Nov 26 2008
Ebook publishers - a cautionary tale
One of my friends published several novels with an e-publisher a couple of years ago. She’s a prolific writer, and had several books ready by the time she got one accepted. The publisher who accepted that novel said he would take anything else she had, and she excitedly submitted more. Now, she wishes she hadn’t!
Even though they sent her proofs, the version of her novels which appeared on the site were riddled with typos and often badly formatted. She has a unique Southern voice with lots of colloquial expressions, many of which were “corrected” - apparently with a computer grammar/spell checker - without her agreement. All in all, she found the e-pub very unprofessional. Luckily she hadn’t given him all her manuscripts, and she took care to do her research before accepting an offer for her other stories from a second e-publisher. Unfortunately, in spite of all her efforts, her experience with the second e-publisher turned out not much better!
Like other non-mainstream publishers, the e-pubs did no marketing. As part of her contract, she was obliged to set up her own website and do a certain amount of promotion. She has sold books, but so far the marketing has cost her more money than she earns. And she’s concerned that it’s hard to build up a following of repeat readers, when the books present so badly. She can’t wait for her contracts to expire!
That’s terrible! I can’t believe there are people who enjoy making money by taking advantage of others like that. Exactly the reason why I wouldn’t go near a non-traditional publisher.
Yes, I have heard stories like this about very unprofessional services by e-publishers and self-publishing companies. I think the more control you have, the better. Don’t let them mess with your manuscript.
I have used Lulu.com to publish an ebook, I just uploaded my file and there were no changes made to it.
Yes and no, Rusty. If you can get published by a reputable publisher with a good editor, you’re much better off than if you “don’t let them mess with your manuscript”.
Like it or not, the truth is that you are always the worst judge of whether your manuscript is any good or not! Friends and family are no good either - they’re too kind. If you can find someone to edit well, whether it’s an editor from a publishing house or through a writer’s circle or critique partner, then your manuscript can only benefit. The trouble with this ebook publisher was obviously that their editor was c&@p.