What is the best way to choose a publishing company? What criteria should an author use to determine what may be one of the most important decisions in his or her writing career? To be sure, searching for a publisher can seem a daunting task for the novice, un-published author. One phrase I hear probably more often than any other, is, “I am new at this; I know virtually nothing about it.”
After years in the publishing business, hearing this or similar statements from hundreds of writers and authors, I know what they are really saying. What they mean is, Can I trust you?”
In most cases, the publishing company’s website is the author’s first introduction and source of information. “How is THIS company different from other publishers?” and, “What will this company DO for me?” are some top-of-mind questions that guide the author’s exploration of the publisher’s website. But when an author visits a publisher’s website, what can they really learn?
They often find a list of the various functions required of any legitimate publishing company: Obtaining and assigning of an ISBN and bar code, copyright and Library of Congress filings, book design, and a distribution option of one kind or another. Then, depending upon the publisher’s depth of experience, in-house capabilities, and affiliations, they may offer other things, like enhanced distribution, editing, marketing, advertising, public relations, additional media platforms (like audio books), and other services, to varying degrees.
Many publishing companies are fond of packaging or bundling these various services, as in “Gold, Silver, and Bronze” options, each having progressively more services included at a cost that is relatively less than if you purchased each service separately. This is a bit like automobile sales, where you have a base price, then a plethora of options, each designed to make your car a… well… a “better” car.
There is nothing wrong with this of course, so long as you understand that this is a well-known marketing and sales technique called “upselling,” whereby the buyer decides to spend “just a little more money,” to get what they perceive to be something of added value, at relatively little additional cost. The salesman says, “The car comes with tires, but you can protect your family by having safer tires for just $100 more per tire (including the spare) so that will be only $500 more.”
By adding more, or better, features; a bigger engine with more horsepower; an enhanced warranty; upgraded sound system; retractable moonroof; clearcoat paint protection and undercarriage rust inhibitor; the car that was $20,000 is $26,500 when you drive it off the lot. Again, there is nothing wrong or dishonest about this, but it begs the question: What what your original intention when you decided you needed to buy a car? For most us, having a car means having the ability to go from point A to point B, safely, whenever we want to.
What is my point here? It is this: We really buy cars, and other things, based more upon how we feel about something, than we do because it is the most logical or rational choice. People tend to make emotional decisions, then they justify those decisions with logic and reason.
I won’t get into a philosophical discussion here about the difference between “needs” and “wants,” but suffice it say, most people believe there is a difference, although the line between the two varies greatly from person to person. Warren Buffet or Bill Gates may “need” a private jet, whereas some folks aren’t at the level where they need to be across the globe for an important appointment 12 hours from now. And while everyone agrees we need food to survive, it is our “wants” that are served by vendors like Safeway, when they devote an entire frozen food isle to offering 497+ varieties of frozen pizza to hungry shoppers. We need food, but we like pizza, so we buy pizzas with the toppings that make us happy, while preferring large and extra-large sized ones because they are a “better value” cost-wise. This is the classic blend of emotional decision making backed-up with a dash of logical justification.
Car salespeople and grocery store managers know all about this stuff, and so do publishers. Do you need to have your book published? Maybe it’s a need, maybe it’s a want. Do you need the “Gold” package with every available option? Perhaps.
The bottom line is, if you are an author, I will bet that very few publishers will ever even raise this point or have a discussion about this with you. Sadly, many will “sell” you an all-inclusive “Marketing and PR campaign,” for many thousands of dollars, all the while knowing that you may well be wasting your money.
At ALIVE Book Publishing, our first step is to listen to our authors, then have a frank discussion about what may or may not be the best, or most appropriate services to include in our publishing process. The appropriate course of action for a well-know celebrity, high-level executive, or a previously published successful author, is different from what we recommend for most first-time, unknown authors. So while you are welcome to buy a comprehensive marketing, PR, and advertising campaign from us, we will be honest with you and explain both the pros and the cons of doing so, based upon your unique situation.
We understand that you are excited about having your book published, but we want to enjoy the process and stay excited. In fact, our business model isn’t designed around publishing just one book for our authors; we are in the business of building long-term relationships with authors who want us to publish and sell multiple books for them, for years to come. So, being upfront and honest about the process is the foundation of everything we do.
I would suggest that the best way to choose a publisher is to find out the answer to that very first question–the one that you really want, and need an answer to: Can you trust this publisher?
Give us a call at 925-837-7303, and let’s have that frank conversation. It’s the logical thing to do!
