Legitimate Publishers
I had signed with Dorrance Publishing to publish two of my books (Intorqueo: A Collection of Short Stories and Intorqueo: More Twists, More Turns). The contract, it turned out, made me the owner of the stories in name only. Oh, I will still get money if the books sell, whether on Amazon or in Barnes and Noble (or off of the Dorrance Bookstore online), but the company basically has the say on ownership. Even when the contracts end after a couple years, I would have to submit my withdrawal in writing.Basically, they can do with my submitted books as they see fit, keeping my name as author and me as "partner", which is code for "I became a sucker to their words and promises".
I plan to have any contract from any publisher scrutinized by lawyers, as such will be cheaper than what was paid to have those two books published in the first place.
So, if anyone has any name of any legitimate publishing house that isn't trying to scam a person out of a lot of money, I'm all ears.
Comments (1)
BUT - you haven't been scammed to the extent you think you have. "Legitimate" publishers own your book too. They decide final edit, cover artwork, promotion budget and authors get a small, very small, percentage of sales because the publisher is taking on most of the cost without any idea whether or not the book will sell. Most publishers only allow 10% of their annual budget for new authors and prefer to go with celebrities or names people may know in another context, because they have a living to make selling books and there are millions of people writing them and not so many people reading them as in the past.
Going with a self-publishing package like Dorrance, you do get a bigger percentage of sales (depending of course on how much you paid in) and they do all the proper things like list the book(s), register the copyright, assign an LCCN and ISBN, prepare a press kit, distribute the books, etc. Since most writers with them have paid in to cover some or all of that expense, the royalties are higher. Dorrance can take risks on books that may not be popular because they aren't risking their bottom line, but they will then do the job any publisher would do.
Your best bet is to get a good agent for any future books, who will also be able to disentangle you when the contract is up. However you will need a new ISBN and will effectively need to republish the books from scratch.
My advice, push for all the marketing and coverage you can get (preferably without paying in more) since you are stuck with Dorrance for now, and do a ton of your own promotion - you do at least have your name and your books out there and if the books sell, way hey, that will REALLY help with the next ones which your agent can place with 'legit' publishers. BUT don't ever expect 'legit' publishers to be a licence to print money unless you are a major celebrity or have a hugely popular topic.
Thing is - only around 2% of writers can actually live on their writing income. There are literally millions of books in English out there, and rapidly approaching the stage of more people who want to write a book than to read one.