Ebook Publishers Who Will Make Authors More Money Than New York Publishers

Enspiren Press and Grace Publishing are not predominantly ebook publishers, in fact, we only stepped into the Ebook ring 2 months ago.

However, I know many authors who make more than $10 000 a year - and are 100% ebook authors. This doesn't mean that you can't get their book in print, it just means that they do not waste time trying to get their books into bookstores.

I am writing this post in response to trick fall's post about 5 big publishers who can offer an alternative to NY. The only thing I found 'twisted' in that article is that it makes it look like the publisher is the driving force behind book sales - - this has not been true for about 10 years. Authors sell books.

Grisham bought all copies of The Pelican Brief from the discount warehouse and sold them out of the trunk of his car. Anne Rice also spends most of her time promoting her books - most big authors do.

However, if you have a book and you want a publisher with major distribution and a proven track record, hen this list will help you. I have made 'bold' font any publisher that I can vouch for.

Publishers and retailers that contributed to the survey are: Abingdon Press/Cokesbury, Amazon.com, Inc., AOL Time Warner Book Group, Barnes & Noble.com, Bookselecta.com Ltd, Dell Magazines, Double Dragon Publishing, eBooks Corporation Ltd, Electric eBook Publishing, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc., E-Reads, Fictionwise (EnspirenPress is sold through this site and they do very well), Inc., Franklin Electronic Publishers, Hard Shell Word Factory, HarperCollins Publishers, Houghton Mifflin Company, Humana Press Inc, Laridian, Inc., Mind Like Water, Inc., Mobipocket, Mushroom Publishing, NUMILOG, OverDrive, Inc., Palm Digital Media, powells.com, RAND, Random House, Inc., Simon & Schuster, Spes Editorial, St. Martin's Press, The McGraw-Hill Companies, University of California Press, Walker & Company and Zondervan.

Remember that this is only ebooks - for example -

Company North American Sales (Books, Media plus cofee, etc:-)
Barnes&Noble / B. Dalton1 $4.61 billion
Borders / Waldenbooks $3.41 billion
Amazon Media (excludes electronics, services - books, includes books, music, DVDs) $3.58 billion (2006 was the first year Amazon outsold Borders in North America)
BN.com $433 million (Site also used to promoted stores)

Total Book Sales: $12.03 billion

So, if you go with a smaller publisher you want to ask them who they collaborate with. IE: Enspiren press collaborates with Amazon.com, Barns & Noble.com, Ebookmall, Moipocket, Borders, Target, and we are distributed through Ingrams and Gardners.

Don't measure a small publisher by the number of authors and books - or their contract.... ask about their distribution.

Where to Find a Publisher

This is a cross post from a writer I've known for a long time Trick Falls at www.communati.

You're almost done polishing the manuscript for your first novel. Now what?

If you've been following the advice of pros like Donald Maass (Writing the Breakout Novel), then the names of prospective publishers will have been dancing in your head for months.

If you are already widely known and have a page-turner manuscript that will sell 50,000 copies or more, then you might contact (through an agent) one of the five publishing conglomerates: Bertlesman, Time Warner, News Corporation, Disney, or Viacom/CBS. This group of five controls 80% of book sales.

If you've been around for a while, you'll see that a lot has changed in publishing, including the fact that most of the grand old U.S. publishing houses have been bought out and merged into some very big fish.

Bertlesman, for example bought Random House in 1998. This is the largest trade book publisher. You'll find the remnants of previously independent publishers listed as imprints or divisions in the Berlesman stable, including Crown, Doubleday, Knopf, Ballantine, Bantam, Dell and Pantheon.

I always enjoy reading Janice Harayda's One-Minute Book Reviews Blog, but this week's series of posts about independent presses has been especially interesting.

She lists (with comments and links) five great independent presses. If you don't think a bean-counter conglomerate house is the place for you, consider one of these:

Dalkey Archive Press - avant-garde books

CavanKerry Press - a great place for poets

Academy Chicago - excellent fiction and nonfiction

Milkweed Editions - largest nonprofit literary publisher

David R. Godine - I like Harayda's comment about Godine: "Dr. Phil and Howard Stern don’t stand a chance at his firm, and if Lindsay Lohan writes an autobiography, she’ll have to pray that Simon & Schuster will take it on. Instead of chasing celebrity tell-alls or advice manuals, Godine has made a grail of producing books that are as intelligent as they are beautiful."

Among the interesting publishing statistics on the website of book promotion guru Marilyn Ross is this comment: "In November of 2003 it was reported that the independent and small publisher base had grown at an annual rate of 21% since 1997."

It's nice to know, as Ross reports, that there are between 300 and 400 mid-sized publishers out there. One of them might just be the new home for your finished novel.

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How to Write Great Romance

49% of the books sold are romance.
Why? Romance feeds a need in people, and it lets them express emotions they could not normally express. Statistics report that women who read romance novels have sex 70% more than non-romance readers.

However, it is hard to have a romance novel published. Many writers despair of ever becoming published - that is because a romance novel needs more than a great story. It needs a romance. Now, many of you just dismissed this article, but take a moment to read on.
Do you really know what romance it?

A romance novel is not about the emotions, it is about the emotions it incites in the story’s reader. But, if you ask most writers how to stir emotions, they cannot answer. Most romance authors cannot even write out a story arc of their romance. I found this while teaching my advanced romance writing course at www.writersonlinecourses.com.

There is an assignment that asks writers to outline the romance in their stories. The answer is usually something vague like, she meets him and they need to fight to save the town. They like each other, and after a business meeting, realize that they love each other.

That is not romance. In fact, it isn’t even realistic.

Romance is something you do. It is ‘actions’ one person does to show the other how much they care for them.

It involves:

Holding hands
Long walks
Quiet talks
Cuddling
Sharing secrets
Protecting

There is a pattern that people fallow when falling in love. It doesn’t matter what culture, where in the world, the pattern does not vary. Yes, it involves eye contact - but it is far more complex than a single glance. It involves a set up, an exchange of body language to ensure the male will not be rejected.

One of the biggest mistakes that romance writers make is having the male make the first move. In all cultures, the female makes the first move - even if the male encouraged the contact. Then, the female will often go through a series of situations that are meant to see if the male will stick around.

This mating dance was born thousands of years ago when women needed to ensure that men would stay around and provide for their children.

Many writers do not pay much attention to aspects like these. They are too focused on what turns them on, and what they like. Very few writers take the time to learn what the general public wants. It is so easy. Magazines are full of list of ‘what men really want,’ or ‘how to make her fall in love.’ There are also tests ‘are you really in love.’

All of these give writers clues into what touches women’s hearts and makes them ‘feel’ the romance in a story. These are powerful tools that writers can use to write a romance - a real page turner - that will make you famous.