How much should you be willing to "settle" in publishing?

snitchcharm, if your heart is set on publishing with one of the Big 5, then I would go ahead and go through the query process, if I were you. Send your queries out to agents and start working on your next project (if you haven't already). If you've already gotten an offer from a digital publisher, chances are you'll be able to place your ms with another publisher should the query process not pan out for you.

Speaking from my own experience, I was impatient with my first book and did submit to a small digital publisher. I learned quite a bit from that experience, but I was mostly disappointed by the low sales and lack of promotion on their part.

Good luck!

Out of curiosity, and because it may be useful information for people with actual experience and helpful suggestions: If you've been putting off querying, and this is your first novel, how did this publisher find out about it, let alone become 'interested'?
And, I wouldn't 'jump' at anything. If there isn't time to check thoroughly, it may not be the place for you.

My first book was published by a small press (paperback only), and didn't get great distribution, but it did sell. But I only took the offer after having queried about 100 agents and been rejected. Four books and four publishers later, I finally landed an agent. So, don't jump into anything until you're sure it's the best offer you can get. Then, start writing the next one.

In your situation, I would wait off and see what querying ends up with. Yeah that might take years, but it can result in something much larger--and more to your preference of publishing--than just going with the first bidder.

Follow YOUR dream.

Your dream and my dream may be totally different, but you know what your dream is and you need to stay motivated and driven until you accomplish that goal.

Start the query process if your goal is to be published by the Top 5.

Don't let anyone dissuade you.

If you get frustrated because you don't get picked up by the publisher you want after a year of queries and rejections, then reset your expectations and do something else.

Don't let your years of writing effort end in the frustration of "if I had only...."

In the meantime, start on your next book.

I'm a little confused by your post. You say you think your book could be "traditionally published" one day - well, unless this epublisher is a vanity press, it is a trade publisher. And if it's e-pub only, you should still have your print rights available to another trade publisher, although it might be harder to find one.

snitchcharm said:

My situation is that a small digital-only imprint (not Big 5, but reputable) is interested in my first novel. I haven't seen a contract, but I believe that they don't front advances, and royalties would be split between myself and the publisher.

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You mention later in the thread that they're a work-for-hire company. I assume that they sell the book on to a bigger publisher and then split the royalties with you. If this is right, then why would you do it? You'd almost certainly have to sign away copyright to the book under these circumstances, and then you'd earn a relatively small amount per sale. Why not find an agent and enjoy all the income from your book, while keeping the copyright?

And if I'm wrong, what royalties are they splitting with you? I don't understand.

They do heavy-duty editing, cover design (their other books have beautiful covers) and some publicity work—for instance, a blog tour. The rights revert to the author after several years. Although I'm not crazy about the idea of no advance, I understand that's standard for e-publishers.

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Much depends on the blogs involved in the tours.

If you've not submitted to anyone yet, I'd try that first.

My ambivalence stems from the feeling that my book could be traditionally published someday.

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If this is a legitimate press then you would be "traditionally" (eugh) published. It's trade publishing, not "traditional".

It seems like e-publishers' main focus is books that, for whatever reason, wouldn't be suited for print—for instance, they're shorter than a typical print novel, or they're hard erotica or something. My MS is none of those things: it's a YA fantasy, 80,000 words, and a subgenre that's fairly "in" at the moment.

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YA novels don't do so well in e-book form. They're often bought as gifts by parents to get their reluctant readers reading, and those gifts are more often print editions. A good trade publisher would probably get more sales for you here, I suspect.

I've been putting off querying—it's intimidating!—but I do think that with enough time and effort, I could find an agent and proceed down the traditional publishing path.

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Then do it! It does seem to be what you want.

Has anyone here faced a similar situation? Part of me thinks that as a young author with no experience, I'd be crazy to turn down a publishing deal, even if it's not everything I've ever dreamed of. But my MS is my baby; I've poured years of my life into it. I don't want to sell myself short.

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Don't believe the nonsense that's spoken about agents and trade publishers not taking on new authors. It's just not true. If you're a good writer, they'll be interested.

And please don't think of your book as your baby. It's not. It's a book. Find the best publisher for it that you can, and write another book.

I think most authors dream of that big print deal, but we also know how difficult the market is. Would you hold out for a the deal of your dreams, or would you jump at the chance to publish digitally with an established imprint?

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If you've been offered a deal without having even submitted it anywhere, chances are someone else--someone bigger--might also be interested in the book. And as you have so many doubts about taking this offer, perhaps you should listen to yourself here.

My first book was with a small, but well-respected pub. It was a niche book and I knew it wasn't a story that would interest more than a local audience. So I was fine with that. My next book was for a wider audience, so I decided to query. But while I thought I was fine with a small press for it (because I was also intimidated by the process of querying) once I actually started to work with an epub, I realized the experience wasn't what I was expecting. It might be that working with the regional pub spoiled me. They were every bit the level of a Big 5 in terms of process, and the epubs were very sloppy in how they did things.

Ultimately, I was dissatisfied, so when the chance to jump ship to a Big 5 pub came quite unexpectedly, I took the chance and have been there ever since. I doubt the same book with the epub would have sold as many copies.

Querying is worth the effort. Really.

Unless your book is very niche (which you're doesn't sound like it is) I'd suggest you start at the top and work down until you get a deal. Starting at the bottom because querying is scary (which it is, I agree!) doesn't seem like a good plan to me.

'Starting at the bottom' may lead to settling for a lesser publisher when you could have had a larger, stronger one.

There are several reasons for waiting out the query game: you'll grow as a writer in the meantime, you'll gain (some) valuable feedback once you start getting personal rejections from agents, and you won't blow your chances by querying too early on a project.

I had to aim my debut novel at an erotic romance e-pub because three years ago, no Big Five or intermediate science fiction & fantasy imprint would have taken a chance on it. I love my publisher, but that doesn't mean I am blind to their limitations. I'm in a niche market, but not the part of the niche that really sells like crazy. I'm working on a project now specifically for my agent to sell to one of two big SF&F imprints. The money may not be very good as compared to my 9-to-5 day job, but it would be orders greater than what I'm earning off my e-book.

Also, since you've already made a good connection at the smaller press, you can tell them you want to explore other options, but might be interested in working with them in the future. Editors often switches houses too. Those connections matter and can help you long term

I concur with the advice here: start where you'd like to go and work down. There isn't a deadline even if someone at that publisher is trying to make you feel pressure. If you do go with them, see if you can find an agent willing to look over the contract for you. It's important to look for not just advances but royalties, copyright, and what marketing plans the publisher will contribute.

I agree with everyone else too. From the top first and work your way down. You'll be kicking yourself if you don't do it that way and always wondering "If I only..." Even if you get rejections, at least you will know.

I'll throw my experience into the ring, though it's a little different.

First of all, I don't believe in following dreams, not at all! Dreams, to me, are so ephemeral, and it's not good to pin your energy on a dream. I believe in being pragmatic, especially when it comes to publishing, But that's just me.

Anyway: I had the dream. 15 years ago -- gosh! it's really that long! -- with a Big Five publisher, three novels published, 5-figure advances, wonderful editor, the lot.

However, I was less than underwhelmed by the experience. I won't go into details here, but four years later there I was without a publisher for my forth novel, and every subsequent novel. I tried everything for ten years: just about every single top UK and US agent (I even landed one or two from major US houses over the years) but my books just didn't sell; I had four finished novels, two finished memoirs, and some other stuff that nobody seemed to want.

Then I did what you would call "settle". I went with a small, new digital publisher, one I trusted. Less than a year later I have had two novels digitally published and I am making regular money -- to date, since last May, almost 10000 GBP. A third novel to be published in the next couple months. All that stuff I wrote while in the desert? It will all get out there, one after the other. And the other, now out-of-print books will get back into circulation one day (when I have time to revise them -- a decade later I see all the flaws!)

I couldn't be happier as far as my present publishing experience is concerned. Yes, to other peoples' eyes I may have "settled" but all I really wanted was for people to read my books and that is happening; they sell fairly briskly, especially in the weeks after publication and after a big promotion, and I don't care that it's not a Big 5 house.

OTOH, I probably wouldn't have wanted to start out this way. My less than stellar experience with HarperCollins did have an impact and that's what inclined me in this direction.

And to be honest, I don't much like the sound of your would-be epublisher, for the reasons others have given.

ETA: and I don't regret for one minute those 10 years "in the desert". They made me work harder, hone my skills, learn to be pragmatic and simply to be calmer about it all. Patience does pay out! Probably in your care it's better to "start at the top" as you will always wonder "what if" if you wer eto settle for something you regard as not-quite-best.