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Originally Posted by fjtorres
In other words, the BPHs will only be interested in proven writers. The ones who won't need the BPHs anyway.
Wheee! Sounds like fun!  |
Yeah, I know. It sounds stupid, doesn't it? But that's the way a lot of companies are these days. Nobody is willing to take risks anymore. Everyone's in uber defensive mode. Mostly because the risk takers get fired for being risk takers, leaving the slow and cautious types who wonder why their methods don't work in the long run.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnemicOak
I think the big pubs will eventually start their own e-only or e-first publisher, like what Harlequin did with Carina Press. If an author is successful for them their and is 'proven' then they'll potentially move them up the ladder.
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Oh, so it would be like the minor leagues for authors. You do good, they put you in there. You do good there, then they move you up to the big house. It's an interesting concept. I can't say it wouldn't work, but I would most certainly be interested in seeing how it would actually play out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward
This is what an engineer would call "a self defeating critera". Stop and look at this from an author's situation. If I'm self publishing and are getting 20,000+ sales a year, I ought to be getting at least a couple bucks a book. That's $40,000 a year.
At 50,000+ a year, that's $100,000 a year. At that point, why do I need a BPH? And any more sales just make it worse. Why would an author making that many sales even think about the low rates of a BPH? Advances? You already have the cash flow...
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Agreed. I mentioned this above that the companies are all going to the uber cautious approach with nobody wanting to take any risks anymore. And as for the advantages of signing with a BPH these days? Well, thanks to the internet and cheaper legal and PR services, the advantages of being published through them has shrunk tremendously. So who is it still advantageous to? Well, people who don't have, or won't risk, the starting capital needed to self publish, POD, or PTP. BPH's pay everything for you up front. They risk the capital, and all you do is provide the manuscript and agree to their draconian contracts. They also have the size, clout, PR and legal muscle to get you into places you can't get any other way.
With SP, POD, and PTP, you not only risk your own capital, but you also have to do all the legal stuff (unless you get a book lawyer), and PR stuff (unless you hire a PR firm familiar with book marketing) yourself. And if you choose to outsource it to a book lawyer, or literary PR firm, then that's more money out of your pocket. But as stated before, the potential returns more than make up for that.
