So, you’ve reached the pot of gold, the light at the end of the tunnel, the grand prize; a publishing contract! One signature and you’re guaranteeing yourself endless riches, several properties in foreign countries, and not to mention you’ve now banished any and all worries you may have about mortgages and bills. Right? Right?
Well, maybe.
The likelihood is that if you’re published, you will most certainly find your work going further than it would do if it were self-released without marketing, as many publishers- ourselves included- have marketing teams at their disposal to promote and market your book to as many people as possible. Publishing with us, for example, you’ll find your work, and achievements pertaining to your work, displayed on various social media channels in front of thousands of followers, and sent over to reviewers for further publicity.
Being published is in itself an achievement. Publishing houses’ mailboxes- both physical and digital- are stacked high every day with manuscript after manuscript, and should you find your work selected for publication, this is certainly a good sign. The road to being a writer is paved with letters leading with “We regret to inform you that your submission has been unsuccessful…” and these things are sometimes enough to make budding, starry-eyed authors-to-be to quit before they achieve any form of success. So, if your manuscript has been poured over by a commissioning editor somewhere and they’ve decided that you are one of the chosen ones, rejoice!
That being said, it is of critical importance that authors understand the vast ocean that is the publishing industry before signing on the dotted line. The truth is, publication alone is not necessarily going to allow you to put down a deposit on a new house, nor is it necessarily going to allow you to quit your day job. There are many, many publishing houses and companies all over the world. Some are multi-national, some are multi-million dollar, some are parents to hundreds of imprints that release several thousand titles a year, some are completely independent, have small teams and release as few as twelve titles a year!
Many factors are at play in the success of a book; continuous marketing, the title of the book, the cover of the book (apologies to the “don’t judge a book…” crowd), reviews (both number of reviews and how positive they are) and the quality of the book!
Basically, seeking out publication to increase the publicity of your work and get it to a wider audience is a great idea, as almost all publishers will implement plenty of marketing to boost your sales. But if a writer approaches a publisher with the idea that- and this is more common than you might think- their book will reach New York Times bestseller status solely from publication alone, they are getting the wrong idea.
We published an article a while ago entitled “Write Because You Love Writing, Not Because You Want to be a Millionaire” , which also prescribes some tough-to-swallow pills about publishing. The title rings true though; write because you want to write and because you love what you write, not because you envision yourself on a breakfast talk show or reclining in the comfort of an expensive mansion.
