There it is, your book is finished. You sigh with pleasure: you like it, it’s the fruit of long hours of work, writing, editing, reading, and rereading. And now, it’s there, complete, finally ready to embark on a new adventure: that of its publication and its encounter with readers.
But where do you begin, and who do you contact? How do you publish your text? How do you turn your manuscript into an ebook or a printed book? How do you sell it? What are your options: self-publishing or finding a publisher? Small or large? Which publishing houses should you target? What if there were another solution? & you no longer have to search for a publisher: they find you…
SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK: SELF-PUBLISHING
The emergence of numerous self-publishing platforms now allows any author to edit their own work, publish it and even promote it through social networks, literary review platforms and networks of reviewers.
Thus, everyone has the opportunity to create their own book cover, design their back cover after crafting an engaging and appealing text, generate a barcode, set the price, choose the format, and obtain an ISBN number… In short, to transform a text into a book and publish it, in both digital and print versions, in France and abroad. But this requires the time and skills to do so.
Not all self-publishing platforms offer the same services. They adapt to the author’s support needs and budget. Indeed, the options offered by these platforms are often very expensive. To publish their book, an author can use a simple tool, like Amazon KDP, and do everything themselves, at the cost of a few hours of work (and a few hairs pulled out!). Or, they can choose from services offering enhanced, paid services, such as Librinova, Publishroom, or Iggybook, which will handle the cover design, SEO, promotion, and more.
In reality, all these platforms are essentially distinguished by:
- Access to the listing of your book in ebook (digital version) or paperback (paper version), in online and physical bookstores
- Options for proofreading, editing, layout, promotion, and support throughout all phases of your book’s lifecycle
- The methods of remuneration: price of services, subscriptions, packages, sales commission, etc.
Whatever your ambition and literary project, self-publishing requires a diverse range of skills and a significant time commitment. However, it has the advantage of allowing each author to remain in complete control of their work: from the initial idea to the writing of the story, from the book’s production to its marketing. Importantly, authors also retain ownership of the exploitation rights to their work: they may grant a non-exclusive right to distribute and disseminate their books, but they can still submit them to publishing houses.
To learn more about the workings of self-publishing and everything you need to know to understand this publishing method,
SELF-PUBLISHING RHYMES WITH SELF-PROMOTION
Ultimately, self-publishing is within everyone’s reach, provided that you choose the formula that best suits your budget, your skills (no, not everyone was born with a computer in their hands), and the time you can or want to devote to it.
But one question remains: promoting your book. Listing your work is one thing, telling your family and friends about it is another, but what about its visibility? How will it connect with readers?
Having your book listed on online bookstore websites or on Dilicom doesn’t necessarily make it visible or known to readers. No, it simply means that it exists in a database and that a reader can order it from their bookseller… provided, of course, that their bookseller knows about your book! To achieve this, you’ll need to visit bookstores, convince booksellers to stock your book, and promote it on social media, as word-of-mouth remains a highly effective and proven technique. You’ll also need to find media outlets and reviewers who will post their opinions, and attend book fairs to network with other authors who can share their advice and tips.
Promoting your book on your own is a monumental task. Over 100,000 books are published in France every year. So, without regular, relevant, well-planned, and large-scale promotion, it will be virtually impossible to see your sales take off.
GOOD TO KNOW
Authors’ associations had been waiting for years for an extension of rights for self-published authors. A decree published in August 2020 extends the social security system for artists and authors to self-published writers. Currently, self-publishing requires setting up a sole proprietorship to declare income from book sales.
SUBMITTING ONE’S MANUSCRIPT TO PUBLISHING HOUSES
In addition to, or instead of, self-publishing, you can choose to send your manuscript to publishing houses. Why in addition? Because one doesn’t preclude the other. While it’s true that a few rare publishers reject self-published works, it’s more commonly observed that they have learned, in recent years, to identify emerging self-publishing authors online. Some publishing professionals even hold positions entirely dedicated to this new field! Since the remarkable success stories of Agnès Martin-Lugand, discovered online, and Aurélie Valognes, to name just these two successful authors, talent scouts regularly monitor the bestseller lists on digital platforms.
However, simply “showing yourself off” on social media and using all your communication channels won’t be enough to land a contract with a prestigious publishing house. Only by choosing to send your manuscript to publishers will you significantly increase your chances of being published… and, in doing so, you’ll join the ranks of the eternal optimists for whom the saying “nothing ventured, nothing gained” has become a daily mantra!
Because yes, sending your manuscript to publishers is more of an obstacle course than a walk in the park. And besides, there are a lot, a lot, a lot (a lot) of applicants and very, very, very few acceptances.
But after all, you’re right: if your desire, your dream, your ambition is to work hand in hand with a publisher, then go for it! But not headlong, because be warned, you don’t send your manuscript like you’re throwing a bottle into the sea. No, you have to do your research, learn about each publishing house, its catalog, its philosophy, target them, and then write each one a personalized cover letter that will appeal to publishers or at least pique their interest. And then, after all that, after hours of research and with kilos of paper and a lot of stamps (we’re barely exaggerating), you’ll have to arm yourself with patience, because on average, you’ll get a response within three to six months.
PUBLISHED, AUTHORIZED… AND EVEN “HALF-PAID”!
Before sending your manuscript, you will need to ensure that your text fits within the editorial line of each publishing house you approach.
To do this, you will scour publishers’ websites, ask for reviews, and sometimes even investigate to find out if it is a traditional publishing house, a self-publishing house … or even a so-called “semi-self-publishing” house. Because these are very different things.
The first category, publishers, invest in your book, taking charge of production, marketing, promotion, dissemination, distribution (etc.), while the other two categories, those called author-funded or “semi-author-funded”, require the author to self-finance entirely or partially.
Authors should therefore be wary of these publishing houses, as their operating procedures are not always presented clearly and transparently. Often, authors are told that a reading committee will examine their manuscript and issue a decision within fifteen days—a decision that will invariably be favorable, provided the author has to finance all or part of the book’s production!
1 to 2%: The figure that stings
Only 1 to 2% of manuscripts are accepted by publishing houses in France. Why such a low figure? Primarily because publishers are overwhelmed by demand: the largest houses receive up to ten manuscripts a day. Furthermore, many manuscripts don’t align with the editorial focus of the publishing house to which they were submitted. They were poorly directed, misdirected, or poorly presented.
As a result, on the one hand, authors are discouraged to receive rejection letters as the only response to their efforts, sometimes six months after sending them, and on the other hand, publishers fear missing out on a hidden gem in the piles of manuscripts that inexorably accumulate on their desk.
NEW ALTERNATIVES FOR PUBLISHING A BOOK
In any case, the process of publishing a book is often long and expensive, since 50% of publishers only accept printed and bound manuscripts (study conducted among the top 200 French publishers). Furthermore, this process remains quite unpredictable, as how can you be sure you’ve sent it to the right publisher and how can you know if your manuscript has even been read?
Fortunately, the digitalization of the book world has opened up new perspectives, allowing us to see things a little differently. Some have wondered: what if there were another, simpler, and faster way to find a publisher? What if the traditional route was no longer the only way? What if publishers came to the authors? What if publishers could “shop around” in one place? What if authors could send their manuscripts to several publishers at once with a single click?
SIMPLICITY AND SPEED
This is what the teams at Édith & Nous envisioned and brought to fruition by creating the first digital platform entirely dedicated to connecting authors and publishers.
The principle is simple, for writers as well as for publishing houses.
If I am an author: I upload my manuscript, describe it in a few lines, add keywords and make it accessible to dozens of partner publishers of the platform in a few minutes.
If I’m a publisher: I can quickly and easily sort manuscripts using, among other things, genre and keyword searches (i.e., the themes addressed in the book). Then, when a synopsis appeals to me, I read the first few pages of the manuscript, and the author receives a notification. When I reserve the manuscript to read it in full, the author receives an email, and I can get in touch with them.
THE PUBLISHER MEETS THE AUTHOR
With this system, Édith & Nous reversed the relationship between author and publisher. It is no longer the author who knocks on the publisher’s door to present their manuscript, but the publisher who seeks out one or more new manuscripts to publish from a pool of texts categorized and sorted according to their search criteria and editorial line. Publishers are inundated with manuscripts, but discovering new texts and publishing the best books remains a major challenge in a highly competitive acquisition environment.
Thus, Edith & Nous allows authors to gain visibility with publishing houses and to know when they are being read; and allows publishers to save time by freeing themselves from the time-consuming and low value-added tasks inherent in the search for new manuscripts.
CUSTOMIZED SERVICES
Édith & Nous also offers its own proofreading and editing services, carried out by a large team of professionals including proofreaders and literary consultants from the most prestigious publishing houses. To maximize their chances of success, authors can use the platform to have their manuscripts reviewed and improved based on the informed, objective feedback of literary professionals.
By pre-selecting the publishers to be listed on the platform, the Édith & Nous team also protects authors from the setbacks and unpleasant surprises that can arise from meeting with a publishing house that ultimately offers vanity publishing or a “partial” publishing model. Only traditional publishers are listed on the platform.
In short, with Edith & Nous, authors and publishers have at their disposal the most effective means to quickly find a (quality) publisher/author!
A WORLD IN RAPID TRANSITION
For some years now, the publishing world has been operating on a two-speed model: on the one hand, traditional publishing houses, which continue to support writers all the way to readers and are gradually adapting to digital developments; and on the other hand, self-publishing and the daily emergence of new titles, which has shaken up the publishing industry by giving authors both more freedom and more control over their work.
These two modes of publication do not evolve in parallel or in competition. They sometimes converge and work together, on rare occasions.
Édith & Nous is situated on a bridge between the two modes, offering publishing houses the opportunity to become more responsive in this essential work of discovering new manuscripts, and authors the opportunity to become easily and quickly visible to publishers.
In a future article, we will address the issue of author remuneration by offering a comparison between average remuneration from self-publishing and that from traditional publishing.