A Poets View

There are four major publishing options available to poets.  I will attempt to explain each as thoroughly as I can in order to help you make an informed decision.

1.  Standard Publishing.   With a standard publishing contract the publisher normally agrees to all of the production  and promotional costs for your poetry book.  You’ll receive a small percentage maybe an eight to twelve percent royalty on either the retail or wholesale price though with some small presses you are only paid a percentage of the press run.  It varies so make sure you understand their policies.

2.  Cooperative Publishing.   Although contracts vary this type of publishing arrangement is exactly what it sounds like - cooperative.  Some of the contracts involve either a commitment of time or money on your part.  Some will ask for money upfront for production costs and others will ask for help in marketing and promotion.  Cooperative publishing is highly respected in the literary and small press world though some are disguised and are really operating as vanity and subsidy publishers so again, make sure you understand what you are committing to and also that in a cooperative union that both the author and publisher shares in all the risks and profits.

3.  Self Publishing.   Now this is my option of choice for many reasons.  First let me explain exactly what is involved.  With self publishing you would work directly with a local printer like Kinko’s and invent a name for your press or publishing company.  Example if I were to do this I could call it “A Poets View Press.”  You,  meaning the author pays all the costs for the books and promotions yet you own all the books and receive all profits from the sales of the books which you’ll have to generate yourself.   This is my choice of options simply because of the fact that you have complete control over your book.

4.  Vanity and Subsidy Publishing.   This option would be my least favored one.  However I’ll describe what is involved and you can make your own choice.  These are companies that will advertise heavily for manuscripts, endlessly praise your work and then charge fees in excess of what it would normally cost should you self publish.  They will advertise as a collective.  In other words your book will be advertised to a non targeted audience along with several other books.  Also, the majority of these publishers and I use the word loosely, will charge you an exorbitant amount to buy copies of your own book.  They operate much like poetry.com  They basically run as a business to make money on your work.  So, it’s not a desirable option as far as I’m concerned.I hope this information helps you make informed decisions.  Publishing a book of poetry can be a rewarding and exciting experience so I wanted to give all of you options for making your dreams of publishing your book come true.

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