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indie publishers

edited September 2015 in - Talkback Help Pages
Hi. Have just heard that indie publishers charge an up front fee to publish your book if it's accepted. Is this true? I've been looking at Accent Press with a view to sending my novel to them but not if I have to pay them up front. Also, has anyone used Accent Press? If so, any helpful hints, please? Thankyou

Comments

  • Della Galton and Jane Wenham-Jones have published with them, they must be (soft of) okay - subject to checking a contract.

    However, two of their books that I've bought contained dreadful errors. I'm not sure what services they actually provide or whether authors submit a ready to publish manuscript.

    http://www.accentpress.co.uk/Subject/1259/Writing-Books.html
  • thanks for that.
  • I'd be very suspicious of a publisher who charged the author. If money is changing hands it should be the other way round surely?

  • Exactly. When it's so much easier these days than it used to be to publish your own work too.
  • You need to get a written list of all that they will do for that fee - not just stick your book out there, which you can do yourself. Will they format for you, edit, sort out the cover and the rights? Think hard about whether you will ever recoup the cost from sales, and if so, how long it will take before you are making a profit. Bear in mind that if they don't offer full editing, you may well have to pay for that yourself too.
    A pay-to-publish company has got its dosh upfront, and they have no incentive to do anything once they've been paid. A publisher that only gets a proportion of receipts has greater need to flog your book so they get their cash - and that means they'll be more inclined to edit too.
  • Yes, I get all that. I've had a reply from Accent Press and they don't charge anything. They seem pretty genuine and I have some knowledge of them.
    Thanks to everyone for your help.
  • That's good news then.

    Do let us know how you get on with them.
  • yes I will, if I decide to send novel to them. It's a choice right now between them and Conville and Walsh.
  • Aren't they agents rather than publishers?
  • Yes. But they offered loads of advice on their website about submitting, which takes away some of the decisions you have to make when writing the dreaded cover letter and synopsis. Plus I'd like to send it to a few agents first, see what the feedback is (if I get any).
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