Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Small Book Publishers

by
Molly Noble Bull
www.mollynoblebull.com

What has been written about small presses is only partly right.
My new publisher, Tsaba House, is a small publisher, and they have a wonderful artist do all the covers for their books. The covers are truly beautiful and unique. All you have to do is visit my website and see Sanctuary's cover to see what I mean. The quality of the paper and the printing is excellent, too.
But all these extras cost money. Therefore, Sanctuary costs more than other novels of the same length, and that means my sales for Sanctuary might not be as good they might be at a larger publishing house. However, this sharp edge eventually rounds out since Sanctuary will be reprinted for as long as there is a market for it.
Yes, book promotions are very important if you want your small press novel to succeed, and the print runs are not as big. But when you consider that these books will be reprinted again and again, it balances out. And since Sanctuary won a national 2008 contest for published authors, I am hoping there will be a market for Sanctuary for years to come.
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Sanctuary by Molly Noble Bull won the 2008 Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence in the Inspirational category for published novelists.
www.mollynoblebull.com
www.shoutlife.com/mollynoblebull

2 comments:

Teresa Slack said...

Molly, thanks for your comments.
My books are also pub'd by Tsaba House. I get positive feedback everywhere I go for my covers. They are the first thing that attracts reader attention. The price is always higher when you produce less of something.

Being with a small press has its advantages. Like you said, our books won't go out of print after three months on the store shelves like happens with many publishers. I am excited to know that I am not a tiny little fish in a big pond. Whether a big or small press, both have their advantages. This is where God put me at this time, so I'll do what I can to promote my books. With the present state of the economy, it is more important than ever for writers to actively promote their books and not sit back and wait for the publisher to do it.

Eileen Astels Watson said...

Teresa and Molly:

I'm not published, but I would be very interested to know what the key elements are to "promoting" your books, especially ones printed at a small publishing house as I assume they don't offer near as much promotion from their end as the larger houses could handle.

And what is the actual cost difference of the books? Are we talking a difference of $1 or a 50 or 100% hike from the competitions? Just curious.