I recently sent a copy of our standard contract to an author and received one of the three most likely responses. Most of the time, the response is “It’s in the mail” or “Could we tweak X clause to reflect Y?” This time, though, I received the time-honored response: “You are full of the crazy and trying to rip me off.”

It’s described differently by different authors, most of whom are very new to the business and don’t know what they ought to be asking, but many of the questions boil down to “You are trying to cheat me.” Most of the “questions” in these emails should have already been answered by an author who has done his or her homework. Instead, they’ve gone to someone else to find out what questions they should be asking themselves or determining the answer through their own research before ever submitting their work, and are asking me after being accepted. These are the most common questions I get in the “rip off” response:

1. Why do I even want to be published by you?

2. The contract says X, but I don’t believe it. I’ve been told you won’t do that.

3. I’d like to ask for Z, but I know you won’t give it to me because you want to cheat me.

4. Your website has free stories on it. You’re going to give away my story too.

5. If you do charge for my story, who will bother to pay for it?

6. If you put my story in an anthology, are all the other stories going to suck?

7. You say I have to comply with tax law, but I just know you’re not going to pay me so why should I?

8. Are you going to take my story and edit it without my approval?

9.  Nobody reads ebooks. Why should I be published that way?

Most of the questions I get can be split into three categories:1. “How does this work?” questions (distribution/ebooks/the editing process);

2. “How do I know you have integrity?” questions (taxes/editorial standards/royalty payments); and

3. “Why should I be published by a small press?” questions (Who are you people? Who would buy from you?).

I’ll gladly answer the first type of question. I like being helpful and making sure that everyone involved in a project has all the information they need. People without all the information they need get cranky, including me, and I don’t think it’s a good idea for cranky people to work together.

The second type of question is a tough one, and really, the best way to answer it is to talk to the authors already signed with the publisher you’re considering. You may not get a straight answer to a straight question (does he or she have integrity?) since, if the publisher isn’t ethical, the author may fear reprisal. However, even with that fear, you’ll probably get an answer, and if it isn’t a resounding “yes”, that should be good enough.  If you ask revealing questions, you’ll probably get closer to a real answer (What was the editing process like? How fast does your publisher or editor answer your emails? Are you encouraged to ask questions?)

I can’t adequately answer the third type of question for you. There are plenty of resources on the web and that question has been asked often enough that you ought to be able to find an answer that will satisfy you with a quick Google search.  Sometimes the answer is prestige, a publisher who is sympatico with your style or genre, speedier appearance on the shelves, and/or knowing that someone besides your mom likes your writing enough to invest in it–and sometimes the answer is “I shouldn’t be” and that’s okay too.

However you arrive at your answers, though, please be sure that all of your questions (except publisher specific “how does this work?” questions)  are answered to your satisfaction before you submit.  Don’t submit to a publisher if you don’t believe they’re ethical. Don’t submit to a publisher if you don’t think they’d be a good fit for you. Trust me. These things never end well.

If you have a random question for a small press publisher, please feel free to ask it here. I’ll do my best to answer. Though, be warned: if you ask me if I have integrity, I will, of course, say yes.

 (Edited for clarity and greater detail.)

Think about the last book you picked up. Chances are, somewhere on the front of it, especially if the author was relatively unknown, someone famous wrote something nice about the story you were holding in your hand.

“Brilliant! The next great American Vampire novel!” Famous Author

After you dismiss the rumor about how Famous Author is paid to do that, shed the bad advice you’ve most likely read somewhere. That is, “You should never pay for a blurb.”

How in heaven’s name did the unknown author get the famous author to say that? It would mean the famous author read it! (Absolutely, entirely, right now, dismiss from your mind any rumor you may have heard about how Famous Author really doesn’t read the book; he or she is just paid to say that. That’s unprofessional behavior and unlikely; a rumor probably started by those sour grapes people who can’t get a blurb.)

As everyone knows, getting anyone to read something by an unknown author is an uphill slog, and the hill gets steeper the more impact the reader may have on the author’s career. You finally got a publisher to read your novel, maybe you even have an agent, which means you’ve convinced two people to read your work and they liked it!

You probably don’t absolutely need one of those blurbs, but it’s a hefty piece of artillery when you’re selling your book. So, how do you get one? Ask.
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