GUEST POST: Publishing with a Small Press by Lori Calabrese
The road to publication for many is often a bumpy one, and it’s ultimately up to you the writer, to decide which way you want to steer. Should you turn that wheel and head toward the bright lights of New York City, gleaming skyscrapers and huge corporations? Or should you turn that wheel toward the cottages and bed & breakfasts that line rural America? Unfortunately, there isn’t a road map or GPS guiding an author to their destiny. It’s up to you, the writer to decide which direction you’d like to go.
Sure, we would all love an urban oasis where our books are abound, line endcaps across America’s bookstores, and grace the bestseller list, but not every author has the same fate as Suzanne Collins or Stephanie Myer. Just as in any business, you must start somewhere, and not only are small presses accessible to beginning writers, they also provide opportunities during a fickle economy. The odds of getting published by a “major” publishing house are dwindling because of a failing economy. But there are so many wonderful stories that need to shared and that’s where small presses come in.
While the big publishing companies have been merging, the number of small presses has been increasing. Small presses are independently owned; they are not part of a corporation, and many if not most of them are devoted to a specific mission other than, or in addition to, maximizing profits.
Small presses tend to fill the niches that larger publishers neglect. They can focus on regional titles, narrow specializations, niche genres, and books that do not fit neatly into a commercial mold. And big presses seem to have a pretty specific set of molds right now. In a troubling economy, some big publishers are leery of taking on an unknown author, but it’s small presses that are taking a chance on new authors and championing new voices.
In the little-guy economy, the personal wins and this is one of a small press’s strengths. There’s a premium on the individual and getting an e-mail from somebody who says, ‘Hey, check this out,’ means a lot more to the recipient than a mass e-mail from the publicity department of a large corporation.
A writer can expect to work closely with the publisher, editor, and perhaps cover artist of a small press. Getting more personally involved with the publishing experience, having more input and control, dealing directly with their own contracts, and marketing their books provides a learning experience, one that provides a great stepping stone for eventually working with the Big Guys.
And last but not least, there’s the reward of seeing your work in print. As in any endeavor, writers need encouragement, one of the reasons why most of us continue to write. If your book is accepted by a small press, chances are they’ll be extremely enthusiastic and carry that enthusiasm all the way through to publication. In other words, you won’t be competing with 1,000 other books for in-company attention.
Small businesses face considerable challenges, and you don’t get any more small business than a small press. Big publishing houses can’t possibly publish all the books out there which is why the small press is an important engine for writers. So when you rev your own engine and hit the pedal to the metal, be sure to analyze your dreams of publishing and your goals for literary success. You might find yourself off the beaten path, but at a small stop that offers BIG rewards.
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Lori Calabrese is an award-winning children’s author. 
Her first picture book, The Bug That Plagued the Entire Third Grade
Watch books being bought in real time
This siteis so COOL! Interesting and fun, at least for me–and likely for other book lovers. You can watch people buying books in real time (well, with some delay). You get to see the country the book was bought in, the province or state, and the book title. I love seeing the little bubbles pop up with titles people bought–it’s fascinating to me, and lovely to see books being sold over and over–and it’s just from one site, the book depository. If it interests you, check it out!
I love stories like this…
where people use books or reading to in some way help themselves or someone else, and where people doing harm get their just desserts. 
The story about a man using library books to thwart a purse snatcher made me grin. I hope it does, you, too.
Listen to my interview on self-harm & SCARS
If you didn’t get a chance to tune in yesterday, you can still listen to my interview with Ultimate Living on self-harm and my novel, SCARS. The link will take you to an article I wrote on self-harm “Self-Harm Is NOT Acting Out”, and at the end of the article you’ll see a link to listen to the interview.
If you get a chance to listen, I’d love to know what you think.
Will be talking about Scars on Ultimate Living Well this Monday
I will be talking about SCARS on Ultimate Living Well radio show Monday Aug 09th between 1-2:45pm EST. I’ll be joined by YA author Beth Fuhlbaum, author of Hope In Patience. Please join us! The call-in number is (347) 637-2641.
SCARS is in its 4th printing!! Already!
I am *thrilled* to tell you that SCARS
Funny comic – Apostrophe Man
I try not to get bugged when I see signs in the street that misuse punctuation…but it just grates on me. So I love this comic, Apostorphe Man. Check it out!
$139 Kindle coming next month
Amazon has announced that it is releasing a $139 Kindle (wi-fi only), and a $189 Kindle (wi-fi and 3G). Both will ship August 27th–and pre-orders are available now
“>. The new Kindle is 21% smaller, 15% lighter, and is only for reading ebooks–no video snippets, etc. Mr. Bezos is quoted as saying “For the vast majority of books, adding video and animation is not going to be helpful. It is distracting rather than enhancing. You are not going to improve Hemingway by adding video snippets.” The screen will still be 6 inches, but the internal memory will be 4GB.
This sounds enticing to me! I’ve been waiting for Qualcomm’s Mirasol color ereader–I would love to read picture books, magna, and comic books in color–but if the price point gets low enough for a greyscale ebook reader, I just might make the jump, at least for novels. What about you?
Check out more about the new Kindle on enGadget and wsj.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day becoming a movie….
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
I’m not sure how I feel about this book being made into a movie. I happen to LOVE this picture book. And…er…I don’t see how a picture book becomes a full-length movie. I haven’t much liked the few movies I’ve seen based on picture books I love. Have you?
What I always come back to, though, is that if this gets more people to read the book, maybe it’s a good thing.
What do you think?
SCARS soon to be at local Chapters/Indigo stores (Canada)
Canadians – I just found out SCARS is soon going to be at your local Chapters/Indigo stores! (Not just their online stores.) Yay!! I’m so happy about that!
I also just visited my local Chapters/Indigo store, and asked–and sure enough, they had 2 that they’d ordered (that was a thrill for me), and they were talking about me coming in to do a signing (but ordering a lot more books first). It is lovely when bookstores encourage and promote us authors. I’ve found that especially true at indie bookstores, so it was also nice to experience it at Chapters/Indigo.
You can also find my fellow Canadian WestSide author’s book J E MacLeod’s Waiting to Score, at Chapters/Indigo.
