Get BIG By Going Small – The Top Five Reasons To Publish With A Small Press

By Aaron Ritchey

So once again, I was talking to someone about writing and publishing. Why do I always get myself into these conversations?

Anyhow, we were talking big press, small press, and indie publishing.

Sidenote. I got chastised the other day by someone who said that indie publishing and self-publishing were two different things and that people would be upset if I mixed the two. Indie publishing, this person insisted, was for small independent presses versus the do-it-yourself (DIY) of self-publishing. Um, yeah, anyway, I like indie publishing and self-publishing being synonymous. And besides, most authors I know who have done it themselves start their own independent publishing company that publishes only them. But I digress…

A small press, as I see it, is someone who agrees to publish my book in return for a percentage of the sales.  Like a huge press, they handle editing and cover art and some marketing.  That last piece is critical, as we’ll see.

So my friend is almost done with her book and she has her sights set on the big press, the traditional contract, the literary agent. Which I completely understand. I’ve always fantasized that I’d be at a cocktail party, and I could use the words, “My agent says…”

More and more, I’m thinking the fantasies I have really don’t matter. Reality can’t compete with my imagination, so even when I get what I think I want, it never measures up.

Anyway, I suggested to my friend that if she can’t get into one of the big houses she should try a small press. To which she said, “Why should I? I can do all that myself.”

And that is very true. Indie pub, DIY, you go, girl.

However, I have gone with small presses for all my books so far and here are the top five benefits of going with a small press:

1. I have at least one other person in the world besides myself that likes the project, that has volunteered to spend their precious life’s minutes on my work. That not only is a confidence booster, but it also gives me some street cred. I can’t talk about my agent at the cocktail party, but I can talk about my editor, my publisher, my cover artist, blah, blah, blah.
2. I have at least one other person in the world (generally more) who are talking about my book, promoting my book, giving my book out to others, and generally donning the fur coat and platform shoes to pimp my book. This is also huge. Word-of-mouth sells books. The more mouths wording, the more books sold.
3. I don’t have to do all the editing myself. Yes, I have editors at my small presses, but I also have a freelance copy editor I pay for that all important final polish. You can’t have too many eyes looking at a book and yes, small presses will do editing, but I would also have a friend or three pore over the manuscript looking for typos. In this day and age, editing is everything.
4. I don’t have to do all the cover art stuff myself. Now I like DEVIANTART.COM as much as the next guy, but I didn’t get into the book writing business to do cover art. I’m not good at it. I don’t have an eye for it. And getting help is wonderful. Be warned, however, some small presses are better at cover art than others. Before you sign up, look at the covers and take stock. In this day and age, cover art is everything.
5. Lastly, I like working with a team of people that have skin in the game. Yes, I can hire editors and cover artists for my book, but once I write them their check, they are done. With small presses, the people I work with make money when the book sells so they have a vested interest in putting out quality books and making them shine. On my own, it’s all up to me. And it’s a lonely old world.

So that is my pitch for small presses. I have a few I adore–some I’ve worked with, others not yet.  Here’s a quick list: WordFire Press (and I don’t imagine they’ll be small for long), Entangled (also on the rise), Courtney Literary (Hi, Deb!), Desert Breeze Publishing (Hi, Gail!), and last but not least, Staccato Publishing, home of my third novel, Elizabeth’s Midnight.

Of course there are others.

Do your research! Don’t go into the game unaware. Just like everything else, shop around, talk to authors at that press, and know what the press does and doesn’t do. There are websites and author pages that will give small presses a yeah or a nay. Again, be careful.

Above all, write your book, polish it, and then get your book in front of readers BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY! Big, small, or indie, just get ‘r done.