There are many possibilities today, for an author, to publish your book. You can seek to be published by a publishing house or choose to self-publish your book. Among other selection criteria, this decision will depend on your patience with the response times from publishing houses after sending or submitting your manuscript and the price you are prepared to pay. So, do you have to pay to finally turn your manuscript into a book and publish it?

There are many possibilities today, for an author, to publish your book. You can seek to be published by a publishing house or choose to self-publish your book. Among other selection criteria, this decision will depend on your patience with the response times from publishing houses after sending or submitting your manuscript and the price you are prepared to pay. So, do you have to pay to finally turn your manuscript into a book and publish it?  

THE PUBLISHING CONTRACT ON PUBLISHER'S ACCOUNT

The traditional publishing scheme dictates that the publication of a book is established by a publisher's contract. In a publishing contract on behalf of a publisher , the author transfers his rights to the publisher and incurs no costs.

SUPPORT FOR THE PUBLICATION OF THE BOOK

The publishing house that publishes the book agrees to take a financial risk, because it is banking on the potential of the manuscript it received and on the author who wrote it, which is why this decision, Sending a response to the author and signing the contract with the publisher require a certain amount of time for reflection and can sometimes take several months or more. Thus, the publisher calculates a budget for publishing, printing, broadcasting, distribution and promotion of the book, based on the expected success with readers when it goes on sale. Authors do not have to pay anything at any time and have much less weight on their shoulders. This financial takeover by publishing houses gives them the right to benefit from a certain peace of mind in logistical and practical terms, while they can fully concentrate on writing and reworking their text by being accompanied by their editor.

SUPPORT FOR BOOK PROMOTION

Being published by a self-publisher publishing house also means that a relationship of trust between the author and the publisher is established. The publisher believes in a publication project, in its author, and will defend it to booksellers, the press and readers, which represents real support. Together, they will rethink the title if necessary, agree on the publication cover and the passages to be revised. Of course, the publishing house also takes care of promotional events and the author is required to take part in them (signatures, conferences, meetings, etc.). A rich adventure where the author is surrounded!

PAY TO BE PUBLISHED, AT WHAT PRICE?

THE SELF-PUBLISHING SOLUTION

More and more authors are resorting to self-publishing to publish their books. Discouraged by the response time from the publishing houses to which they sent their manuscript, seduced by the freedom of being in control of the entire book chain, or independent artists wishing to create their own cover and layout on the page, certain authors no longer systematically pursue a publishing contract and prefer to turn to self-publishing. Several online platforms such as Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing or The Book Edition now offer self-publishing and publishing your book for free, in paper format or as a digital ebook. Funding can be done through participatory campaigns with a goal of selling copies of the book before printing, or based on the print-on-demand process. However, despite these new models, self-publishing often remains a costly endeavor for the author, who must do everything alone. First of all, it is costly in terms of time, of course, because the author must write the book, edit it, correct it, do its layout, have it printed in several hundred copies, plan a storage location and then organize its publication and promotion alone. Also expensive in terms of price because, even if the printing of the work can sometimes be free, the correction, layout and especially communication services , to ensure the promotion and sale of the book to readers , have a certain price which can sometimes amount to hundreds or even thousands of euros.

THE COMPROMISE OF THE AUTHOR'S OWN PUBLISHING CONTRACT

The author's contract is mainly a service contract since the cost of publishing and printing is the responsibility of the author, who moreover does not transfer his rights to the publisher. In a self-publishing house, the publisher therefore assists authors in editing their work, from manuscript to printing, but also for the distribution, dissemination and promotion of the book, the all financed by the author. The publisher therefore serves as an intermediary between the author and the manufacturer, the printer and the readers. Thus, it is easier to sign a publishing contract with a self-publishing house, since the publishers do not take financial risk by publishing these books, but the authors must be ready to pay the publishing price of the work. 

THE HALF OR CONDITIONED CONTRACT A PUBLISHING CONTRACT

In a so-called “half” or “conditioned” publishing contract, the editing and publication price of the work is divided between the author and the publisher. As with the author's contract, the author retains the rights to his book. The publisher publishes the novel, covers the costs of publishing, printing and distribution of the work, but the author undertakes either to purchase a certain number of copies at the publication or to pay part of the losses to the publishing house if the sale of the book does not work and the readers are not there. 

CREATE YOUR AUTHOR ACCOUNT ON ÉDITH & NOUS

At Édith & Nous, we believe that an author should not have to pay to publish their work, which is why we offer a free subscription allowing authors to present their manuscript to more than one hundred publishing houses at once, while benefiting from resources and professional advice, as well as reading notifications from publishers and statistics that concern your book. You too, create your author account to perhaps, one day, land a publishing contract on behalf of a publisher.