What Do Authors Want? Their Books to Be Published, Somehow!

 

Posing with my poetry book, Touched by Fire. I was thrilled when it was published!

This year has not been a good one for me author-wise so far. Not only did I receive the news that two publishers were shutting down, but books I was hoping to get out earlier in the year did not get released.

 

But like every good author, I’ve been picking myself up by my bootstraps and pressing onward.

 

The first thing I did was make a list of which one of my books was going out of print, and which publisher they were from. Up until then, I was able to keep this list in my head because there were only two books by two different publishers that were out of print. But recently, that number shot up to the double digits, so I had to write everything down.

 

Then I studied this list. After some thought, I selected which of my books would be self-published and which ones I would submit to a publisher who is willing to republish a previously published book. (I know of a few.) And I have been working on making that happen.

 

I have been posting about my ongoing quest to get my books back into print on social media. While I’ve been working on finding the right method to do so – such as getting books reformatted and either getting new or fixing up old covers for them – I have seen posts on social media from other authors way ahead of me in the game running into some problems. And it has really gotten me worried about running into those problems, too! Which is why I reached out to them to start a conversation on what sort of problems they were having and what’s being done to resolve these problems.

 

And while all of that has been going on, it has got me thinking about all of the things that we authors have done and are doing to get our books back into print.

 

See, when you’re a writer trying to get a book published, having a publisher accept your manuscript for publication is the best thing ever. Some of us are willing to sign with ANY publisher; a Big Five press, a small press, an independent publisher, or a hybrid publisher. Heck, even going through a POD service is not out of the picture – nor is self-publishing our books.

 

Whatever it takes to get a book published, that’s what we authors willing to make such concessions are willing to do!

 

Because then, our book will be published!

 

I know of one author who works with a publisher who doesn’t exactly do business as a publisher by the books, but he STILL publishes this author’s books and gets them out there. When I asked the author if he was okay with the way this publisher was doing business, he said he was just happy that his books are being published.

 

For many writers, that’s what they’re after. That’s the golden egg: Publication. And for many, they’re willing to get published no matter what it takes (well, outside of sacrificing their firstborn, of course).

 

Of course, some of us can only do so much to get our books published. There are many of us not willing or able to part with hundreds or thousands of dollars to get our books published. (Sadly, many authors are, and realize too late that they have been scammed.)

 

The reality is that there are many independent publishers out there willing to publish an author’s book without charging them an arm or a leg, but the author who is usually taken for a ride by a scammer is either not aware of them or they don’t do enough research into the many publishers that are out there. This isn’t to say that all of them are really gullible – scammers can be really good at what they do to get cold hard cash from a newbie author – but taking the time to really do some research on publishers is worth it if an author does not want to be scammed.

 

While I understand that many authors really want to get their book published, it’s not worth it if you get scammed. Do your research. I know that getting published is important, but getting scammed by a so-called “publisher” will really sour the experience of getting your book published if you’re out thousands of dollars in the process. (I recommend consulting Writer Beware and subscribing to WritersWeekly. The Horror Zine also maintains a list of reputable publishers.)

 

Aside from this unfortunate pitfall in an author’s quest to get published, today’s technological advances means there are unlimited possibilities for an author to get their books published. Even getting a book published as an audiobook is an option. Books can also be published as installments on sites such as Substack or even through blog posts. Podcasts may also be helpful for the author trying to find a way to get their book published. There are just so many choices available.

 

On the other hand, getting a book published digitally is not the same as having an actual book you can hold in your hands. Many authors prefer this, so they do what they can to make that happen. I strongly recommend that such authors proceed with caution and do their research to find a reputable publisher for this if they do not wish to self-publish their books.

 

Most authors are willing to snap up the best method of publication that works for them, even if some people feel it is not the right one. But as long as their book is published, or back in print, the author will be happy that they have accomplished that goal. And for such authors, that’s all that really matters.