[Steven Lake]

Hey all, I've been thinking about this. Lots of people here, and in other places on the internet argue incessantly about why either Big House (baen, random house, etc) or small house (tiny presses with only a few hundred authors) is the better way to go. However, the reasons always seem inconsistent, so I figure that it wouldn't hurt to discuss the reasons, and maybe make a list of pros and cons, and sorta hash that out. So I'll start out with my core list, and you guys can add, subtract, or append to it with your own thoughts.

Big House Pros:
* A large publishing house behind you with lots of clout.
* Marketing. They've got the connections to get you well known.
* Lots of money to help you become famous and well known.
* Publisher name recognition. If you're with a big name house it immediately gives you an extra boost of credibility. IE, you'll sell more books, not because you're good, but simply because you're published with a name recognized publisher.
* Gets into the distribution stream quickly, and quantities are almost always guaranteed, except when demand exceeds printing capacity.

Big House Cons:
* Very difficult to get into.
* You're treated like cattle. IE, you're just a number.
* If your first book doesn't fly, good luck ever getting another one published by them.
* Just because they have the money doesn't mean they'll spend it on you. So you may get published by them, but you might find that you're on your own after that.
* They tell YOU what you'll do with your book. IE, you lose creative control of it once it's accepted by them and may be butchered as a result. Only the *really* high sales authors get around this issue, as they are able to dictate their own contracts.
* They go for the "mass market", and as a result may push your book in the wrong markets, thus hurting sales.
* Just because you're a signed author and they've got the resources doesn't mean they'll market you. In some cases they'll print your book and then leave you to fend for yourself, ultimately reserving their marketing power to the bigger authors.
* They tend to be very out of touch with their customers, causing customer kickbacks that can hurt you as an author.

Small House Pros:
* Very personal treatment. They quite often give you very hands on treatment.
* The book you give them, minus basic editing, is the book that is published. They may suggest changes, but they won't force them on you.
* Easier to get into in some cases, even though they're still selective.
* More niche and genre focused, which means that if you're accepted, you have a better chance of your book selling better than it would through a big house.
* More willing to work with you on prices for various things, like author purchased books (IE, copies you buy for selling yourself at events)
* You're more likely to get signings and other events, even if they are smaller than what the big houses might be able to arrange or offer.
* They'll always market you, even if it's on a much smaller scale than the big houses can offer.
* They want you to succeed.
* They are very pro-customer/reader which is highly beneficial to you as an author, as well as your current and future customers.

Small House Cons:
* Limited marketing, or small marketing budget.
* Lack of market clout in comparison to the big houses.
* Smaller print runs, which may result in your book price being higher, which may hurt sales.

Draws (Ie, neither really wins):
* Success rates. Just because you get picked up doesn't mean you'll be an instant best seller.
* General author and story quality. Some books they publish will be gems, some will be turds.

Ok, that's all I can come up with, so what about you guys? Also, this list is drawn from both my own experiences, and the collective experiences of others I have observed and talked to over the years. So not all the items on this list are of my design, just fyi. Anywho, discuss and comment, and then add your own thoughts. I'm thinking that if we can get a good enough list of pros and cons together we might even add this to the wiki. Of course, if an entry for this already exists, maybe we can update it with more current info.