Wanted Someone To Help Me To Get My Book Published.

S

sarsaparilla

Well-Known Forumite
I have written a book of Children's Rhymes (probably age range 3 to 6)/ There are 22 rhymes in total - and have heard from a publisher in London that they would like to publish it and they have sent me a contract accordingly. However, as I am not a known author, they do not feel that they can offer me a non-contributory based publication, and are asking for £2,300 towards publishing costs (there are a lot of illustrations). As I do not have this money, I am looking for someone who will kindly take a chance on me and sponsor the book. Obviously, reimbursement would have to come from sales and I would be entitled to 50% per copy sold.

I would not ask if I didn't believe that this book could sell and enable me to repay, and obviously the publishers would not want to go ahead if they didn't think the same. It really is a visually attractive and humorous book. I wrote some of the rhymes for my children when they were little and they loved them.

This is a 'toe in the water' exercise for me and not my main project. I am also writing a humorous book and screenplay version of it. This would be an opportunity for me to 'get my name on the map'. In fact, the publishers concerned have also read the first 20 pages of my book and wish to see the final manuscript.

If anyone is interested in knowing more or knows of an individual or company that might support me, please pm me.

Kind regards

S
 
wmrcomputers

wmrcomputers

Stafford PC & laptop repair specialist
A good rule in life is that anything that requires you to pay money up front is USUALLY a scam. Do you know this publisher? Have you researched them to make sure they are genuine? Be VERY careful.

Personally, If I was a publisher and believed your book could sell and make me money too then why on earth would I want you to give me money. It smells a bit fishy to me.
 
Goldilox

Goldilox

How do I edit this?
It smells a little fishy to me too. How big is the run? You could self-publish for a similar amount.

A friend of mine has written a non-fiction book for a major publisher & he got a small advance.
 
Floss

Floss

Well-Known Forumite
sarsaparilla said:
I have written a book of Children's Rhymes (probably age range 3 to 6)/ There are 22 rhymes in total - and have heard from a publisher in London that they would like to publish it and they have sent me a contract accordingly. However, as I am not a known author, they do not feel that they can offer me a non-contributory based publication, and are asking for £2,300 towards publishing costs (there are a lot of illustrations). As I do not have this money, I am looking for someone who will kindly take a chance on me and sponsor the book. Obviously, reimbursement would have to come from sales and I would be entitled to 50% per copy sold.

I would not ask if I didn't believe that this book could sell and enable me to repay, and obviously the publishers would not want to go ahead if they didn't think the same. It really is a visually attractive and humorous book. I wrote some of the rhymes for my children when they were little and they loved them.

This is a 'toe in the water' exercise for me and not my main project. I am also writing a humorous book and screenplay version of it. This would be an opportunity for me to 'get my name on the map'. In fact, the publishers concerned have also read the first 20 pages of my book and wish to see the final manuscript.

If anyone is interested in knowing more or knows of an individual or company that might support me, please pm me.



Kind regards

S
Click to expand...

I can put you in touch with someone who may be able to help, from a self publishing perspective. I would have offered to publish it myself as I've worked as an imprint for this company, but I'm trying to put the breaks on this as it's a second job, ( my main job before teaching) I can tell you from experience it's blooming hard Work, promoting your book , so you will have to be prepared to put the hours in. I have experience of being published by publishers with no cost to myself, one publisher I receive a percentage of sales quarterly , another I had a one off payment ( this was a national newspaper, mistake on by behalf because I didn't get the lions share ) and I've also self published which I made my money back and a small profit, I have to say the most adventurous was this method, as I have met so many people and learned a whole lot more about the publishing side of things. Last year I published 2 books for two ladies in stone, the best things about this method was we did a small print run and was able to do a second print to the amount they wanted, so it kept the cost down so they could make something back.
If you are interested I can PM you the details, but I'm sure @darts22 will have some advice too and a wealth of experience to share. as he is also local and will have put the hours in.
If this is something you have set your heart on doing, I would encourage you to do so, but just make sure you've done your homework first and be realistic about what to expect out of it.
 
John Marwood

John Marwood

I ♥ cryptic crosswords
wmrcomputers said:
A good rule in life is that anything that requires you to pay money up front is USUALLY a scam. Do you know this publisher? Have you researched them to make sure they are genuine? Be VERY careful.

Personally, If I was a publisher and believed your book could sell and make me money too then why on earth would I want you to give me money. It smells a bit fishy to me.
Click to expand...

This
 
Mikinton

Mikinton

Well-Known Forumite
wmrcomputers said:
Personally, If I was a publisher and believed your book could sell and make me money too then why on earth would I want you to give me money. It smells a bit fishy to me.
Click to expand...
There again it might not sell and I'd be wanting you to take your share of the risk, ..... so it doesn't seem fishy to me.

Anyway, have you looked at Kickstarter? I've only a vague idea about how it works, though I do know someone that has used it to finance some of his products. In the boardgame industry, it seems to be the preferred way to get a new game off the ground. There is a "Publishing" category that may be what you're after.

https://www.kickstarter.com/discover?ref=nav
 
S

sarsaparilla

Well-Known Forumite
Thanks to you all for taking the time to reply. It's very interesting to gather other people's thoughts on this.
 
S

sarsaparilla

Well-Known Forumite
Floss67 said:
I can put you in touch with someone who may be able to help, from a self publishing perspective. I would have offered to publish it myself as I've worked as an imprint for this company, but I'm trying to put the breaks on this as it's a second job, ( my main job before teaching) I can tell you from experience it's blooming hard Work, promoting your book , so you will have to be prepared to put the hours in. I have experience of being published by publishers with no cost to myself, one publisher I receive a percentage of sales quarterly , another I had a one off payment ( this was a national newspaper, mistake on by behalf because I didn't get the lions share ) and I've also self published which I made my money back and a small profit, I have to say the most adventurous was this method, as I have met so many people and learned a whole lot more about the publishing side of things. Last year I published 2 books for two ladies in stone, the best things about this method was we did a small print run and was able to do a second print to the amount they wanted, so it kept the cost down so they could make something back.
If you are interested I can PM you the details, but I'm sure @darts22 will have some advice too and a wealth of experience to share. as he is also local and will have put the hours in.
If this is something you have set your heart on doing, I would encourage you to do so, but just make sure you've done your homework first and be realistic about what to expect out of it.
Click to expand...

Hi Floss

Thanks very much. I should be very grateful if you would PM me the details. I have been plugging away at this for ages and am grateful for other people's input.

Kind regards

S
 
darts22

darts22

Well-Known Forumite
Wow that is an extortional amount of money, there are many ways of keeping down your costs if Self Publishing.
Passing on my experience in producing The Inns and Alehouses of Stafford has helped one author produce a book about Little Haywood.
Remember the publisher is looking to make as much money as it can by trying to sell you a lot of additional things to help you market the book.
Tips -
Paperback with front and back colour images.
Inside illustrations in black and white
Size of book and number of pages are important, you should opt for maybe the number of pages being divisible by 32.
Print on Demand or opt for a specific number of copies, you need to estimate how many you will sell in say two years.
Essential - a cheap website from say Split web Design will have a free shopping cart
50% per copy is too general a figure, you have to pick a RRP that you think is suitable, I had to set this by working out the price per copy if I ordered in advance and then be aware that bookshops and Amazon are looking for around 60% of the RRP for themselves

Just ask me any questions and I will try and help
 
John Fisher

John Fisher

Newbie
sarsaparilla said:
I have written a book of Children's Rhymes (probably age range 3 to 6)/ There are 22 rhymes in total - and have heard from a publisher in London that they would like to publish it and they have sent me a contract accordingly. However, as I am not a known author, they do not feel that they can offer me a non-contributory based publication, and are asking for £2,300 towards publishing costs (there are a lot of illustrations). As I do not have this money, I am looking for someone who will kindly take a chance on me and sponsor the book. Obviously, reimbursement would have to come from sales and I would be entitled to 50% per copy sold.

I would not ask if I didn't believe that this book could sell and enable me to repay, and obviously the publishers would not want to go ahead if they didn't think the same. It really is a visually attractive and humorous book. I wrote some of the rhymes for my children when they were little and they loved them.

This is a 'toe in the water' exercise for me and not my main project. I am also writing a humorous book and screenplay version of it. This would be an opportunity for me to 'get my name on the map'. In fact, the publishers concerned have also read the first 20 pages of my book and wish to see the final manuscript.

If anyone is interested in knowing more or knows of an individual or company that might support me, please pm me.

Kind regards

S
Click to expand...
Complete the book first, then send it to publishers. Genuine publishers only look at finished work. And only send it to kids publishers.
I'm a third way through writing a book, which I shall be selling through Kindle ebook site, along with a collection of short romances; but yours needs to be in print. You should also consider doing it yourself as there a number of printers who can handle soft covers - ideal for kids and cheaper to print.
 
S

sarsaparilla

Well-Known Forumite
John Fisher said:
Complete the book first, then send it to publishers. Genuine publishers only look at finished work. And only send it to kids publishers.
I'm a third way through writing a book, which I shall be selling through Kindle ebook site, along with a collection of short romances; but yours needs to be in print. You should also consider doing it yourself as there a number of printers who can handle soft covers - ideal for kids and cheaper to print.
Click to expand...
Thank you very much for that. I am making progress, as I have now found an illustrator for my rhymes, which is an important part of my book, to bring the rhymes to life and inspire children. Ironically, my proposed illustrator is a friend since childhood of my son, who is now nearly 29, and I had no idea he was so artistic. His art work is going to be a trade-off for all the meals I have cooked for him! All the very best with your book and many more to come.
 
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