My first post was about traditional publishing. This post will outline what Jared Kuritz, Co-President of Strategies, presented on March 21st, 2009 at the Southern California Writers’ Association about a new trend in publishing: Cooperative publishing. Since traditional publishers have a 96-97% failure rate, Jared mentioned the need for publishers to increase the effort invested in each writer, and decrease the number of books they publish.
Many traditional publishers and distributors are now opening coops. Basically cooperative publishing is where both the author and the publisher share the costs and the profits. Mid-size publishers can’t carry the same risks as large publishers so many are now offering quality cooperative publishing.
The benefits of cooperative publishing are numerous. The publisher shares in the costs of production but this gives the author more flexibility in publishing and production decisions. The publisher is responsible for all publishing duties as well as participating in PR activities. The biggest advantage is the sales profit to the author which can range from 30-50%. The author also gets free books for PR and a huge discount for BOR (back of room) sales.
The main disadvantage of cooperative publishing is that the author shares in the production costs.
In general, the author pays for the design of the book, and the cooperative publisher pays for the printing, editing and distribution.
So if the book cover is $20, after the bookstore and distributor get their share, the author can expect to net between $1.80-$5.70 depending on whether the cooperative publisher has a 50/50 split or a 70/30 split with the author.
Jared Kuritz mentions that PR and Marketing are crucial whether you use a traditional publisher, a cooperative publisher or you self-publish. Jared also warns writers to be careful who they pick as a cooperative publisher. Chose a reputable publisher and ask if they also offer cooperative publishing.
Since this is a long post, and if you haven’t already done so, please share with us, your book synopsis in 25 words. I shall post it with a link to your blog at the end of this 3 part series on publishing.
Next post, I shall talk about Self-publishing, vanity publishing and Print on demand (POD.)
Thank you for this information! It’s so helpful to know our options and also to know the reality of the market right now.
Looking forward to hearing more.
I am looking forward to your next post, as it will apply most to my situation.
25 word (or less) synopsis:
A terrible loss and heartbreaking prophecy lead Shannon on a challenging course to return home and battle with the trials of her waning faith.
Wow, these posts are really helpful. I had no idea something like this existed. It sounds like it might be the way to go for some things. Not sure it would be for me, but you never know.
Thanks for all this research!
I had never heard of this kind of publishing before, Sonia. Thanks for sharing what you are learning as you attend workshops and classes! The breakdown of how the money is shared is especially interesting.
shirley
ALL of this info is SOOOOO helpful!! Thank you for sharing it!
Great information, Sonia.
Very interesting indeed! Thanks for sharing this information with us all.
I hadn’t heard much about cooperative publishing, but it sounds very intriguing. Thanks for posting.
This is really great information. I had never heard of co-op publishing before.
Certainly nice to make your acquaintance!
And I must say, a superb post! 🙂
This is definitely new informaiton to me. Never heard of it, but sound interesting. Thanks for sharing.