Lore Sjöberg offers some helpful (and pithy) guidance on getting published:
The point is that you, the writer, do not pay the agent. You do not pay the publisher. Not for reading the manuscript, not for offering suggestions and certainly not for printing. The agent gets a portion of the money you've already made. The publisher makes a profit from sales. You do not write checks to these people.
As a writer, you're free to spend as much money as you want for your own purposes, like workshops and hand-stitched dream journals and magic feathers. You might even choose to spend some or all of your advance on publicity, once you have the cash in hand. But if an agent or publisher tells you that you need to shell out in order to make the deal happen, you should listen for telltale chittering and examine the person's spine for the subdermal squirming associated with literary scammers.
Yes.
When it comes to "what-havoc-will-technology-wreak-on-this-industry", the music industry tends to garner all the oxygen. Which is too bad: since the question raises answers just as interesting, I like to think, when applied to book publishing. Simon Chester, back in May, attended a Writers Union discussion which focused on the issue.
The issue that Canadian authors confront is how to adapt their work and their expectations to shifting business models for Canadian book and periodical publishing which are continually under threat by shifting market forces, and the new technologies. ...
The discussion was then wide-ranging, with particular emphasis being placed on the new announcement by Robert Miller, who recently announced that HarperCollins would be moving to an experimental, and highly disruptive business model:
No more authors’ advances, instead, higher royalties and profit participations.
No more returns. Returns are the dirty environmental secret of the book publishing industry. Of all books printed, between 25 and 35 percent are ultimately returned to the publisher, for a full credit and pulped, recycled, or dumped in landfill. HarperCollins believes that it can calibrate demand much more finely, and if shortages develop, rapidly print substituted goods.
No more additional fees for prime product placement in major book stores. Instead, HarperCollins believes that it can generate buzz in other ways.
Aggressive use of the internet for marketing and promotion, and to build collaborative networks of readers and enthusiasts.
Simultaneous publication in electronic downloadable and digital audio formats.
Speaking as someone who has had only the most fleeting of professional interactions with book publishing, it is a wonder just how reticent the industry is to embrace new delivery mechanisms and jettison existing business models - no more so than other industries, surely, but the public attention focused on those other industries has resulted in endless discussions about innovations which could be implemented on publishing - but little of it seems to have been adopted in a comprehensive manner. It will be interesting to see if the HarperCollins approach bears imitation.
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