Three Myths About New York Publishers
Author: Jerry D. Simmons

As I travel the country speaking to writer's groups in
workshops and seminars, I'm struck by the amount of
misinformation that is floating around. Having spent 25-years
working for two of the largest publishers in the world, I
thought it would be important to set the record straight and
write about three of the most common myths.

It's not about who published your book, but will it make money

First, there seems to be this impression that if an author
publishes with a print-on-demand company – or god forbid
self-publish their own manuscript – the big publishers will
never be interested in their book. This is wrong! The fact is
that the biggest companies in the world are focused on making
money. If they discover a title they feel has potential to gain
widespread distribution and sell lots of copies, they don't care
who published it, they want it. The big publishers rarely look
at who published what, for them, it's about dollars and if they
feel your writing has the potential, they'll publish it.

An agent is not required

Second, writers have the impression they absolutely have to
have an agent to attract the attention of a big New York
publisher. Again, this is wrong! If you have a book and a voice
and a platform as an author, and a big company sees your
potential, they will come to you without the need of an agent.
Now, clearly more than 90% of the books the New York companies
publish were bought with the assistance of an agent, but the
truth is that the big guys are constantly looking for product.
If your book, blog, or magazine article, attracts the attention
of an editor or publisher, then you can save the 15% and sign
without an agent. You do not have to have an agent to sign a
publishing contract with a big company. But you're going to need
plenty of patience, a whole bunch of perseverance, and lots of
marketplace knowledge to make that happen, but it can happen
without an agent.

The contract is only the beginning of your work

Third, most authors that I encounter through my consulting have
the feeling that once they sign that big time publishing
contract, they will be taken care of. In fact, this is the
biggest wrong of all! The New York publishers are in the
business of making money; if you can help them, terrific, but if
not, you are as expendable as the next author. In fact once you
sign a contract, your work is just starting. You must help your
publisher market your book and that could many a number of
things. So the contract is not the end, but the beginning. Your
publisher is not in the business of taking care of authors.

The next time you hear something foolish at your writer's group
meeting, or conference, send me an email. I answer them all
personally and I'll be more than happy to pass along my 25-years
of New York experience and give you the facts.


About The Author: Jerry D. Simmons is the author of WHAT
WRITERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PUBLISHING. He is the creator of TIPS
for WRITING from the PUBLISHING INSIDER an eNewsletter that can
be found at http://WritersReaders.com. He is also the founder of
the leading social networking website for writers, authors and
readers http://www.NothingBinding.com. For comments or questions
you can reach Jerry via email jerry@writersreaders.com.