Hi All
I've written a novel. I'm pleased with it. So far I've had eight rejections from agents so I'm thinking of a change of approach: instead of emailing them a Word doc or pdf of the first 50 pages (or whatever they want; it varies) I thought I might get, say, 50 copies printed up as books. My thinking is that everyone has enough of screens (Zoom etc) and books are tactile; also, you can skip ahead or drop in and out of a real physical format.
Also, it has the element of, well if not surprise exactly then of being a bit different.
I've looked at a few sites e.g. www.bookprintinguk.com) who seem to run a range of options (size, cover artwork, proofreading etc) but all I really want is the mss printed and bound in paperback form. I'm not looking to self-publish just to have a hard copy in book form.
Can anyone here do that or know of anyone who can? Obviously I'm happy to pay. It's approx 66,500 words so on the short size for a full length novel. And it's in 11 numbered documents of varying sizes from 14.4k to 2.3k, most of them around the 5k mark.
Try blurb - i have printed one off books many times, they have a lot of different options and paper grades. The quality is generally excellent and the software is pretty good and simple to use. They generally specialise in photo books but you should be able to do a text book fairly easily as one of the options.
www.blurb.com
Edit: Have a look at the Economy B&W, softback Trade Books
Last edited by vulcangascompany; 4th August 2021 at 12:56.
I should know more about this but I don't.
So I'll be keeping tabs on this thread myself.
Thanks!Originally Posted by vulcangascompany
No problem, the nice thing about Blurb is that once you have printed some proofs for yourself to check, it could appear in their Bookstore so if anyone wanted a copy you can just direct them to the Store, they can pay and Blurb will print a copy and send to them.
You'd still need to print some promo copies and send them out, but print on demand could be a useful facility to have when dealing with any lowish orders, no boxes of books to store etc - until you sign that multi-££££££ deal with a major publisher of course!!
I was really impressed by the print quality and the bindings of the Blurb books - and they let you do single and low volume printing at a pretty reasonable cost, so would definitely use them again.
Any commercial printer with a digital press should be able to do this for you. We used to supply one that had a niche offshoot printing peoples' memoirs, but I can't remember their name now.
I'd suggest you might want to approach editors direct rather than go through an agent. Its easy enough to find out which publishers accept submissions direct and they usually have criteria you will need to adhere to when you send them a manuscript. Most editors prefer a printed manuscript and most again have criteria they want the manuscript to meet - mostly they are the same but worth checking what they want.
I write non fiction and its been a while since I sent a manuscript but when I did I recall it was single side A4 double spaced, in times new roman and with no other formatting, pages retained with treasury tags not staples.
An acquaintance of ours published her novel directly onto Amazon Kindle initially. Once sufficient positive reviews gave her confidence, she took the next step and went to print in order to sell paper copies.
Not sure how it works but might be worth looking at?
Don’t forget that publishers ask for things in a particular format because that’s what they want, and things that deviate from what they think they want are rarely received warmly.
I don’t work in publishing, but I do work in a field where ideas are pitched in odd places and formats, and they rarely get anywhere.
Yes, I hear you. I'm not sure pitching a book as a . . . book is exactly weird, wild and wacky though.
My thinking is: book people love books. And reading anything on a screen is a drag. So, here, have a book. It's free. You like it, call me. If not, fine.
I’m not saying pitching a book as a book is weird, I’m just saying that if people ask for something in a particular format, it’s because that’s what they want. I’m sure most people who read speculatively pitched manuscripts for a job stopped loving books a long time ago.
Good luck though!
Just be aware of the potential cost.
In 1979 I decided that I wanted to own a flintlock shotgun and joined the Muzzle Loaders Assn of Great Britain for advice on what make of gun I should buy. There was no internet in those days. The club had a monthly magazine with a SC in it where members could buy and sell guns to each on a mates rate basis, but even back then every bugger was moaning about profiteering etc. I contacted a very knowledgeable club member who advised me to aim for guns made by John Manton or Griffin of Bond Street. After a 4 month search I located and purchased a Griffin flintlock fowling piece and spent a few years at a MLAGB blasting clays at a clay pigeon shoot. Happy days as they say.
One day I received a letter from a retired gentleman named Eric Griffin who was a direct descendent of the gunmaker. He was about to write a book about the company and wanted information and photographs of guns in current use.
I duly responded with information and photographs and a few weeks later he telephoned to thank me and explained that he needed a firm promise from 500 people in order to get a print run. The price per person on a non profit basis was £55.00 each which was a lot of money for a small book, but what the hell, I sent the cheque off and 6 months or thereabouts later, the book arrived through the post.
500@£55 ? do the maths yourself.
Maybe, just maybe, the publishing world has moved on since 1979?
Cheers..
Jase
I did it through PublishNation, and have now sold thousands of copies both hard copy and ebook in multiple territories. I’ve also had lots of reviews and my book is one of the highest rated new Sherlock Holmes books of recent years.
I’ve also been the Number One bestselling author in two Amazon categories.
Do it yourself, but make sure you have the book professionally critiqued and proof read.
I am now writing a new novel and based on the success of my first book I may be more likely to secure an agent led publishing deal.
It’s a step at a time…
So clever my foot fell off.
You sure? Better ask the forum know-it-all.
Someone who lies about the little things will lie about the big things too.
I knew nothing back in 1979 and didn't care either. Being retired I don't need to know about modern digital publishing but publishing a book for the first time without a sponsor is a well know risky business.
I'm not sure he meant you.
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
Who else knows everything?
Someone who lies about the little things will lie about the big things too.
There is another who walks amongst us...
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
A guy I worked with did exactly this. Apparently with amazon kindle the author gets a higher percentage to them compared to going through publishing houses especially with physical books as apposed kindle
Sent from my SM-G991B using Tapatalk
You get more than twice the royalty from a kindle ebook than you do from a hard copy.
So clever my foot fell off.
Out of interest what does the kindle unlimited structure look like from your perspective?
A different genre perhaps, but a decade or so ago I happened across an old photocopied manuscript of cartoons and related nonsense verse my Dad had done and had circulated to friends and family. Completely without his knowledge , I digitalised it and sent it to the undernoted who published it, made it available to Amazon etc and sent me some of the finished books.
As a surprise present for his 80th birthday I gave him a box containing 50 copies. He was both speechless and delighted (thankfully!)
The publishers were excellent throughout the whole process.
https://grosvenorhousepublishing.co....hoCsqMQAvD_BwE
Well done A.
Can you send me the purchase link again, my inbox has been rammed.
Really pleased for you.
Well done A.
Can you send me the purchase link again, my inbox has been rammed.
Really pleased for you.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08P1CFD...HAF5PQF29K6VWG
So clever my foot fell off.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
