Quote:
Originally Posted by pwalker8
I go by the listed publisher. I suppose that the difference is that one holds the copyrights while the other doesn't?
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Well, the publisher files for copyright for the author in the trad world, but yes, the author still holds copyright. The differences are really in who does the work. A trad publisher is traditionally responsible for upfront costs that include editing/cover art/some marketing as well as deciding who distributes the book, warehousing in the case of print copies, etc. So in my case I am both publisher and author. Distributors are different--some accept a publisher name and some don't. For example, Smashword shows me as the publisher, but when they distribute to Apple or Kobo and the like, it shows them as the publisher or as the imprint (they are really neither). But on Amazon it allows me to show Bear Mountain Books as the publisher and "sold by" Amazon.
It varies and it often changes too. More often, these days fields are being added to more accurately reflect a publisher name, author name and some sort of distribution designator.