How to get Your Book Published

HOW TO GET
YOUR BOOK
PUBLISHED
LUCY McCARRAHER | JOE GREGORY
THE PUBLISH PATHWAY™

THE PUBLISH PATHWAY™ 1
WWW.RETHINKPRESS.COM
© Copyright Joe Gregory and Lucy McCarraher
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PURPOSE
UNDERSTAND
BIG PUBLISHERS
LITTLE PUBLISHERS
INDIE PUBLISHING
SCAM “SELF” PUBLISHING
H HYBRID PUBLISHING

The fact is, there is no longer any barrier to getting your book in print and selling via the
same channels as the big publishers – to the chagrin of many traditional publishers and some
of their authors. Just because the barriers are down, though, it doesn’t necessarily mean the
road is easy. The good news is that by the time you’ve finished this report you’ll know exactly
what your publishing options are and how to choose the one that will serve you best.
Many first-time authors who have written a great book, stumble at the point of publication,
with the result that all their hard work simply sits gathering dust.
I’ve got a traditional publishing contract now, but it doesn’t stop
me from self-publishing… There is no need to go down one
avenue and not the other these days, you can do both… It doesn’t
really matter anymore how you go about achieving that as long as
two things happen: you get your book read by as many people as
possible and you get paid for writing it. Nick Spalding

PURPOSE
Why do you want to publish your book? You need to know this in order to choose the right
publishing path for you and your book. Most people who write a business or self-help book
want to publish for one or more of the following reasons:
XX Share your knowledge / expertise / creativity
XX Kudos
XX Authority – thought leadership and competitive advantage
XX Credibility – raise your/your business’ value
XX Leverage – generate leads and use the book as a marketing tool
XX Longevity / Legacy
XX Fame and fortune
What’s your reason for publishing?
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Scam “Self”
Publishing
Indie “DIY”
Publishing
Big or Little
“Traditional”
Publisher
Hybrid
Publishing
CREDIBILITY
CONTROL
HIGHLOW
HIGH
Once you know why you’re publishing a book, you can choose a publishing route that gives
you the best mix of Control (creative, rights, income) and Credibility (reach, profile, esteem).

UNDERSTAND
There are currently three main paths to getting your book published:
XX Traditional / Legacy Publishing
XX (Do it Your) Self Publishing
XX Hybrid/Supported Publishing
Confusion is often caused by some, usually unscrupulous, Supported Publishers calling
themselves “Self” Publishers. This is a misnomer. A Self Publisher (or Indie Publisher) is an
author who has taken the time and trouble to project manage all aspects of the publication
process (often outsourcing key tasks) and has purchased their own ISBNs – effectively
becoming an independent micro-publisher in their own right.
Before we look at each publishing option in detail, it’s worth understanding what’s involved
in the publishing process.
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1. Book production
• Editing,proofing
• Preparation of manuscript
• Designof inner, typeset
• Coverdesign
• Printing
2. Book distribution
• Onlineretailers
• Wholesalerlistings
• Bookshops
• Shipping& Storage
• Specialistmarkets
3. Book marketing
• Positioning
• Author events
• Media
• Socialmedia
• Advertising
4. Book admin
• ISBN
• Reportingsales
• Payingroyalties
• Updates
• Hassle
What Publishers Do...
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Production (Old School)
Offset-Litho Printing (Print-Then-Sell)
XX High potential waste and financial risk
XX Longer set up time and costs
XX Upfront print runs (typically 3,000 copies+ for first time author)
XX Small print runs = expensive per copy
XX Bigger print run = cheaper per copy
Production (Modern)
Print-On-Demand
XX Inkjet Printers/Laser Printers
XX Quick setup
XX No print runs = fixed price per copy
Ebook
XX Formatting for Epub and Mobi
XX Digital delivery costs
XX No ongoing production costs
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Distribution (Old School)
Physical Retailers (eg WHSmith)
XX Requires upfront print run
XX Bookshops demand sale-or-return terms
XX Books returned, destroyed or remaindered after approx 6 weeks to 3 months
XX Wholesalers/Retailers take minimum 55% discount on RRP
XX Order through Wholesalers (Ingram, Bertrams, Gardners) or Direct (WHSmith)
Distribution (Modern)
Online Retailers (eg Amazon/Kindle)
XX Print On Demand – Books Printed and Shipped To Order
XX Amazon (.com, .co.uk, .ca…. ) 35% – 55% discount
XX Amazon Kindle takes 35-70% Discount (Depending on List Price)
XX Other online booksellers – International
XX Listed with Ingram, Bertrams, Gardners
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Traditional Publishers
The ‘traditional’ publishing business model is for the publisher to contract the author to
publish their book. The contract may include the publisher buying the copyright of the
author’s intellectual property for a defined period of time, which may limit the author’s
freedom to use their material for other purposes.
The publisher may – though this is a diminishing practice – pay the author an ‘advance’:
money in advance of publication that will be recouped by the publisher from the author’s
royalties from sales. Many authors never actually earn their advance back – in other words
the only money they ever see is the advance – which, unless they are a famous author or
celebrity, on an hourly rate of payment for their work is probably lower than the minimum
wage. Paying advances which are not recouped are simply a massive financial drain for
traditional publishers, so increasingly only big name authors are receiving them.
A big traditional publisher is likely to pay an author 8% to 10% of net receipts from sales of
their book (after production, printing and distribution costs, and less the discount payable
to wholesalers and retailers); this can be as little as 20p from the sale of an average-priced
book. Smaller publishers, especially those who only use print-on-demand distribution,
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may pay a higher royalty. Bookshaker, which operates as a traditional publisher, pays a
generous 20–30% of net receipts royalty.
The traditional publisher then takes all the financial responsibility for getting the book
published, including usually: editing, proofing, design, inner design, typeset, cover design
and printing. Traditional publishers, as well as publishing through online retailers like
Amazon, will probably produce an ‘up front’ print run (usually from 1,000-3,000 copies –
more if you’re an established author with a sales track record) of the book, and distribute
it through physical bookstores. This, however, is becoming increasingly expensive and is
often only profitable for well-known authors or other best-sellers where publishers can
invest in in-store merchandising (either paying for this directly or offering a huge discount).
The bigger publishers can use their high selling books to subsidise the distribution of
new authors, but smaller traditional publishers may not choose to risk funding print and
distribution costs of a new author’s book.
Distributing a book through online retailers (or for backlist titles) is now often done
through ‘print-on-demand’. This is a different and comparatively new printing process
through which very small print runs (as low as one copy at a time) can be produced at a
reasonable price, as they are ordered by purchasers.
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It is true that the quality of print-on-demand (POD) books is slightly lower than offset litho
(traditional) printed books, but POD technology and costs are improving all the time. POD
allows publishers to avoid risking money on printing books in advance of sales and cuts
down the risk of having unsold stock returned or pulped.
Apartfromthecostofprint,storageandshipping,sellingbooksthroughphysicalbookstores
is often unprofitable for publishers, and therefore authors, because retailers mainly insist
on stocking titles on ‘sale or return’. Any unsold books will not be paid for, and must be
returned to the publisher at their own expense, or simply destroyed. Bookshops may give a
book six weeks to make a decent amount of sales before returning them to the publisher to
make shelf space for more lucrative titles.
If a book doesn’t perform well, a mainstream publisher will abandon the marketing and
distribution to focus on new titles and the author’s book ends up being sold for pennies
(often less than the physical cost to produce it) in remainders stores.
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Let’s look in detail at each type of Traditional Publisher...
BIG PUBLISHERS
Traditional publishers include the big name, international publishers that everyone
has heard of, often known as ‘The Big Five’ (the number keeps decreasing as they keep
amalgamating or buying each other up). Each one owns a range of imprints devoted to
different types of fiction and nonfiction, including self-help, books.
The Big Five Publishers
XX Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown and Company; Center Street; Orbit; Yen Press
XX Harper Collins – HarperCollins; William Morrow; Avon Books; Broadside Books;
Harper Business; HarperAcademic
XX Macmillan – Picador; St. Martin’s Press; Tor/Forge; educational market
XX Penguin-Random House – 250 imprints: Knopf Doubleday; Crown; Dorling
Kindersley
XX Simon and Schuster – Gallery Books, Pocket Books, Scribner, Touchstone
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Big Publishers Overview
XX Submission via agent, often hard copy
XX Weeks/months to respond; months/years to publish
XX Contract buys your copyright/IP
XX Advance? Rarely! Might be all you earn
XX Royalty (typically 8%–10%); also your next book
XX Position book to suit their imprint/list
XX Take financial risk
XX Online and varying physical distribution
XX Marketing department – but still require author platform and promotion
XX Brand and marketing rules/guidelines can sometimes hinder rather than help the
marketing efforts of entrepreneurial authors
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LITTLE PUBLISHERS
There are also a wide range of smaller, independent traditional publishers, often with their
own niche in nonfiction and self-help publishing.
The distinguishing trait of traditional publishers, of any size, is that they don’t charge an
upfront fee, but instead keep a larger share of the royalties and rights.
Little Publishers Overview
XX Don’t require agent submission, usually online
XX May assess, contract and produce more quickly
XX Contract may buy publishing rights rather than copyright
XX Higher royalty up to 20%
XX Mostly Print-On-Demand (POD) means online sales focus, and limited bricks-and-
mortar bookshop distribution
XX Marketing support rather than full-service marketing department
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Pros and Cons of Traditional Publishers
Although landing a big name publishing contract is often the dream for many aspiring
authors, being published with a mainstream traditional publisher is not for everyone.
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AuthorGains AuthorLoses
• Kudos
• “Free”editing, design,
production
• Bookshop distribution
• Some marketing
• Specialist distribution (eg
academic, schools)
• Time
• Rights,ownership
• Control of design, look
• Low cost author copies
• Royalties on sales
• Freedom to sell, market,
promote, leverage

The pros of traditional publishing
XX Kudos – For many authors the cachet of being taken on by a well-known publishing
house is key to their strategy, and with such a publisher’s backing this can translate
into a higher media profile, higher fees and a better shot at fame.
XX Distribution – Your book (at least for a limited time) is more likely to find its way
onto more bookstores’ shelves than other publishing options allow. Although being
on a shelf in a bookshop amongst loads of other books is no guarantee of success
(especially as more and more sales are going online) it is likely you will make more
actual sales (though not necessarily more profit).
XX Marketing – All big, and some small, traditional publishers have in-house marketing
and publicity departments, which are there to support authors. In our experience, the
effectiveness of these departments is questionable, and any self-help book will require
the author to work hard at promotion (of themself and their book) to be a success.
XX Focus – A traditional publisher takes on the project management of getting your book
published, allowing you to concentrate on the main job of writing your next book.
XX Risk – If you’re risk averse or don’t have money to spare, a traditional publishing
contract with a proper publisher means you won’t have to spend any money on the
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production of your book – and if you’re lucky or famous, they may even give you an
advance. (However, given the level of competition for publishing contracts, many
authors choose to pay for a professional edit before submitting their manuscript to
an agent or publisher.)
The cons of traditional publishing
XX Loss of Freedom – When you work for a publisher (because that’s what your
contract will mean), some of your creative freedom and your freedom of speech
will be quelled. They will need to ensure your book fits their brand and they’ll have
their own (often good, though sometimes not) ideas about how the book should
look, what it will be called, what it should be about and how it should be positioned.
Many contracts will also include a clause in the contract saying how long you’ve
got to complete your manuscript. Failing to meet the deadlines imposed by your
publisher can result in you losing your contract and your advance.
XX Loss of Control – What you can do with your book (or even say about your book)
will be limited. You may need to get approval for a marketing or advertising
campaign you’d like to run and your ability to write another book with another
publisher (or even to self-publish) may be subject to certain conditions in your
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contract. You may think you’re only signing over rights to one book but you could
end up signing over your future work too.
XX Loss of Ownership – Many large publishers will stipulate that they own the rights to
your work in other languages, territories and formats. Be careful what you’re signing
and ensure you know your rights. You could end up watching your publisher get
rich while you remain unrewarded.
XX Lack of Marketing – The average mainstream publisher organises distribution, puts
your book in their catalogue and puts out a press release. These days, as an author,
and whichever way you publish your book, marketing and promotion is 100%
your job. Even if you’re a big name celebrity or you have just come off the back of a
best-seller (which you will have had to work hard to promote), your publisher still
won’t be able to do the interviews or your social media for you. You have to be the
spokesperson for your book and that means you’re going to need to hustle.
XX Loss of Profit – As the publisher has taken all the financial risk to get your book
published, you will be paid the ‘mouse’s share’ of the proceeds from your book sales.
If you have used an agent (often the only way to get into a big publisher), you will
have to give 10% to 15% of your income to them. In fact, the publisher will pay your
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agent, who will pay you after they’ve taken their fee. Trying to land a good agent can
be just as difficult as landing a publishing deal. Agents add an additional layer of
time, control and cost to your publication.
XX Loss of Time and Opportunity – Until you start selling books the whole process
is still a ‘cost-money’ exercise; you could spend more money and time chasing a
publishing contract or agent than if you just self-published, and in the gap, who
knows how many opportunities you may have missed.
XX Lack of Speed – Publishing behemoths are full of really talented people, but the
organisations themselves are slow, cumbersome and full of political, financial and
shareholder pressures. This all leads to a long delay between landing a deal and
selling any books. Typically it takes a year from delivering your manuscript (in
addition to the time taken approaching then signing with a traditional publisher)
for your book to be out and selling.
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9 Steps To Land a Traditional Publishing Contract
XX Once you know you have a great book idea, killer title and market of hungry
fanatics then make a list of your goals (PURPOSE).
XX If your goals include fame and kudos, and you’re willing to give away control and
the lion’s share of the profit for this, keep reading (UNDERSTAND).
XX Buy The Writer’s And Artist’s Yearbook (www.writersandartists.co.uk) and shortlist
publishers you’d like to work with. Even if they say they only accept submissions
from agents it’s worth sending a quick email or letter to check. If they really only
consider submissions through agents, try other publishers first.
XX Don’t send unsolicited manuscripts, especially if the publisher explicitly says not to.
They’ll likely destroy it unopened and ignore you in future. Publishers do this to protect
themselves from law suits from snubbed authors who might believe their great idea got
stolen and used. If they never saw it and never read it they’ve got a great defence.
XX Find out what a publisher’s submission guidelines are and follow these to the letter
to present your detailed synopsis, but ignore their rules about not chasing up (as
long as you do it in a friendly and assertive way). Still, you should give them plenty
of time because they really do have to deal with loads of enquiries just like yours.
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XX Ignore the old etiquette of only offering your book to one publisher at a time (and
waiting obediently for them to reject it). Instead choose your top five publishers and
send your synopsis to all of them. If you end up in the fortunate position of having
two or more publishers interested you can play them off against each other.
XX Don’t tell a big traditional publisher that you’ve already written your book. At one
time they used to add value by planning the book with their author; although these
days they rarely have the budget or resources to do so, they still follow the same
process. Smaller traditional publishers are more interested in completed manuscripts.
XX Include in your proposal information about the extent of your ‘author platform’
(website, blog, social media, client base, speaking and other events) and how it will
help you market and sell the book. This is massively important to traditional publishers
(remember they only make money by selling books) and is a clue that, even with their
marketing department, they expect the author to be the key marketer of the book.
XX Have realistic expectations. Forget the days of huge advances and be happy if you get any
advance at all. Expect 7% net in royalties as the norm and don’t expect them to move
from this position unless you’re willing to give something else up. Don’t expect much (if
anything) in the way of marketing support. If they want to pay you a one-off fee but no
ongoing royalties then you won’t get wealthy this way – reconsider your options.
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INDIE PUBLISHING (DO IT YOURSELF)
DIY Self-publishing is an option for authors who are willing and able to take on the hassle
and work involved in publishing their own book.
It appears at first glance like the best financial option: do all the work yourself, so avoid
paying out any money for publication; hang onto all your rights; keep all the royalties from
sales etc. It’s also true that even a complete publishing newbie with awful distribution can
still make more money per sale by self-publishing.
However, if you want to be the author of a book that builds your profile and can help grow
your business, your brand and your reputation, then your book needs to look as professional
as a traditionally published title.
This option is really akin to starting a micro publishing business and the work involved will
definitely take you away from your core business. So, ask yourself, is doing this the most
profitable use of your time and talents?

Indie (DIY) Publishing Overview
XX Print-On-Demand via LightningSource and CreateSpace (recommended)
XX Purchase ISBN (www.isbn.nielsenbook.co.uk) + generate barcode
XX Editing and proofing (professional editor recommended)
XX Typesetting and layout of interior (professional design recommended)
XX Illustrations and Diagrams (professional illustration recommended)
XX Cover Design/Jacket Artwork (professional design recommended)
XX Ebook formatting for Epub and Mobi using Word, Calibre and Sigil Software
(professional conversion recommended)
XX Ebook distribution (Kindle is the “killer app” for sales – in our experience
outperforming all other channels combined by at least 100 to 1)
XX Print distribution – Amazon (via CreateSpace), Other Bookstores (via
LightningSource and Ingram), Direct sales (via back-of-room, own website, bulk
purchase by clients)
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Pros and Cons of Indie (DIY) Publishing
Self-publishing can look like an attractive publishing option financially, but if you are
not technically knowledgeable, prepared to put in a lot of time learning how to, or pay
other freelance individuals to assist you, you will need to think carefully about this option.
Research into indie publishing shows that to sell books and for your book to achieve a basic
level of quality, you must pay for a professional edit and a professional cover design. The
time it will take you to project manage your own publishing process will be considerable,
and individual indie authors’ books have the most limited distribution.
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• Full control
• 100% sales revenue
• Lowest cost author copies
• Timing and Flexibility
• Leverage (with quality)
• No money wasted on
physical distribution
• Kudos
• Upfront costs
• Time:learning curve, project
management, ongoing admin
• Physical distribution
• Some online distribution
• Marketingsupport

The pros of self-publishing
XX Freedom, Control and Ownership – Your book is your own and no publisher can
tell you what they want in it, how it should look and where it should be positioned.
You can do whatever you like with your own material: write it as you want it to
appear, repackage it in different formats, give some away free…
XX Maximum Profit – All the financial risk in getting your book published has been
yours, the work in getting it distributed has been yours, so 100% of your sales
income comes directly to you.
XX Time and Opportunity – You are working to your own timescales: on the one
hand you have no deadlines, unless you set them yourself; on the other, you are not
waiting on other people’s input and schedules. You can take as long or as short a
time as you like to write, get the other aspects of publishing sorted out, and spend as
much or as little time on marketing and promotion.
XX Potential Low Risk – You can spend virtually nothing (though professional editing
and cover design is strongly advised) except your own time on preparing your own
book for self-publishing.
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The cons of self-publishing
XX Lower Kudos – In some areas there is still lower status in a self-published book,
especially if your book appears amateurish in its content or production values.
For instance, it will be hard, if not impossible, to get your book reviewed in the
mainstream media.
XX Distribution – You will not be able to list your books with the wholesalers who
service physical bookstores if you are not a ‘publisher’ with a list of at least 10 books.
Most distributors and retailers want to deal with a company with a large list of titles
that is likely to stay around and fulfil orders. The hassle and increasing cost of doing
business with an individual author means many will either overtly or directly say
they only deal with publishers and not self-published authors.
XX Project Management – Unless you pay someone else to manage the process for you,
every aspect of the publication of your book is down to you. If you want to involve
professionals like editors and designers, you will need to source them, manage
and co-ordinate their input, and also learn the technical side of book production,
publishing, distribution and marketing.
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XX Lack of Marketing – Even more than working with any kind of publisher, as a self-
published author, marketing and promotion is 110% your job. You have to be the
social marketer, PR agent and spokesperson for your book and that means you’re
going to need to spend time hustling.
XX Hidden Costs – It is possible to self-publish an e-book for almost no cost to you,
but to publish a printed book means you have to buy a minimum of 10 ISBN
numbers at the very least. To produce a professional looking e- and print book, you
will really need to pay an editor and cover designer; a typesetter will also make the
‘inner’ of your book look better and more readable than you can; and converting
a professional typeset to various e-book formats might also involve a skilled
professional.
XX Skills Gap – Ignoring the mechanics of self-publishing a book and all the know-
how required from getting ISBNs, choosing print-on-demand or print-then-sell
approaches, billing and accounting for the income, you will also need many, often
disparate skills, such as editing, graphic design, typesetting, proof-reading etc.
Unless you have all these skills, the only way to do a good job is to pay experts. This
increases your outlay and, as you’re ultimately responsible for every aspect of the
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final product means, if you get it wrong you may have to pay again. It’s not unheard
of for self-publishing projects to go way over budget when you take a piece-meal
approach to getting the job done.
XX Post Publication Hassles – Deciding to self-publish essentially means you’re
taking the decision to become a publisher. This business involves additional hassles
including invoicing, chasing payment, sending books for legal deposit (a legal
requirement in the UK), shipping to distributors or customers, publishing-specific
insurance, collating royalty information for tax purposes and much more.
Today, authors are in the idea-making business, not the book
business. In short, this means that publishing a book is less about
sales and much more about creating a brand. The real customers of
books are no longer just readers but now include speaking agents,
CEOs, investors, and startups. Ryan Holiday, author ‘Trust Me, I’m Lying’
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SCAM “SELF” PUBLISHERS
Beforetheadventofprint-on-demandandtheriseofonlinebooksellers,anyonewhowanted
to publish their own book had to do it using so-called vanity publishers. These companies
made a portion of their money by persuading hapless authors, often of autobiographies
and personal memoirs as well as fiction, to pay a premium for big print runs of their book.
They would then have to store, sometimes thousands of, these volumes with no means
of distributing them other than gifts/sales to family and friends or paid advertising.
Unsurprisingly, vanity publishers earned themselves a bad name (literally) and a bad
reputation. Traditionally published authors often looked down on self-published authors
as not having written a good enough book to be accepted by a ‘real’ publisher.
There are some large ‘self-publishing companies’ (a misnomer and contradictory term) that
continue the ethos of the original vanity publishers: make money at all costs, especially
at the author’s cost, any and every which way you can. This can involve providing poor
services at high cost, over-selling and under-performing, selling services and addons for
marketing and promotion and guaranteeing best-seller status.

Some of these ‘self-publishing’ giants, despite their poor reputations, have recently been
bought up by big traditional publishers, apparently in order for the latter to cash in on the
new publishing business model. Authors are told that if their book does well under the ‘self-
publishing’ imprint, they have a chance of being published by the traditional imprint. We
have yet to hear of a high profile transfer of this kind.
In addition to straightforward lack of editorial standards or a genuine willingness to make
the book serve the author, another common trick is the “expert compendium”. This racket
involves you, and many others, being charged a high price to appear in a book (one chapter
only) alongside a well-known “name“ in your industry. These programmes are all about
selling a high-cost “opportunity” and books to the authors featured. They’re absolutely not
designed to raise your profile or make you an income from sales. In addition, because the
books produced in this way often feature your competitors, have no joined up theme and low
editorial standards, the result is a that book damages rather than enhances your reputation.
Authors should always check out ‘self-publishers’ (and any publishers whom they are going
to pay for services) before working with them. Look any candidates up on the “Editors and
Preditors” website, www.pred-ed.com; Google ‘disputes’, ‘complaints’ or ‘problems‘ along
with ‘name of company’ and see what comes up; try to find at least one author who has
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worked with the company, if it hasn’t been recommended to you by one. Make sure you talk
to the main person you will be working with; the person responsible for project-managing
your book. If they can’t or don’t answer any questions to your satisfaction, beware. Similarly,
if they try to upsell you anything you didn’t plan, want, need or budget for, look elsewhere.
Finally, check the contract you are offered by a hybrid publisher with great care. At Rethink
Press our contracts are for the non-exclusive right to publish your work in book form in the
English language for five years. We do not take control of your intellectual property or restrict
your ability to use your own material in other ways. If you wanted to end the contract early
for almost any reason, we would release you from it, believing that an agreement with an
unhappy author or negative relationship is not worth the paper it’s written on. Some authors
who have published with big ‘self-publishing’ companies have found themselves unable to get
released from contracts they thought they had flexibility with.
Look up any potential paid-for publishers on the “Preditors and
Preditors” website (www.pred-ed.com), check “Writer Beware”
(www.accrispin.blogspot.co.uk) and Google for “complaints/
disputes/problems” with the publisher.
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Vanity Publishers (Old School)
The Absolute Worst – No Standards, No Distribution, High Costs
XX They May Cold-Call You or Invite You To A Free Seminar
XX Authors Pay for Services (often poor quality)
XX Often don’t insist on Quality Standards
XX Some don’t even insist on an edit!
XX Authors Pay for Up-front print run (often at a considerable premium)
XX Often using an old school Print-then-Sell production model
XX Authors have to store and distribute their own books
XX No (or limited) distribution
XX No (or ineffective and high cost) marketing support
XX Sometimes appear as Competitions, Compendiums or Celebrity Collaborations
XX Focus is on extracting money – not adding value
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“Preditor” Publishers (New)
No Standards, High Markup, Bold/Outrageous Claims, Slick Sales Process
XX Authors Pay for Services (often poor quality)
XX Often using a Print-On-Demand Production Process
XX Authors encouraged to buy lots of copies despite being Print-On-Demand
XX Base author copy book pricing on discount off RRP rather than actual print cost
XX Often have automated ordering process – as no editorial filters/standards
XX Big “book-machine” publishers – Author Solutions (and their various brands)
XX Paid-for arm of traditional publishers
XX Beware if they: contact you first; hassle for a decision; up-sell; offer paid-for
marketing/distribution upgrades; claim to guarantee a best-seller
XX PREDITORS & EDITORS www.pred-ed.com
XX WRITER BEWARE www.accrispin.blogspot.co.uk
XX Farm out implementation to poorly paid and poorly vetted “publishing experts“
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WWW.KEYPERSONOFINFLUENCE.COM
Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing? (Big Publishers)
The Claim: If You Pay to Publish with Their “Self” Publishing Imprint You Might
Get a “Proper” Contract With The Big Publisher Behind It.
XX Same basic offering as other “Preditor“ Publishers
XX Pearson/Penguin/Random House owns Author Solutions
XX Author Solutions owns: iUniverse, AuthorHouse, Xlibris, Trafford and Palibrio,
FuseFrame, PitchFest, Author Learning Center , BookTango etc.
XX Author Solutions runs “self-publishing arms” of big publishers: Archway, Balboa,
Partridge etc.
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HYBRID PUBLISHING
There are many terms, at the time of writing, for the kind of publishing that offers a bridge
betweentraditionalpublishingandself-publishing:supportedpublishing,paid-forpublishing,
subsidised publishing, partnership-publishing, platform publishing etc.
The industry, and its authors, seems to be converging on the term ‘hybrid publishing’ to
describe a publishing contract where the author pays upfront for the costs associated with
producing their book – such as editing, inner design and typesetting, cover design, ISBN,
print distribution, royalty collection/calculation, ebook conversion and distribution etc.
In return for their project management of the book, the publisher (in recognition of the
reduced financial risk to them) pays the author a more generous royalty than they would
receive through a traditional publishing contract.
I believe you’re going to see more partnerships between
publishers and self-publishing and… that you’re going to
see publishers start to adopt the partnership model that self-
publishing brings with it. Penny Sansevieri, Huffington Post

Rethink Press was founded because Bookshaker (our small traditional publishing business)
had to turn down too many well written, interesting and valid self-help books that we were
either unsure would sell well enough to take the risk, or that that fell outside the areas we
had defined for the Bookshaker imprint.
We were offered many books we liked, but which would have too small a market for us to
be sure of making our investment back. Many switched-on, entrepreneurial authors realise
that book sales alone isn’t the point of a book for them. They often have a broader business
case for writing and publishing a book, including:
XX Raising their profile and authority
XX Opening new doors and opportunities
XX Leveraging the book as a 24/7 lead generator
XX Pre-selling prospects on their solution to increase the success of pitches
XX Provide a low-cost first step for their customers
XX Tapping into the Amazon platform to attract new customers
XX Providing a tangible focus for their marketing and publicity efforts
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However, a traditional publisher’s business model relies entirely on book sales volume,
which causes a mismatch between entrepreneurial authors and many traditional publishers.
We realised this and so canvassed some of our prospective authors. We found that many
were prepared to pay for ‘author services’ in order to get their books published by reputable
professionals, under a quality imprint.
Our Rethink Press authors, and those who have published with other hybrid publishers, do
not want to jump through the hoops of chasing a traditional publishing contract – with the
uncertainty, delays and loss of control and income.
As one of our authors who sealed £50,000 in new business within
6 months of publication can attest, book sales are over-rated
compared to the power of a book to bring high value business.

Neitherdoentrepreneurialauthorswishtospendtimegettingtogripswiththetechnicalities
of publishing themselves or sourcing and project managing the experts required to do a
good job. They realise the value of outsourcing the publishing so they can focus on their
core business.
In essence, entrepreneurial authors want a professionally published book, published in a
short time-frame to underpin their platform of niche expertise. They understand the value
of control, speed and quality but also realise a successful book is about much more than
copies sold.
Call it a business card, a resume, a billboard, or whatever you
choose, but the short of it is that books are no longer just books.
They are branding devices and credibility signals. Ryan Holiday
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Hybrid Publishers Overview
XX Submit to publisher direct and online (no agent)
XX Contract should be non-exclusive license to publish –
not buying author’s copyright or IP
XX Upfront payment for cost to deliver services to a high standard
XX Higher royalties – 20% and upwards – Rethink Press pays 50% to 60%
XX Project management, ISBN, ebook conversion
XX Professional expertise/team – editors, designers, typesetters etc
XX Takes care of admin – sales, royalties, competitions
XX Good publishers have high editorial standards and may reject a project if either a)
they don’t feel they’re the right fit for the author’s goals or b) the book is not of a
high enough standard for publication.
XX For example, Rethink Press rejects roughly 1 in 4 projects and either points the
author to a more appropriate pubishing path or encourages them to improve their
book before considering publication.

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Pros and Cons of Hybrid Publishing
One problem with hybrid publishing is that, in some circles, it has been tarred with the
brush of the legacy practice of “vanity publishing” and scam “self” publishing. Reputable
hybrid publishing companies are entirely transparent about their costs and contracts, and
provide authors with only the services they need and want.
In fact, a good hybrid publisher will insist on high standards and may even tell you, your
book isn’t ready for publication yet.
• A publisher : experience, expertise
• Controlof design, position, look
• Time - project management, support
• High royalties
• Wide POD Distribution
• Bookshopavailability
• Low cost authorcopies
• Businessleverage
• Some kudos
• Moneyup front
• Some royalties
• Active bookshopdistribution
• MarketingDepartment
** * * * * *
• IF theysignupwitha PREDITOR
PUBLISHER:quality,royalties,
credibility, maybe money

Pros of hybrid publishing
XX Freedom, Control and Ownership – Your book is your own and a reputable hybrid
publisher will work with you to make your book exactly how you want and need
it to be, in content, look and positioning. You will also be able to control cost of
production. As long as you don’t drastically change your book during production
you will know in advance how much you are paying. This is much harder to do if
you’re managing your own team of freelancers/suppliers.
XX Professional Production – The editor, designers, typesetter will be experienced,
used to working with author such as you, and with each other. You will not have to
source the professional contributors to your book, and with their input your book
will not have a professional look and feel.
XX Project Management – As well as not having to search for the right professionals
to create your book, the time-consuming and intensive task of managing them will
be done by an experienced publisher, leaving you free to start marketing, working
on your core business, and/or writing your next book. They will also manage your
royalties, deal with queries and issues post-publication.
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XX A Real Publisher – Although there is decreasing stigma about self-publishing, your
book will have all the benefits of being produced and branded by a real publishing
company. Like a traditional publisher, hybrid publishers have existing accounts
with Amazon and other booksellers, and also with wholesalers (which enables
physical bookstores to order it), which an individual author cannot be listed with.
This being said, some hybrid publishers who have no editorial standards and don’t
insist a book has been professionally edited before going to print will drag down the
reputation of every book on their list. For this reason, if a publisher doesn’t insist on
professional editing you should look elsewhere.
XX Quality – If you choose well, you can be assured the end product is high quality and
professional. Aside from the limitations of the POD print process employed by most
hybrid publishers, the typeset, design and quality of your content should be top-notch.
XX High Royalties – As you have taken a lot of the upfront risk of publishing your
book, your hybrid publisher should be paying you higher royalties.
XX Easy Access to Stock – A good hybrid publisher will be completely transparent
about costs should you wish to order author copies to sell direct. And, because
they’re using print on demand it’s possible to order very small quantities (10 books
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or more) at a decent price. This means you only need to keep stock of a small
quantity of books and you can top up stock at any time. Any hybrid publisher
pressuring you to buy huge quantities of books may be hiding something.
Cons of hybrid publishing
XX Financial Investment – There are hybrid publishers with packages to suit most
pockets, but the author will always have to pay some upfront costs to get published.
This means until you’ve sold enough copies to break even on your investment you’re
out of pocket. However, once you get past this point you’ll make much more profit
per sale meaning if you get a runaway hit you’ll experience more income over the
life of your book.
XX Lack of Marketing – Hybrid publishers may be able to offer (paid for) marketing
support, but as with self-publishing, marketing and promotion is your job. You have
to be the social marketer, PR agent and spokesperson for your book and that means
you’re going to need to spend time to get sales results. Don’t pay for generic ‘book
marketing packages’ from scam self-publishers or anyone else.
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XX Distribution – Although your book may be listed with wholesalers (from whom
physical bookstores order stock) it is more unlikely to find its way onto many
bookstores’ shelves unless it is your supportive local bookstore, or a customer orders
your book through a bookshop.
XX Predators – There are ‘self-publishing’ companies who regularly take money from
first-time authors, deliver poor services, publish low quality books and badger their
clients with upselling offers for additional services, some of which – like marketing
or PR packages – deliver no value. All authors should check out any potential hybrid
publishing company before they sign contracts with or pay money to them.
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SUMMARY
As the barriers preventing experts writing and publishing a book continue to fall, we believe
that an expert who sets up in business is increasingly expected to have a book that sets out
what they’re about. Just as a website is now a basic requirement of anyone seriously in
business, a book is also becoming a prerequisite of your claim to expertise.
Key Points
XX Be clear about what you want from publication of your book; then make realistic
choices.
XX Not everyone wants, needs or will achieve a traditional publishing contract – there
are real benefits to other forms of publication.
XX What do you want to do yourself; where is it worthwhile to pay for support?
XX Check out hybrid (paid-for) publishers: do due diligence and talk to other authors.
The ease with which you can now get published also provides a unique risk. If you publish a
bad book (the gatekeepers are all gone) that is off-message and poor quality you could end
up regretting the impact it has on your reputation for years to come.

So, now you know why you’re publishing a book and which path provides the best mix of
Control and Credibility (see page 5) really make sure what you’ve written is something you’ll
be proud of now and in the future.
We wish you good luck with publishing your business or self-help book. If you want to ask
our advice, we’re happy to give you more information.
Lucy McCarraher and Joe Gregory
www.rethinkpress.com
www.facebook.com/RethinkPress
www.twitter.com/RethinkPress

Lucy McCarraher is the author of 7 books and runs hybrid publisher Rethink Press. She has
worked across many publishing disciplines, including running Australia’s most successful
theatre magazine. She works exclusively with KPI (Key Person of Influence) London as their
Publish mentor and has coached hundreds of people through the challenging task of writing a
book. One of Lucy’s greatest strengths is enabling clients to write clearly, powerfully and quickly.
JoeGregoryisanauthorandpublisherwhostartedhisfirstbusiness,amarketingconsultancy,
at the age of 19. Since 2003 he has published over 250 books by industry experts, coaches,
trainers, consultants and business owners who understand the power of books to bring
business. Joe’s greatest strength is in ensuring an author’s book becomes an integral leverage
tool for growing their business, raising their fees and building their authority.

How to get Your Book Published

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