Monday 23 December 2013

Indie Publishing Companies Help Authors And Readers

By Harriett Crosby


Publishers in the small arena are often denoted as autonomous or miniature as they deal with specific styles and topics of books and magazines. Some have titled this arena of the book publisher world as indie publishing companies, short for independent. Their specialties range from non-fiction and poetry, typically in anthology form, to fiction and non-fiction titles in a wide variety of niche genres. You may also find a few magazines in short supply from a small press.

An independent press, in order to be eligible for small status, must meet certain criteria. An important one is not to be associated with a larger parent company. Those in charge of the press, either an individual or small group of investors or publishers, make all the decisions regarding where money, time and energy will be spent. Although this is not a new concept, dating back to the late nineteenth century and the Kelmscott Press as the first independent publisher, they got their start through William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement. Morris was a writer, artist and textile designer.

Over time, a shift occurred in the independent publisher community. This shift didn't happen overnight, however as technology grew the transformation from large publishers to smaller ones emerged. This gives authors more control over their content, something larger presses won't budge on.

Benefits to a writer are extensive when using a small press. Not only do the presses post upfront cash for editing and printing, they also handle all publicity and marketing of the finished product. After that, a writer will be free to do what they do best, write.

A small press is unlike the larger ones because they take great strides to preserve the writer's distinct style. What's more, signing with an independent press doesn't prohibit a writer from signing with a large publisher or another type of media outlet once the first run is off the printing press. The writer's words are their own, now and forever, even after publication.

A small press is not the same as self-publishing. Vanity publishers will ask the author to either purchase a minimum number of books or make an upfront payment before printing will commence. Unmatched is the small publisher who will run a large amount of prints, giving a percentage of royalties to the writer straightaway. Since the press owns no copyrights, the author receives most of the royalties.

The distinction between small independent presses and the larger mega print houses is the smaller ones earn at or less than $50 million each year. This is on 10 or fewer book titles, although if a company prints more, it will still qualify as a small press. The total is given after discounts and returns are subtracted.

Printing presses will not edit or market a manuscript, they only print it. They are part of a growing print on demand (POD) series of bringing content to the masses. Any content from any writer is eligible for printing. Since there is no editing or sales help, as with indie publishing companies, the independent press is a better option.




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