We’ve had a couple of emails going back and forth from that “helpful literary agent.” She’s very eager to introduce us to her contacts at the two non-traditional publishers she’s mentioned.
I’ve looked into both of the companies. One is a hybrid publisher who requires us to buy 2,500 books from them, which would mean we would have to invest around $15,500 — a price tag that was way over our budget.
Once we hand over all that money, we would have to do all the marketing, promoting, distribution, and selling for this huge inventory. For all of this, we would receive pennies in royalties for those books that are sold through their distribution channels.
The second option this “helpful literary agent” is promoting is a newly formed self-publishing arm of a huge traditional publisher (which dominates the self-help industry that we want to break into). The literary agent tells us that the president of this huge publishing company personally reviews all the manuscripts that goes through the self-publishing division and the strongest titles are brought over and republished through the gigantic traditional publishing arm — which is a huge bonus for first-time authors like us.
This self-publishing arm also offers the same marketing opportunities that the traditional publishing company has created — another good bonus for authors who are not skilled in the art of marketing and distribution of books.
We thought this would be perfect for us. Without this option, our materials would never be reviewed by anyone in one of the large traditional publishers — let alone the PRESIDENT of the company!!! Our thought was that if we couldn’t get pass the bouncer at the front door, maybe we can slip in through this backdoor…
Yeah… This golden carrot that the literary agent is offering us is sooo bright that it’s blinding our senses.
We graciously accepted her kind offer of introduction — but accepted it in a vague and general manner.
This way we had time to decide what our next step should be. Although an extremely important element, getting this book published is only one step in our master plan.
We really need to analyze this option to see if this new path is in line with our overarching goals. We have very limited funds, and we don’t have the luxury of missteps. We want to make sure that we are spending the money in the most effective way possible and in a manner that would propel us down the right path for us.
So, I’ve taken off my dreamer’s hat and have replaced it with an analytical one. I’ve taken off my rose-colored glasses and replaced them with sunglasses that will protect me from the glitter of gold illuminating from this carrot that’s being dangled in front of us.
And the more I look into the proposal, the more I’m convinced that this definitely IS a golden opportunity… for the publishing company, that is.
This self-publishing service is actually being outsourced to another self-publishing conglomerate, and the services are being marked up considerably through this “self-publishing arm” of the huge traditional publishing company.
Also, the promise that the PRESIDENT reads every manuscript that comes through is an… exaggeration… to put it mildly. The busy president of this huge successful publishing company doesn’t read the manuscripts that come through the front door of his main business, why would he waste his time to personally read every manuscript that comes through the backdoor of the self-publishing arm of the company — that is actually outsourced to another conglomerate?
Why is our “helpful literary agent” pushing us in this direction? Why is she advising us to spend money that we don’t have for a promise of a golden carrot that was made of fool’s gold?
This is a good reminder that everyone operates primarily out of self-interest. At some point, another’s self-interest will get in the way of our self-interest.
This is why it’s always good to follow the basic rule… “If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
But I’m a person who always looks for a silver lining, and a good thing has come from all of this.
It’s made Katherine and me seriously consider the self-publishing route…
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