A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: Types of Publishers and Choosing among Them (Excerpt from Publishing for Smarties)
Types of Publishers and Choosing among Them Excerpt from Publishing for Smarties Publishers differ in size and readership. Some of the ways in which size and readership cause publishers to differ include the following: advances; royalties; financial investment; author discounts and complimentary copies; editing of books; Books in Print (Bowker/ISBN); Library of Congress (LOC): copyright and the LOC number; book reviews; wholesaling & distribution; bookstores; advertising; marketing & sales; and keeping books in print. Small presses will handle many of these items differently from large presses. Vanity publishers take a very different approach; of course, with self-publishing much does not apply because you are on your own. The question as to how long it will take from the time you contact a publisher, get a contract, go through the preproduction and production processes, and end up with a book in hand is answered in so many different ways that it is no