I already have my first book out, self published through Kindle Direct, and the second one getting worked on to publish. I was thinking about getting my work published through a real publishing house. The problem I have is I don't have the money to pay anyone to do so, including am agent. I have done some searching and found some publishing houses that don't require an agent and that you submit your manuscript yourself, but I was wondering if anyone has every done this with any luck. Before I put it on Kindle Direct it was accepted by a publisher, but they required money up front, which I did not have. So can some help me out here? Maybe any name of publisher that dont require an agent or should I just keep plunking away on Kindle Direct?
Vanity publishers ask for cash up front, agents and "real" publishing houses don't. An agents fee is based on your advance; the going rate is 15%. So if you find an agent, they'll find a publisher for you and negotiate an advance. So if the publisher they find pays a $1000 advance, the agent would give you a cheque for $850. Yes the money goes to the agent first, but if you're not comfortable with that you can discuss that with them. I personally like it that way because it means less paperwork come tax season. If you get accepted directly from a publisher, you'll have to negotiate yourself, but you get that extra $150 dollars, and the publisher makes money from actually selling your book, so there's incentive to get it out there. If you sell your book to a publishing house, you will likely sell more copies through them than you will through Kindle (statistically speaking, there are outliers) but it's still kind of unlikely you'll outsell your advance (but again; outliers). When it the name of an actual publisher, that really depends on you, your book, and what you want for it. Different houses specialize in different styles and genres, and sell to different markets so you'll really have to do your research before deciding who to sent it to. Tor would be my go to for sci-fi and fantasy, but I don't think it would be a good fit some of the borderline fantasy stuff I've written, there are a couple of smaller publishing houses that specialize in LGBT or other focused genres of lit that are generally more eager to accept material in their wheelhouse, but generally give smaller advances (if any) and reach smaller audiences overall. This is why I prefer agents. They know way more about the market than I probably ever will and usually have some kind of rapport with people in more than one house, but even with them you have to do your research. Bing it and see what shows up.
So the agent doesnt get paid unless you get paid? I guess I always thought they would get money from you no matter what happened.
Nope. It's commission. If they accept your book, they've got a lot of incentive to find a publisher and get you a good deal, because if they don't, they're out of luck, too.
I got all three of my books accepted by smaller publishers by myself with no agent. I have had much more luck getting publishers than I have getting an agent!
Depends on your genre. There are some large fantasy/SF houses that accept unsolicited manuscripts. There may be for other genres. I just don't follow them. If you go into the slush pile, expect a long wait for an answer. Smaller publishers don't require agents. However, not all small publishers are 'created equal.' Just as having a poor agent can hurt a writer's career, so can going with an inept small publishing house.
