You can read the start of this interview here at Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Don't forget to check out Terri's interview over on Em's Blog
Thanks for talking and helping us all understand the ins and outs of a Small Press Terri!
You
mentioned distribution—what distribution channels does Eternal Press use? I've
seen complaints from authors who say they never sold any books while they were
with Eternal Press, which proves that Eternal Press doesn't have the right type
of distribution connections.
There are a lot of factors that determine whether or not a book
sells, distribution is just one. The amount of marketing an author does is
another. One of the reasons that I chose EP was for their distribution, which
is quite large for a small press: they use Lightning Source as their
distributor, which puts their books into the Baker and Taylor and Ingram
catalogs and they accept bookstore returns, which makes their books available
to libraries and bookstores.
By and large you aren’t going to find huge differences between
publishing offers that result in a “good” and a “bad” offer. Instead you’ll
find different shades of “good.” Of the three publishers interested in my work,
one paid the standard “large publisher” sliding scale royalty rate that starts
at 15% and sells a lot of books in my genre. However, this publisher didn’t
accept bookstore returns and didn’t offer an advance. The other two had
expanded distribution channels, offered much higher royalty rates, accepted
bookstore returns, and one of them offered small (mostly token) advances, but
neither specializes in my genre. All three offers were good and each had its
particular merits. I gave each one careful consideration and chose the one I
thought was best for me and my book, but, honestly, any one of the three would
have been a good deal and I would have been happy to accept any of them.
I’ll talk about some other
factors to consider that can be the telltale sign of a downright bad offer or
bad company to work with. (This can all be found on Em's Blog.)
Biography:
Terri Bruce has been
making up adventure stories for as long as she can remember and won her first
writing award when she was twelve. Like Anne Shirley, she prefers to make
people cry rather than laugh, but is happy if she can do either. She produces
fantasy and adventure stories from a haunted house in New England where she
lives with her husband and three cats. Her
first novel, HEREAFTER—a contemporary fantasy about a woman’s search for
redemption in the afterlife—will be released by Eternal Press later this year.
Visit her on the web at www.terribruce.net.
Connect with Terri:
Website/Blog:
http://www.terribruce.net
Goodreads
Profile: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/8244272-terri-bruce
Facebook
Profile: http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100003716022408
HEREAFTER
Thirty-six year old Irene Dunphy didn't plan on dying any
time soon, but that’s exactly what happens when she makes the mistake of
getting behind the wheel after a night of bar-hopping with friends. She finds
herself stranded on Earth as a ghost, where food has no taste, the alcohol doesn’t
get you drunk, and the only person who can see her is a fourteen year old
boy-genius who can see dead people, thanks to a book he found in his school
library. This sounds suspiciously like hell to Irene, so she prepares to strike
out for the Great Beyond. The problem is, while this side has exorcism, ghost
repellents, and soul devouring demons, the other side has three-headed hell
hounds, final judgment, and eternal torment. If only there was a third option…
1 comment:
Hi, Terri -- I've enjoyed your series. And thanks, Dean, for offering a friendly site for her to share some insights into the process of hunting a publisher. Very interesting.
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