"How to Get a Book Published in
7 Easy Steps!"

But first let me tell you the story about how Atypical Publishing came to be. It all started when a friend and former client asked me for help in getting her first novel published. So we set out and contacted everyone on my rolodex who might be of assistance. Literary Agents who I knew or knew of were contacted. I knew from experience that securing an agent for my author was a numbers game. Contact enough agents and eventually one of them will say yes. I must say that formula does not give me a great deal of confidence in the agent who says yes or in my author’s ultimate success from that agent’s efforts.

Then there is the matter of fees. The fees from the “interested” agents were as varied as the weather in New York City. Agent “W” was willing to charge a fee of 15% of the US sales and 20% of the international sales plus expenses which seemed to be a fairly common fee structure of the more reputable agents.

The less reputable agents ranged from bad to worse. One agent charged a fee due on submission which to me sounded an awful lot like a reading fee. Another charged a fee which was due on submission with the caveat that my author would receive an evaluation of her work plus marketing advice from the agent. Still another agent charged a flat fee which was due on the signing of the contract with the agent. Agent “X” wanted a flat fee which was to be billed on a monthly basis. Agent “Y” wanted a per-submission fee which entailed charging my author a fee for every submission to a publisher they make. Wow! Now that formula doesn’t cause me any concern. I mean, why would I think that the business model in this formula was simply to submit more frequently to generate more fees? Agent “Z” wanted to charge by the hour which is a recipe for financial disaster for any author. Another agent asked my author for an editing fee prior to his agreeing to representation. Finally, one agent actually tried to pressure my author to buy a laundry list of products and services to secure representation. Now, as a retired attorney, I am not telling you that all literary agents are suspect or worse. Many are fine representatives of their profession. But given the difficulties in securing an agent, it is far too likely that an author can fall prey to some of the less scrupulous agents.

We then undertook the ponderous, lonely and often frustrating journey of trying to secure a publishing contract. My author faced many obstacles, I told her, not the least of which was that her chosen genre was an area of fiction some might shy away from and others might find offensive. Why, you ask? My close friend and former client is an author of erotic fiction, specifically, interracial erotic fiction. So together, we ventured into the strange and surreal world of traditional publishers. We discovered that of the publishers who would consider publishing her novel would offer a royalty rate of ONLY 6% on the sales of her paperback books. In addition, many of the contracts included a stipulation that if her book didn’t earn back her advance, she owed them! Plus she was responsible for promoting her own book, which in her case would probably mean hiring a publicist. As my author quickly discovered, the business model for authors using the traditional publishing method is not a ticket to “easy street”, unless you are one of the rare few who have a bestseller. To put it bluntly, over 95% of all manuscripts submitted for traditional publisher consideration are rejected. That’s a 95% rejection rate. In other words, only 5 manuscripts out of 100 are ever published by the mainstream publishing companies. This fact doesn’t bode well for your dreams of becoming a published author using the traditional model.

Considering the market for her genre, the numbers quickly showed that under the traditional publishing equation: 2 + 2 = 5. Call me old fashioned, but I strongly believe that the author or artist as creator of the product should be the one receiving the lion share of the economic pie.

The second major hurdle we encountered was who has creative control. Almost two-thirds of all publishers did not give her the final approval on copyediting. I thought this is ridiculous! Who knows this story best, the author or the editor? I’m a strong believer that great editing is an essential element in creating a great book. But the final word on the book’s content must reside with the author. After all, it’s the author’s name, reputation, and blood, sweat and tears which created this tome. At least one-third gave her no say in the book’s promotion. It was apparent to even the casual observer that traditional publishers were not prepared to offer my client any measure of control over her own book.

How is an author able to profit from her own book if she has no say? It is my learned opinion that an author or musician knows their market better than publishers because after all, they are their own market. We also discovered from my research that the common complaints by so many authors published in the traditional manner are:

1. Neither the author nor anyone he/she knows can find the book - anywhere;
2. The publisher doesn't appear to be doing anything to market the book;
3. The author hates the title and jacket;
4. The editing has totally changed the author’s vision;
5. No one at the publishing house is listening to the author. In fact the author feels that he/she doesn't even exist in the eyes of the publishing company.

So we were left with a dilemma on how to proceed...

I had undertaken this journey with my friend and I was determined not to let her fail. I promised her that I would see her published and was determined to fulfill my promise. So I decided that if the traditional publishing method was unyielding and too cumbersome to afford her with any measure of success, we would move to a less traditional method.  A method commonly referred to as self publishing or publishing on demand.

It was at this moment that Atypical Publishing was born.  A self publishing company born out of necessity committed to respecting the author. Atypical Publishing is a publisher on demand who affords the author the rare opportunity to be in complete control of their own work. The author’s decisions about his or her book are paramount. While we offer advice to our authors on cover design and typesetting, the ultimate decision rests with the author.

We decided that if we were to publish a prospective author’s work we would never charge a royalty. Like most self publishing companies today, we charge a fee to setup and publish the work. And like most of our competitors, the author is under no obligation to buy any books. Buy one book, 50 or 5000 or none at all, it’s your choice. Our contract is non-exclusive which means that you can leave us and go to another publisher at any time and WITHOUT PENALTY.

But now the game has changed!

No longer do have to be “fed” by some publisher without concern for YOU. At Atypical Publishing we are teaching you how to catch fish (buyers of your book) online. Simply put, together we are creating something remarkable! The game will NEVER be the same again!

I invite you to review our website, view our articles, blog posts, and observe our growth over the coming months and years. As our library grows so will our list of satisfied authors who like my friend have been frustrated with the traditional publishing model and seek more control over their work.  On behalf of everyone at Atypical Publishing, let me say thank you for reading this introduction to a new vision in publishing. The Atypical vision!

WARNING!

At Atypical Publishing, we’re committed to our vision of what the publishing model should look like!  We are ready to publish your work, and we'll do everything we can to ensure your success both today and in the future. But after you fill in your name and your email address, you MUST confirm your free subscription in the confirmation email you'll get in a few moments.

Be sure to put down your best email address because on top of all the other information you don’t want to miss any portion of the e-course, How to Get Your Book Published nor the Atypical Newsletter. Don’t worry I hate spam just as much as you and your email won’t be rented, traded or sold.