SmithWrite.net
Writer in Residence: Publishing
The great adventures of life begin in imagination!
                      
The poetry and fiction of Rob Smith


      There are ten large publishers in the world; six are in the U.S.  
    These ten publishers capture about 88% of the market, and
    stock the bookshelves in most retail stores.  Additionally, there
    are 300-400 medium-sized publishers.  When you add in small
    presses, however, there are more than 86,000 publishers in the
    United States. (This number includes individuals who self-
    publish.)  It doesn't take a calculator to figure that, in spite of the
    large selection you find at local bookstores, most of the titles
    are simply not there!  The truth is that  80% of available titles
    come from small presses or self-publishers.  It is estimated that
    17 new books go to print every hour of every day!
                                                                    (Source: BookStatistics.com)

         My fiction publisher, Drinian Press, and my poetry publisher,
    Bird Dog, are two of the 85,990. Writers are paid in books, a
    certain percentage of each book sale, and the ability to buy
    books at half price (which can be resold as long as the author
    collects the sales tax and reports the income to Uncle).  So, the
    punishment for writing a book is having to sell it afterward!

         This is a pretty somber beginning for would-be authors who
    envision making a lot of money by writing a bestseller.  It is less
    discouraging for those of us who, like most writers before us,
    write the book with no prospect of anything other than the
    satisfaction of seeing words on a page.  A novel can take years
    to write. It can also take years to find and agent or publisher
    who believe enough in the book to risk sending it to a printing
    press.  It is rewarding to any writer when the ideas of the mind
    become a volume in the hand.  Our next thought is: "How can I
    find someone to read this?"

        It's true that not every new book is a winner, but some are!  
    When you read a small press book that you like, buy another
    copy for a reading friend.  Suggest it to the local library.  
    Become a revolutionary, an advocate for the unwashed hordes
    of authors doomed to a life of obscurity on their lonely
    pilgrimage toward finding readers! (Okay, this is a little dramatic,
    but remember I'm a novelist, and if you've gotten this far, you
    are a reader!  The two go together!)

         Why just follow the masses down the bestseller list when you
    can blaze a trail through small presses?
"The punishment for writing a book is
having to sell it afterward!"
Click on the icon
to visit these
publishers' sites.
My Fiction
My Poetry
Buy Drinian
Press books:
(Click)

from: Amazon

from: Barnes
and Noble
Rob was recently named: 2009-2010 Poet Laureate of Huron, Ohio