I had an incredible morning. A great interview (I’m looking for a new teaching job)... and I was even dressed in a pants suit barefoot for it! When I checked my email once I zoomed off, I found one that made me stop breathing for a moment. It was from a publisher, and before I even opened it up, I could see it didn’t include the word “unfortunately” in the first sentence. Fabulous!
Dear Mrs Roslawski,
Thank you for your patience during this process, I understand it can be tedious awaiting responses from publishers regarding your writing. However, we have now completed our evaluations of your middle-grade fiction ‘The Massacre of Greenwood’.
My colleagues and I have been discussing various aspects of your story and have agreed that your novel is well-written with an absorbing narrative that may educate some younger readers, we see potential in the work. We believe that it deserves a chance to reach the general readership and this can be achieved with the marketing capabilities we can provide.
Imagine a huge grin spreading across my face after reading those first two paragraphs. I continued to read...
As I’m sure you know – as it is explained on our website – we receive hundreds of submissions each month, many of which are rejected. When we accept a work, we can offer either a traditional publishing contract or a contribution-based publishing contract. In this instance we would be able to publish your work under the ABCD Publishing House banner and wish to make a contribution-based offer for ‘The Massacre of Greenwood’.
Please consider this offer carefully. This will be a one-off, finite figure. Any future costs, to cover marketing over the lifetime of the book, will be covered by ABCD Publishing.
At this point, my grin was gone.
Don’t get me wrong. There are many different routes to publication these days. In fact, I was researching some options, and came upon this article that tells of 11 different ways to get a book published. It even includes the pros and cons of each path.
Luckily for me, I’d done my homework, so I knew about ABCD Publishing. I knew there was a fee ($5,000, I think) that was the one-time “contribution” for those authors who didn’t wow them enough for a traditional contract. Since $5,000 will buy a lot of chocolatebooks plane tickets, it was thanks, but no thanks.
So it’s not only “buyer beware.” It’s also writer beware. Certainly, there are instances when a vanity press makes sense. There are authors who go the micro-pub path… and it works out fantastically for them. There’s even crowdfunding for books… which has me intrigued.
Just do your homework… Or your grin might turn into a grimace if you leap into something because you’re overeager and say yes to something before you find out exactly what’s being offered.
And now I’m headed to find out a decent DIY way to cut my hair. Desperate times call for desperate measures...
Sioux is a teacher (currently job-hunting), a freelance writer and a nest-supervisor. (These days, while sticking so close to home, I've become obsessed with a robin's nest on our carport. I think the babies are almost ready to leave the nest.) If you'd like to read more of Sioux's writing, check out Sioux's Page,
Read More »
Dear Mrs Roslawski,
Thank you for your patience during this process, I understand it can be tedious awaiting responses from publishers regarding your writing. However, we have now completed our evaluations of your middle-grade fiction ‘The Massacre of Greenwood’.
My colleagues and I have been discussing various aspects of your story and have agreed that your novel is well-written with an absorbing narrative that may educate some younger readers, we see potential in the work. We believe that it deserves a chance to reach the general readership and this can be achieved with the marketing capabilities we can provide.
Imagine a huge grin spreading across my face after reading those first two paragraphs. I continued to read...
 |
| image by Pixabay |
As I’m sure you know – as it is explained on our website – we receive hundreds of submissions each month, many of which are rejected. When we accept a work, we can offer either a traditional publishing contract or a contribution-based publishing contract. In this instance we would be able to publish your work under the ABCD Publishing House banner and wish to make a contribution-based offer for ‘The Massacre of Greenwood’.
Please consider this offer carefully. This will be a one-off, finite figure. Any future costs, to cover marketing over the lifetime of the book, will be covered by ABCD Publishing.
At this point, my grin was gone.
Don’t get me wrong. There are many different routes to publication these days. In fact, I was researching some options, and came upon this article that tells of 11 different ways to get a book published. It even includes the pros and cons of each path.
Luckily for me, I’d done my homework, so I knew about ABCD Publishing. I knew there was a fee ($5,000, I think) that was the one-time “contribution” for those authors who didn’t wow them enough for a traditional contract. Since $5,000 will buy a lot of chocolate
So it’s not only “buyer beware.” It’s also writer beware. Certainly, there are instances when a vanity press makes sense. There are authors who go the micro-pub path… and it works out fantastically for them. There’s even crowdfunding for books… which has me intrigued.
Just do your homework… Or your grin might turn into a grimace if you leap into something because you’re overeager and say yes to something before you find out exactly what’s being offered.
And now I’m headed to find out a decent DIY way to cut my hair. Desperate times call for desperate measures...
Sioux is a teacher (currently job-hunting), a freelance writer and a nest-supervisor. (These days, while sticking so close to home, I've become obsessed with a robin's nest on our carport. I think the babies are almost ready to leave the nest.) If you'd like to read more of Sioux's writing, check out Sioux's Page,
