Small Indie Publishers: An Overview

small indie press adult-3327336_960_720A couple of months ago I wrote a post about vanity presses: those publishers that are in business specifically to take advantage of authors rather than make money by selling books.  In the comments it was pointed out that I talked about vanity presses, self-publishing, and the Big Howevermany publishers as options, but not small presses. I even made the comment that there were a couple of small (some might say micro) publishers that I’d recommend without any qualms. But … I’m not going to name names. Instead I’m going to throw out a few thoughts on why someone might come to the decision to go with a small or micro publisher instead of self-publishing, and some of the things to consider in making such a decision.

I’ll start with a disclaimer that this is all just opinion. It’s not based on the experience of actually publishing a book using any process, publisher-assisted or not, but from observing the publishing landscape’s evolution over the last several years, reading about author’s experiences (both good and bad), and reading books that resulted from every publishing process out there. Continue reading “Small Indie Publishers: An Overview”

Publisher Interview:
Little Acorns Publishing

Kristina Jackson is the CEO and Queen Bee of Little Acorns Publishing Ltd. (LAP) She says, “While we have our grounding in a mix of paperback and eBook publishing, we are working towards more individually tailored marketing packages to give our authors best advantage. We also believe each author is an individual, working to ensure the contract meets their requirements as well as having flexible timescales.”

Kristina established Little Acorns Publishing in May of 2012, but her company is already making good progress. “We have five paperback titles and seven eBook titles this year. Next year sees the increase of this to a further eleven titles.”

LAP covers a broad range of genres, but is not interested in Zombies or books which contain excessive use of profanity or violence.

Because Kristina works with her authors to develop individual marketing strategy plans, she says it can be up to six months between having a book accepted and going to publication.

The buzz on LAP has been very positive. Kristina’s authors love her and speak highly of their experience with LAP. Kristina believes in being accessible and responsive to her authors. She says, “Most of all we are friendly and approachable. Please feel free to chat things through with us.” Continue reading “Publisher Interview:
Little Acorns Publishing”

A Frustrated Fairy Tale

Fairy Tale Author
Fairy Tale Author

Once upon a time, there was a lovely author. She was smart, and sexy, sassy and…okay, okay, I said it was a fairy tale, remember? Anyway, she’d been writing her whole life, and finally finished her first novel. Now, this gorgeous author was alive back in the days before there was internet. Yes, I know, that was a very long time ago. You probably weren’t even born yet! But such a time did exist. Ha, ha, very funny. Yes, there was electricity. And typewriters. You’ve probably never seen one of those, have you, smarty pants?

This voluptuous writer, her dream was to have her book represented by the William Morris Agency in New York City. She sat in their waiting room when she was 15 years old, just watching the goings on. It was a magical afternoon in the city that never sleeps. She believed it was her destiny. How could she be denied?

Fast forward to the 1990s. The author’s first manuscript was complete. It was an action-adventure novel which would rival Ian Fleming and definitely kick Clive Cussler’s far-fetched ass. She was ready. She contacted William Morris. They wanted it. Months went by. The vice president had taken an interest. Three readers read it. Things were happening, indeed. Continue reading “A Frustrated Fairy Tale”