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Basics every aspiring author should know How to write a book? How to get published? How to self-publish & sell your books? Other Related Topics: Useful Resources and Links Can't find it here? Search with Google:
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What is the difference between a publisher and a literary agent? A publisher is a business entity that identifies commercially viable authors and their works, and invests in the process of getting the book from manuscript to printed book for sale on the shelves. Essentially they select manuscripts and book ideas, guide the author through the publishing process, employ people to do the editing, proofreading, layout and cover design. Then they send it to printing companies for printing. Most big publishers today also take on the role of distribution to the bookstores – warehousing, taking orders from bookstores, and making deliveries. They also invest heavily in promoting and marketing the author and the book. However, traditionally marketing and distributing the books can also be another separate business entity appointed by the publisher. Pubishers these days also sell e-books through online publishers or set up their own e-shops. A lot of out-of-print books are also increasingly being listed by publishers and sold through Print-On-Demand websites by publishers. Literary agents are simply salesmen and talent managers. In most western literary markets in developed countries, authors go through a literary agent to get published. They first send their manuscripts to an agent, who acts as the screener of quality for the publishers. Most reputable publishers do not accept unsolicited manuscripts directly from authors. If a literary agent thinks your book can sell, they will then contract with you to represent your work and attempt to sell it to a publisher within a certain period of time. Or they may advise you on changing and improving your manuscript further before attempting a sale. For their role they get a commission off your royalties. A good agent thus becomes both your sales representative and mentor who develops your writing career for you and deals with the publisher for you on contractual matters. Publishing contracts can be very complicated legal documents. Literary agents are experts on the legal aspects of publishing contracts and will negotiate the best possible terms for you with the publisher since it directly affects their income too! Most authors will be well advised not to attempt to negotiate their own contracts for themselves. (Note: However, the publishing industry is too small in Singapore. There are no such middlemen as literary agents. Aspiring authors usually either go through their own contacts or send in unsolicited manuscripts to local/overseas publishers directly and try their luck) |
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