Having a novel already published....

Not necessarily. In my understanding, if it was published by a less-than-reputable hosue, it may even hurt your chances. I'm not an expert though, so I'll wait for them to arrive and either confirm or correct.

Nothing guarantees a second book, though having been published once is certainly an advantage, assuming it's with a reputable publisher.

If you are "aiming low," though, getting published with an author mill will not impress larger publishers.

It could backfire. If you get published, and don't get good sales figures, that will make it harder to get published by a bigger house, not easier.

And a smaller publisher may not be able to give your book the launch it needs. They work under some tight financial constraints.

A debut author is someone who publishers can pin their wildest, most enthusiastic hopes on.

A published author with poor sales is a known quantity, however, and thus doesn't benefit from that kind of optimism.

WalpurgisQuill said:

Does having a novel already published guarantee that you'll more likely have a second one published as long as its good? Or does it just increase the chances that you'll be considered?

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Am I the only one who's confused, here? (It wouldn't be the first time ).

What's the difference between "guaranteeing that something's more likely" and "increasing the chances of its happening"? Don't "more likely" and "increasing the chances" mean the same thing?

There are no guarantees. There's only writing the best book wot u can.

The smaller publishing houses have high standards, too, and turn away a lot of good authors and good books simply because they are smaller. (I wouldn't assume it will be easier to be published with a smaller house.)

They have to make a living, too, and want only the best writing that they can find. I have a friend who's written some very good MG and YA horror novels and has submitted them to several of the smaller publishers; and though she's been short-listed, etc., and her books have been seriously considered, she's been offered no concrete offers.

WalpurgisQuill said:

Because I was thinking about submitting a piece to a smaller publishing house who will likely publish it, just to get it out of the way so that I can get a second book published at a bigger, more reputable one.

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First off, small isn't bad but any publisher with a poor reputation is. Whatever press you choose should have a strong business track record. Never screw yourself over for a sale.

Small houses aren't automatically easy sales, and houses that are easy sales are probably not going to have standards that help your business resume.

Any time you query a new press, you start from square one as slushpile fodder, same as everyone else. Unless your previous publishing experience brings some notable sales numbers with it, previously published isn't a major influencer. What it does dall an editor or agent is that you have experience working with a publisher, which is a positive.

I think the main benefit in working with a small pub first is getting that experience. Small press is a great training ground, a place where you can learn what your writing weaknesses are and how to fix them.

Small press isn't a back-door into big publishing, but it can help you grow as a writer, and that can help your career.

1) Aim high.

2) Check the Times best-seller list. See where the top ten are published. Now look at those same peoples' first sales. Same publishers, right? Most people end up at the level where they break in.

3) No one is going to say, "Wow! This guy has a book at PublishAmerica or Strategic Book Publishing! He must be good!"

4) You're asking, essentially, "How can I get published even though I'm not ready?" My advice is "Become a better writer."

5) Choose the press that's best for your book.

6) Aim high.

I'm honestly a bit confused.

If you really feel like you are ready to be published then send out your beloved manuscript to an agent and the feedback you get from them will tell you if you were correct or not (maybe multiple agents). But, I would seriously stress that you revise and find some willing guinea pigs to beta-read your book for you. They can help you understand how your book will appeal to the reader and can point out most if not all flaws that exist within the work.

Always get other peoples opinions on your work. It's very easy to get inspired and end up with "golden word syndrome".

alexaherself said:

Am I the only one who's confused, here? (It wouldn't be the first time ).

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To be honest, my first reaction to the original question was, "Of course having a second book published is more likely once the first book has been published. The odds of having a second published book without having a first published book are zero."

There's no guarantee that a small publisher is more likely to accept your work than a Big Six publisher. And it's an assumption that a small publisher is less reputable than a big publisher. Even if a small publisher takes you on, what is the guarantee that your book will sell? Being previously published could be as much a detriment as an asset. Any publisher, big or small, can reject you based on low sales numbers, and after that you're stuck.

FIRST: Go for the gold. Work your way down, not up.

TWO: A friend of mine got published by one of the major houses (20 years ago) and won an in house award of "best first novel" something like that. the book did not sell. It was very well written. Just didn't catch on. It hurt him for future sales. The big houses didn't want him because his very well written book didn't sell, and smaller houses didn't want him, because if he couldn't make it with the promotion of the big houses, then why risk it. He gave up trying to sell his novels, which I think is a big, big mistake. Never give up!

But, do, go for the gold! Big houses promote.

THREE: On the flip side, I had one of my books taken on by a very big agent at a big agency. he went to the 15 or so big houses and they all said no for various reasons. He sent me the rejections. No two reasons were the same. He dropped the book. I could not get a smaller agent to take it on, because they said "If he couldn't sell it, then I don't think I can."

There are no right or wrong answers here. And then there's luck. Luck is big. But you don't get it if you don't roll the dice.

WalpurgisQuill said:

how much more influence having one book out already will have to a publisher when you are querying a second, and if it will increase the chances of you being considered simply because you were good enough to get published before.

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Just my thoughts on this:

During the Query Process, an agent or publisher is likely to glance more attentively at somebody published by a press they've heard of favorably.

If they have not heard of your press, (they will not research it,) they'll treat your query as if you were unpublished.

During the final acquisition decision, the publisher will go back and look at your sales record with that small press. Good sales make it more likely they'll buy your manuscript. Poor sales, for whatever reason, may count against you.

Having one book published will help with the second book only if the first either sold really well or got good critical reviews (but preferably both and the former is definitely more important than the latter).

I have to say, I'm a bit sad to see people dismissing small publishers. Sure, there are definitely more bad small ones than big but that doesn't mean you're aiming low if you submit to one of the good ones. When my WIP gets finished, I have a few small publishers that I in particular wish to submit to because they are well respected in the industry and also will look at something submitted without an agent (due to low/no advances, they don't get agented submissions much). Not to say that I a) don't want an agent or b) wouldn't submit to the big companies as well but I think it's rather short-sighted to only go for the big ones.

i_paint_the_sky, I think you're misinterpreting. The OP specifically asked about a small press that appears to have a high acceptance rate. The OP also stated that their ultimate goal is to get published by a bigger publisher. So, the suggestions being made aren't to put down quality small presses (which would have a very low acceptance rate), but to encourage the OP to start submitting to their dream publishers first, whichever ones those might be.

Just to build on that, WalpurgisQuill, I'm not sure why you're calling the process of being published to whatever "easy" press you're thinking of "annoying." If you're that disinterested in doing business with them, why submit? There's no shortcuts to your goal. If there were, everyone with similar goals would be doing the exact same thing.

James D. Macdonald said:

2) Check the Times best-seller list. See where the top ten are published. Now look at those same peoples' first sales. Same publishers, right? Most people end up at the level where they break in.

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Wow, that's revealing.

Whatever you do, research the publisher here and at Preditors and Editors. My first effort went to a book mill (and is why Jim's advice is sobering as well as revealing), and ten minutes of research could have saved me a huge headache.