The Pros & Cons of Independent Publishing

Welcome a New Breed of Independent Publishing Houses.

May 11, 2009 Stephanie Williams

For writers now is a very exciting time to take a look at the publishing possibilities out there.

With large publishing houses becomes harder and harder to crack it seems that a new breed of small, independent publishing houses are set to take the publishing world by storm.

Of course there are pitfalls in contacting these new businesses. As in any industry there are con artists waiting to take advantage of new, unpublished writers who are seeking success. The golden rule is simple – under no circumstances should you be paying to submit to a publishing house. Submission is free. Acceptance is based on performance, suitability and percentage of work required!

The Cons of Independent Publishing Houses

The main negative side of an independent publishing house is their budget. They will not have the mammoth amounts of money to invest that the larger publishers do. As a result of this they will take on a smaller number of projects every year and it can be harder to crack them because they have to be 100% certain that the submission is right for them.

Of course because they accept unsolicited manuscripts then it is guaranteed that thework will be looked at rather than being dismissed with a blank compliment slip and no words of encouragement.

The other negative is that as they have a small budget they may rely on the writer to do some of the marketing themselves. Why wouldn’t a writer want to! This is barely a negative at all. Independent Publishing House, Rebel Books LLP, vow to work hard to market any publications they produce and will help their authors set up readings, events or whatever else is required.

The Pros of Independent Publishing Houses

A writer is targeting a newly formed organization that is actively seeking submissions. This immediately gives the writer an advantage. They are sending work off to a place where it will be read and assessed. A lot of independent publishing houses will provide feedback to the writer even upon rejection.

With the smaller publishing houses there is a face and a name to deal with. Relationships are forged early on in the process and extremely quickly. Rebel Books LLP has two main Partners who oversee every element of their publishing company including responding personally to emails and providing writers who submit work with a short report.

Every Company Starts Somewhere

Of course what is most important to remember is that every publishing house started out once as a small new company. When Penguin was first created who could have imagined that it would have become the household name that it is today? A writer could find themselves to be one of the first published writers by a successful publishing company that is taking the reading world by storm.

There are few opportunities around these days and independent publishing houses aren’t afraid to try something new. A lot of them are putting together anthologies of short stories which are frowned upon by the larger publishing houses but actually become extremely well crafted opportunities for new writers to get work in print.

The copyright of the article The Pros & Cons of Independent Publishing in Writing Fiction is owned by Stephanie Williams. Permission to republish The Pros & Cons of Independent Publishing in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Rebel Books LLP Logo