Welcome to the Little A to Z

I cannot remember whether, in those first days, I imagined my musings on parenting turning into a real book. I certainly didn’t have a clear game plan when I finally took the leap of faith to send some sample pages out to publishers. Over the course of the two years it took to get from manuscript to book, I discovered the importance of things like book distributors, meta data, and the shocking truth behind how to get that “bestseller” label.

I am part of a growing cohort of authors choosing to publish independently; in my case through a hybrid publishing house. Hybrid houses, as I would learn, are not the same as self-publishing services. With self-publishing you are doing pretty much everything yourself, often with limited templates for page layouts and cover design. You are also left to try and distribute the book yourself, which as I would learn later, is pretty much the kiss of death for any author. To be successful you need marketing and distribution behind you, and I am grateful that I had those services (and so much more) when I signed with She Writes Press. 

She Writes Press excels at the hybrid model, having won recognition for its efforts to nurture female talent. What I have come to appreciate are their many in-house services traditional publishers do (copyediting, graphics and book covers, distribution and, but to a lesser extent, promotion). Regular author calls are organized to keep authors on track for publication. But unlike a traditional publisher, hybrids do not front all the costs. The author puts in a significant part. In return the author will benefit from a higher royalty on eventual book sales. The model is inspiring as it allows publishers to choose manuscripts based on their merits and not on their marketability alone. This, Brooke Warner, Publisher of She Writes Press, passionately explains in her Ted Talk...