I recently posed this question to an agents panel:
Why do publishers refuse to work with self published books?
Because, explained the agents patiently. If the author can’t sell 50,000 copies of their book, then the publishers can’t either.
Just to clarify.
If a single author who bothered to produce and promote their book, but probably has little experience in PR and marketing as well as a full time job, possibly a family, can’t sell his or her book, then a large publishing concern with a full staff of marketing and PR professionals, a sales team and distribution contracts with chain book stores can’t sell the book.
What I’m hearing is that any individual should be able to sell more books than a huge mulit layered corporation. And if you cannot sell 10,000 books all by yourself, then the large publishers certainly cannot sell your book because on the whole, they are no more talented or connected than you.
This begs the very existence of traditional publishers, and they brought it up first.
The new paradigm is that all individual authors should be able to sell thousand of copies of their book all by themselves. The publishers? No, they cannot sell books themselves, apparently it’s not what they do.
This explains the trend for pre-famous authors. Large juicy contracts and advances from traditional publishers are bestowed upon authors with pre-existing celebrity, because that individual author is already a permanent feature in Style and People and can sell her books all by herself. Traditional publishers are so beleaguered and unable to sell books, celebrity biographies are the only thing they can imagine producing. And that’s what we find in the bookstores, big celebrity biography’s. If the celebrity is already dead so much the better, lower royalties.
The positive take away here? Smaller, independent publishers have emerged to fill the gap between huge and self publishing, and they can sell books. There are more and more options on-line for you, the small author to reach readers and sell your book.
The message; it’s all about you - and should you ever contract with a large traditional publishing house, and they promise to sell your book, congratulations!
And good luck.