To all those E-Published Authors?

Question

I'd like to know a little about the success of E-Publishing. What are the pros and cons? Please include how many items you've published and what medium they are (novel, shorts, poetry, etc.) Over all, I'd like to know whether or not you are happy with the outcome and if you'd E-Publish again. Thank you for your help!

Answer 1

I write for an e-publisher. It's essentially a small press that publishes primarily online. It's NOT self-publishing/vanity publishing.

Just as you would for a traditional publisher, you submit a work and they determine whether or not they'll accept it. The acceptance rate is similar to a traditional publisher, but they do accept works that don't fit the traditional publishing model.

I write romance novellas. Because of the specific length of my writing, it would be extremely difficult to break into NY. E-publishing is a perfect fit for me.

I've been extremely happy with my publisher and look forward to working with them for a long time to come. My 6th e-published work (my 3rd for this publisher) is due out in February. I'll be sending them my current wip (work in progress) as soon as it's done -- and crossing my fingers that they accept it.

I've also had my work in the big box stores when I contribute to anthologies. My e-publisher has a print arm and excellent contacts in the industry, thereby making our work available in the bookseller's catalogues. Self-pub/vanity pub entities don't do that.

There are e-pubs out there, however, who aren't worth the cyber-space they occupy. You need to do a lot of research and talk to several authors to determine if they're the right publisher for you. And when you do choose an e-pub, you have to be aware that they don't just grab everything that comes their way (that's a HUGE red flag, btw). You still have to be prepared for rejection.

As for cons, the market is smaller, therefore sales are often counted in the hundreds instead of in the tens of thousands like in print.

Very few e-pubs give out advances because they operate on a different business structure than print publishers.

There's still a stigma attached to e-publishing. The old "I guess you couldn't hack it in NY" feeling, although that's diminishing slowly as NY realizes that there's a large untapped market online for them.

But again, they're a perfect fit for what I write. I suggest that if you go into e-publishing, you do it with your eyes open and knowing what to expect. And what not to expect.