I write a book - and find a publisher or two

For many authors, finding the right publisher is the biggest challenge they face. Sometimes this is due to the author himself, who simply offers his opus to all suitable and many unsuitable publishers.

Which publisher is my book suitable for?

As Publisher I can tell you a thing or two about it. For example, we were offered a novel with a „depressive-schizoid tendency“ (honest!), as well as lots of poems, biographies, children's books, non-fiction books on PC skills for senior citizens and much more - regardless of the fact that we don't even publish such things.

In most cases, you don't get the impression that the authors have spent even two minutes thinking about who they are writing to and for whom. They tend to ask: „How do I find (any) publisher?“ instead of: „Which publisher is right for my book and why?“, which I think is a far more promising question.

Publisher and author must fit together like glove and hand. Interlocking, complementing each other. In the best-case scenario, this can be a symbiosis that benefits all sides - the author and publisher and, of course, the readers, who receive good books through successful co-operation. At least that's the idea.

Minimise risk

As a publisher, I practically have a publishing house on board, so the question of where I wanted to publish my new book was quickly answered. The good life is a good fit for us - it picks up on a topic that we have already published on - titles by other authors and also by me. And of course we chose the style and design so that it fits in with the other titles.

Being an author who is also a publisher is not just a positive thing. It also means that I bear the entire risk myself:

• The time risk - am I investing my time in the right place?
• The cost risk for graphics, design, printing, etc.

As my team and I were going through a very challenging time financially at the publishing house, I decided to mitigate the risk through crowdfunding. I really appreciate crowdfunding.

It's a fantastic platform for social projects to find like-minded people and make something possible together. For example, I have the money for several One hundred fruit trees in Afghanistan were raised through crowdfunding. And I am delighted that many families now have more food to eat.

I also like crowdfunding as a way of testing product ideas. If you can't get 100 people excited about a project, how can you expect to find a few thousand buyers later? So I decided that I would use Crowdfunding at least the printing costs This would minimise the risk, which was not exactly small with time, graphics and design for a project of this scope. It worked out.

The surprise - a second publisher

When I was already in the middle of writing, the publishing director of another publishing house liked the idea, the concept and the design so much that he wanted to offer it to his customers too. I agreed. A partnership between two publishers always offers the opportunity to reach more people together than one publisher alone.

In addition, a larger print run also means that the production costs per unit are somewhat lower. Also good. And so it is that I have found a publisher without searching and the book is now not only available at Down to Earth, but will also be published by SCM. Also nice.

Tip for authors

Professional author coach Jörg Achim Zoll describes successful strategies, how to take a targeted approach to finding a publisher and what else is important when publishing in the Quadro Successful writing.