AtlasBooks Distribution Blog

Now that you understand some of what writing and publishing entail, it’s essential that you be aware of a few additional concepts. The first is that publishing is a business. Never forget that publishing companies are profit-making enterprises that exist in order to make money, because it will affect both your and your publisher’s decisions.

When writers get involved in publishing, they often enter at a serious disadvantage. First, they’re outsiders who can easily be swallowed up by a mysterious, complex, and often baffling industry. When they enter the publishing world, the playing field isn’t level. Like Las Vegas, publishing is stacked in favor of the houses. The publishers exercise the power and control, and they play by their rules. And those rules exist to ensure that the publishers make money.

Writers often encounter problems because of their naiveté. They attach romantic notions and lofty ideals to publishers; they think that the industry exists to advance the art of literature and culture and believe that they’re a part of a noble pursuit. Writers are often blinded by their need to become published authors, so they’re willing to swallow whatever it takes. They often fail to realize that publishing is a business; its primary objective is to make money. Virtually all publishing decisions are based on the bottom line.

Six huge, international companies control some 80 percent of the publishing industry. These companies are businesses that deal in the commodity of books. Although they may have high artistic standards, they are not charities or benevolent associations. They are not cultural foundations that exist solely to serve writers and the public good; they are businesses that exist to make money.

For writers, this understanding is critical because it can impact whether they can get their books published and make them successful. The need for books to make money is a reality, and if writers hope to succeed, they must shape their books in ways that will promote publishing companies’ needs.

This article can also be found: http://bookmasters.com/bookmark