A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: Republishing Self-Published Books

 

It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side.

Today's topic is about republishing self-published books. Can you get a traditional contract from a traditional publishing house for a book you have self-published? 

Well, that depends. As the acquisitions editor for a traditional press that also offers hybrid publishing contracts for untested writers, the answer is an across-the-board no, but there are some publishers who might. Let's look at the reasons for and against republishing a self-published book, from a publisher's point of view.

Why a publisher would not want to re-publish a self-published book --

• Typically, an author thinks that he or she has exhausted the available promotional opportunities and believes that a traditional publisher will have deeper pockets and broader networks to make a book with limited sales a best seller.
• Typically, publishers do hav, e deeper pockets or at least better networks; unfortunately, the deeper veins are harder to mine than the surface ones, the ones that come from the author's platform.
• Publishers rely on authors to help sell their books. Publishers cannot do all the selling alone. If the author has reached a point of promotional or platform exhaustion, it will be much more difficult for the publisher to get adequate return on investment, especially when compared with a brand-new book from an author with a platform yet to be exploited. It is a no-brainer which book any publisher would prefer.
• Often, in my experience, an author will paint an untrue or overly rosy picture of the book's sales or reception.
• Actual sales are easily checked out by publishers, and when they do not match the rosy picture described by the author, the publisher, if only hesitant to begin with, will be immediately turned off. Sometimes, authors do not understand what "good sales" really means, and that can be a turn-off also. Yet other times, authors explain low sales by saying that they sold through special direct sales to groups and the like; that does not enhance a publisher's interest in a book because the interest is going to be in how many sales in general can be expected, so any large numbers of special sales are not verifiable and likely not to be taken into the equation by a publisher that might consider re-publishing a book.
• A book that has won awards does not always equate to greater sales. It depends on the award, and the publisher will know what are the easier-to-obtain awards and the more prestigious awards.
• "All my friends, "all other authors," "all literary agents I have shown the book to," and the like do not inspire confidence in a publisher in the likelihood of a book being a good seller. Reviews do--and how many times and by whom a book has been reviewed. If the majority of reviews are simply a recasting of the contents with a rah-rah phrase near the end of the book. This rah-rah phrase often excites authors, but publishers read these things more cautiously. 
• It really does not help to tell one publisher than several publishers are competing to re-publish the book. Most publishers consider that bravado and will step back to let those other (often non-existent) publishers take on the book.
• The first few weeks after a book's release are the best time for sales. Often, self-published authors have already siphoned off most of what can be expected for revenue from a book, and the "exhaustion" of marketing sources is as real for a publisher as for the author.
• Sometimes, self-publishing, authors inadvertently sell all rights to their book to the company that is essentially doing the printing and selling of the book. That is a a problem that has no solution. Authors should never sell all rights or copyright, just specific rights -- and in self-publishing, authors should keep all rights. See an earlier discussion on this topic HERE.

When a publisher might be willing to re-publish a self-published book -- 

• A publisher might be willing to re-publish a book if the book is clearly selling extremely well, and the author is unable to keep up with the mechanics of meeting orders. An example of this (though not a self-published book) is the well-known book, Conversations with God by Walsh. Walsh did not self-publish. A small press did. When the number of book sales overwhelmed the small fulfillment staff, the small publisher took the book to a large publisher and helped the author get a contract, and the rest is history.
• If the author has developed a series of books (often applies to fiction more than non-fiction) and has published several book in the series already, a publisher might be willing to re-publish the first book or two.

There are not many publishers willing to re-publish self-publish books. One list of such publishers and literary agents is HERE.

Lesson for today's Tuesday talk: If you want a contract with a publisher, don't risk self-publishing; it rarely impresses a publisher in the wanted way.
Publishers need to know that they can reasonably expect enough return on investment to cover their production and marketing outlay. They tend to assume that self-published books do not have enough life left in them for that.

 

Read more posts about publishing HERE.

The Tuesday talks reflect real discussions between the management of MSI Press LLC and our own authors or those would-be authors who come through our doors but don't make the cut--yet. If you have a topic you would like addressed, leave the question in the comment section. Chances are, in our 17 years of publishing first-time and experiences authors, we have had a conversation with one of our authors that we can share with you.