By I fired my publisher.
There, I said it. “Fired” isn’t really the right term, but I did withdraw my contract.
Here’s the thing, I’m an untested author sitting on a pile of rejections. I got one (1) full manuscript request that also ended in rejection. So when one of the small presses I submitted to offered me a contract and the terms seemed fair for a micropress, I jumped at the opportunity. It seemed like my chance to get my name out there and to get that magical thing all authors want: to see their book in print. I thought that with my book(s) getting reviews and sales, I’d earn some publishing credibility and maybe land a better deal in the future.
It’s been said before and I’ll repeat it here: the wrong contract can do more harm than good. Had I not gotten out when I did, I would have been locked in for five years with a publisher who had no interest in seeing my book succeed.
I’m not going to say this publisher is a scam or doing anything underhanded that authors should be wary of. My contract was clear and included a clause that we could part ways at any time prior to publishing, which was my saving grace. This particular micropress would be a good fit for an author trying to get their backlist back on sale and don’t have the time, energy, or skill to format e-books.
That is a valuable service, but not the right service for me.
Here are some of the warning signs that this partnership wasn’t a good fit:
- Although they said they would provide editorial support, I was expected to make sweeping changes to my manuscript without input. I wasn’t going to get any editorial feedback until about a week before publishing. Although we didn’t get to that point, I can’t imagine the feedback I would have received at such a late date would have been productive toward making my book the best book it can be.
- Marketing. A micropress isn’t generally the place to go if you’re looking for a big, splashy marketing campaign. It’s not uncommon for micro and small presses to rely heavily on their authors’ efforts to spread the word about a release. However, there were a few things I wanted and should have stuck to my guns about, specifically a pre-order period and the distribution of ARCs. As a debut author, those initial reviews are vital and I can’t rely on friends and family to solely provide them.
- Cover design. This ties closely in with marketing. The author rarely gets final say in what their novel’s cover looks like, but they do generally get to provide input on potential designs. I was happy to sign a contract that stipulated I could consult on the cover. That turned out to be less than the truth. When the cover they designed turned out to be not only not reflective of my book, but also a design they’d already used for at least two other authors and three titles at their press, I raised the alarm.
- Professionalism. The publisher-author relationship is just that: a relationship. That relationship is especially important when the author is responsible for so much of the book’s success or failure. When I asked for one change, I was met with, shall we say, resistance. Since both parties stand to make or lose money, the relationship should be a mutual effort to make the book a success. Sometimes that means both parties need to be willing to listen, to bend, to compromise. You’re not always going to be right, but neither are they. The cover was a significant issue for me, not because I was in love with a certain design idea or thought I knew better than them, but because my women’s historical fiction novel told entirely from the perspective of a woman should either have a woman on the cover, or no human figures at all, rather than the pack of men my publisher chose to represent the book. Had they treated me with professional respect, we could have continued to work together. I would have been happy to! Had I been demanding, unreceptive to their experience, they would have been right to draw a line. Not every situation is the same and I chose to rely on my instincts.
All these things added up to a publishing situation that wasn’t right for me or my book. Since I have the skills to format e-books and know a thing or two about marketing, self-publishing would net me more than what I was getting out of the relationship. That’s a choice I made when I weighed the costs and benefits of staying with them, even though it meant walking away from the lone “yes” I’ve received in this whole process.
It’s a risk, but I’m looking at it as an opportunity. I haven’t felt settled with my manuscript and believe strongly that it needs…something to take it to the next level. I just don’t know what that something is, therefore I can’t fix it. I’ve hired a professional editor to go through it with me and I’m honestly excited to get her feedback. The book needs this.
Once those edits are complete, I’ll hit the query trenches again. It might not change anything, it might change everything.
I won’t know unless I try. What I do know is that my original contract was not the right choice and now I have a chance for better opportunities.