Small publishers are a Godsend to authors, but they also are houses of cards. When one vital person in the organization gets sick or needs to take extended leave for any other of the very valid necessities required in life—book release dates get shoved back perhaps by a month or more. First, there’s a delay in editing, then delays in the production of cover art and Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs) occur. Subsequent promotion schedules devolve into an avalanche.
In the publishing industry, authors are required to do their own publicity. They set up interviews, book reviews, social media ads, discussion groups, and local appearances, too—all scheduled near to the release date given by their publishers. Bloggers, who have agreed to schedule interviews and reviews based on that release date are secondarily affected. Then everyone guesses when the book will truly be released so they can reschedule. All the while blog gaps must be filled—all due to publisher delays. It’s all downhill.
🚫DELAYS🚫
It is such a delay that has resulted in this blog. This should be an author interview posting today. The affected author said it will probably be the last time she uses a publisher. She’s an established author, who has a reader base and professional standards. Going to self-publishing will give her control over her product, release schedule, and promotion, which will save her time even if she will have much more to do with production. Promotion is already a hard task for many authors. Throwing in delays that tick off everyone compounds the problem.
We all used to look down on self-publishing because it lacked professionalism. Now—it’s the lack of professionalism by the mainstream that is resulting in self-publishing or at least is some instances. There are other reasons authors turn to self-publishing, some for financial reasons. Yes, the world has turned 180 degrees in so many ways.
But it is also a matter of trust between the publisher and the author—broken trust. Have you ever had release delays? How has that affected your relationship with the publisher? Contracts, in theory, are supposed to be between two equal parties. Do you feel that you are held to ironclad deadlines, but the same rules don’t apply to the publisher? Is it human to err; to forgive, divine, even if it’s a big pain for everyone on down the line?
My late agent, Dawn Dowdle, always used to tell me there is no perfect publisher. There are pluses and minuses no matter what route you take. But, yes, I've had reason to pull my hair out many times with several different houses.
ReplyDeleteOne good thing about Indie Publishing is you know exactly who to blame when something goes wrong (and who to praise when it goes well).
ReplyDeleteMy very first short story, to be released digitally on the publisher's website as a teaser for a book, was not released on time.
ReplyDeleteGiddy with excitement, I had sent the link to everybody I knew, and since it had a LTBG theme, my sister had spread it widely throughout that community.
I was mortified.
It was posted the next day, but I can't say as I ever got excited again about a release date.
The publisher went out of business.
I had a story published in an anthology, the publication date for which was pushed back several times. The end product was worth the wait.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, it really is a crap shoot. I've had a small publisher do everything on time, but still go belly up because of personal issues and I had a bigger one delay my second book, publish it, and then announce they were no longer doing a mystery line, but would continue supporting books that were selling from their mystery line (that one became a standalone and I didn't get rights back for seven years).
ReplyDeleteI was just talking to some friends going through this. It's frustrating that authors can do everything right and meet every deadline, and then run into these roadblocks.
ReplyDeleteWell said, Elaine. I was fortunate when I published with a small press. They always hit their publication date marks, but there were other issues that would not have happened with either a larger press or as an indie. These days even the big five (six) (four) – it’s a movable feast – have trouble meeting their commitments. The publishing world is in flux and until it stabilizes, I’m happy as an indie.
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