process (cover, editing, formatting, etc.). Then the publisher distributes the book, provides marketing support and pays out royalties to authors. Some small houses pay an advance, some don’t. An advance is a payment given to authors before the book is released and it goes against any future royalties. So, if you get a $5,000 advance, that means you don’t start receiving royalty payments until you “earn out” the initial $5,000. If you never reach the level of the advance, you don’t have to pay it back.
WHY A SMALL PUBLISHER?
Many authors
