by Sammy Stein

Created on: March 25, 2009

I have had two publishers interested in my book ' The Smile Catcher'. One compared it favourably to the Big Friendly Giant and the other said ,'this is a true gem of a book, It must be published'. The only drawback is that both of these asked for large fees before publishing would go ahead - in other words they were what is known as vanity publishers who are publishing companies who help you self-publish.

In my opinion, a good publisher knows their market. They will know whether your book genuinely has the chance of selling in enough numbers to be commercially viable. As such, they are willing to invest time helping you edit it, money publishing it so it appeals to the right section of the market and help you promote and market the finished product.

Any self-publisher will praise and push your book for you to pay to get published but there is very little risk to them and if the book fails it is you who will be left with 2000 copies unsold and in piles under the bed - you can only sell it to so many friends and relatives. Self publishing appeals to your ego but you have to remember you are also a commodity for self publishing companies.

When I was first published (Hamlyn), they only ran 5000 copies and paid me a flat fee because I was a new writer and although they felt there was a market for the book, they only wanted to invest on a limited level. However, they asked for no fee from me, only that I work hard and edit the material to produce a book which suited its intended market. I did , the book was published and they had to make a second run because it actually sold far more copies than they thought it would.

The second book I wrote for them was given a higher fee as my payment to reflect the fact that I was now an accepted writer. Although it took longer and was hard work in the first place to get a major publisher to show an interest I am glad I went with a legitimate book publisher rather than self publish because Hamyln marketed and promoted the book too - there is nothing quite so good as seeing your book in the window of Foyles book shop in London and one I wrote parts of next to it - my children were hugely impressed!

I have not written anything more for Hamyln but I am hopeful that a legitimate publisher will look at The Smile Catcher and see a market for it.

Self publishing is one way to get into print but surely it is better to know a book is going to be promoted by a reputable company than have to flog it yourself. I have met many 'writers' who tell me they have published ten books or more but when you get down to it, they have self published, it has cost them a great deal of money and they can only get the books to a limited local market.

So, over all, I would say go for a legitimate publisher rather than hope and pray that your book will be the one which is a success with self publishing. If your book is good, it will get a publisher - JK Rowling was rejected many times before she found a publisher for Harry Potter and there are many well known writers out there who could tell you the same story. Me? Well, I am still waiting and hoping The Smile Catcher will be a success with a publisher some day but I am not going to self publish, no matter how hard the sell is.

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