#14 in an Occasional Series on writing non-fiction
If you are an aspiring novelist, this is where your dreams can die. A minority of people who start writing a novel succeed in completing a readable book, and only a fraction of those will find a traditional publisher. Sadly, unless well written and edited to high standards a self-published novel only adds to what has been cruelly called “the tsunami of crap”.
The non-fiction author can approach publication in a calmer manner. If you have written a book on a fresh subject, appropriately illustrated and supported by the right amount of ‘back end’ material there is little reason you will not eventually be published.
Most literary agents are not interested in non-fiction unless you already have a name as (say) a TV chef or a leading historian. Unlike fiction, most publishers do not require submission by an agent when considering non-fiction proposals and you are invited to submit your proposal directly.
Starting at the top, The Writers and Artist’s Yearbook lists mainstream British and Irish publishers and the material they handle. Many are now bundled up into the big publishing houses, but many still accept direct submissions. There is a specialist fringe of mid-sized publishers who state exactly what they are looking for: folklore, ecology, Irish voices, women’s lived experiences or whatever. If this is what you are writing you have an opening, but it is pointless to send in submissions outside a publisher’s stated themes.
Browse your local bookshops and make note of companies who publish books of the type you are writing.
Some mainstream publishers employ pro-forma proposal forms which they will send back after your initial enquiry. It may ask for your proposed title, length of book, number of illustrations, a summary, a chapter breakdown, where it fits in the market plus information about yourself and your track record. It is good to have a visible presence at this point, such as a website or blog or dedicated social media page to show you are a serious writer. The publisher may initially only want this information, not your finished book. Publishers have their own ideas on format, length, illustration so may not want to see your final manuscript at first approach. You should therefore frame your proposal with all the likely questions in mind.
It can be a good idea to engage with a publisher at an early stage. When I was Director of Guernsey Museums I was from time to time approached by local people wanting to turn their ideas into a book. If the idea had legs, I worked with the writers to transform their raw concept into books relevant to Guernsey culture that could be published under the Museum’s imprint. This is another reason you should know who already publishes for your intended market.
I’m going to be honest; the money can be rubbish. A huge number of non-fiction books are competing for attention and your subject may be so specialised that projected sales will be in the hundreds, not thousands. If you are writing for children, the bland truth is that there are far fewer children in each target age band than there are adults. Children’s books also tend to be cheaper, so the percentage-based royalty is also less. If you are writing in English it is worth considering that the US book market is six times the size of that in the UK, if you can overcome the practical issues of marketing and distributing overseas.
When writing fiction there used to be a golden rule that you should NEVER pay a publisher to put your book into print. Capital letters, bold and underlined. ‘Vanity publishing’ is where you will be told that your book is ground-breaking but… £5,000 will be needed upfront and despite the publisher’s promises there is no real guarantee that your book will be properly marketed. You will usually be asked to surrender worldwide rights in all formats as part of this agreement. This rule has been modified, with caveats, due to the growth of hybrid publishing discussed below.
Non-fiction is a different game because the motives for writing and publishing it are so much more varied than with fiction. Publication is an obligation in many academic subjects, including my own field of archaeology. If research is not published, it may as well have never happened. You may plan to use the publication to build up your CV or bolster the reputation of the organisation you work for. You may owe it to your ageing relatives to publish that family history while they are all alive to read it. You may be determined to have your painstaking research published, regardless of cost, because it has been such a momentous undertaking. Indeed, you may feel that your evidence that a conspiracy of Lizard Overlords is taking over the world is so important that it has to be published. Commercial considerations can fall away with non-fiction.
Some publishers will require subventions if the cost of producing a book is high versus the likely returns via retail sales. This is not the same as ‘vanity publishing’, but any request for a subvention needs to make sense. Archaeology textbooks for example require a lot of line illustrations, tables, indexes and proofing and will always be slow sellers. Art and photography books are hungry of expensive plates and can have a limited market. In these cases, it is best if you can establish a partnership with an institution or commercial body. A university or similar outfit will often write off the costs of supporting a publication as part of its mandate.
You may be able to match a sponsor to the project, say a local arts commission or a company with a social responsibility budget. Aligning your book proposal with the objectives of potential funding bodies is a good move. My book on Peter le Vasseur’s environmental art was principally supported by Aspida, a company specialising in green finance, topped up by assistance from the Guernsey Arts Commission. A subvention will also serve to reduce the cover price of your book to a level people are willing to pay – although that will also reduce any percentage-based royalty you receive. When looking for a commercial partner, personal contacts are crucial. If you scattergun sponsorship proposals to big companies or wealthy people at random your chance of success is close to nil.
The option to self-publish is greater than it has ever been, and if your book is primarily text-based this can be straightforward. The more complex your book is in terms of illustrations, the more you need to think about its layout and the quality of the final printed or e-book product. If your hiking guide to the Appalachian Trail is to be of any use, the maps, diagrams and photographs need to be first rate.
Remember that self-publishing means that you are not only an author but also a publisher, distributor, PR agent, marketeer, financial backer and warehouse; your attic can become full of unsold books. Thoroughly read up and research on the potential and pitfalls of self-publishing before you choose this route. You will need to buy an ISBN for your self-published print book so that shops and libraries’ stock-control systems will work, and the book is discoverable online. Normal practice is to buy a batch of numbers.
A growing number of reputable author services companies can assist you with such things as editing, proofing, cover design and e-book formatting. You will be charged appropriately, generally based on the word count of your book and the complexity of the work you expect them to do. This is not to be confused with vanity publishing as your book still ends up as a self-published work where you retain all the rights and royalties. You may also need the help of an author services company to get your manuscript in a fit state to offer to a small press.
Do your research before parting with any money, and if possible secure personal recommendations when picking between service providers. The internet is full of people offering services at impossibly low prices but expect to get what you pay for. Fraudsters posing as editors, cover designers, publishers or marketeers are rife online, so check the bona fides of any contact carefully. The use of AI tools is also growing and you need to be comfortable with the extent to which AI is being used, for example in cover design or editing.
Hybrid publishing is where you contract with a publisher to undertake certain parts of the publication process – sometimes all of it – for which you pay. Pick-and-mix contracts may include editing, proofing, laying out, cover design, e-book creation and physical book printing. At the end of the process your book comes out under their imprint, with an agreed royalty share, but crucially you retain control over the intellectual property. This is the important distinction between hybrid and vanity publishing. Much of the marketing and promotion will still fall to you, although some hybrids do have their own marketing channels as an add-on service which you will need to pay for. Again, look very carefully at your contract in terms of what the company is committing to do and what you are giving up in return.
Small presses are one step removed from self-publishing, where the publisher will carry cost of production. They can be a good choice for the non-fiction author, as they often specialise in a particular niche and so have a recognisable brand your target audience and bookshops will identify. However, they can have very limited marketing resources, so a good deal of the effort of pushing the book out to the public may rest with you.
Publish it… then the next challenge is to promote it!
For more posts in this series follow this link.
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