What Are Traditional, Royalty-Paying Publishers?

Often you hear the term "traditional" or "royalty-paying" publisher. This is a publisher who accepts submissions of specific genres (nonfiction, Christian fiction, literary fiction, science fiction, etc.) according to the publisher's guidelines. In the publishing industry, these publishers are known as commercial or trade publishers.

In many cases, an editor may first review a query letter and a synopsis (a brief summary or outline of the plot or main points of the book). If the query letter and synopsis piques the editor's interest, s/he will request a complete manuscript. After reading the complete manuscript, the editor will decide whether to acquire the rights to publish the manuscript. Only a small percentage of the submitted manuscripts are chosen for publication.

In print publishing, traditional publishers typically pay an advance against royalties when the publishing contract is signed. However, advances are almost unheard of in electronic publishing, though a few e-publishers pay extremely small advances.

Royalty percentages vary greatly depending on the publisher, the experience of author, the genre, whether or not the author was represented by an agent, and other factors. Print royalties may range from 6% to 12% or more. Electronic royalties may range up to 50% or more.

Production costs are less for electronic publishing than for print publishing because there are no printing or warehousing and shipping costs. Also, sales volume is usually less for titles published by small electronic publishers than from larger established print publishers, so the higher royalty rates help offset the lower sales to some degree.

A writer should not be required to pay any expenses with a traditional publisher, although publishers might offer optional services for writers at reasonable costs if the publisher provides everything required for publication at no charge. For example, a traditional, royalty-paying electronic publisher may offer its authors a print publication option as a service for writers who want to be published in print. Since the company is not primarily a print publisher, it could legitimately charge a nominal set-up fee for print if this is an additional optional service and there are no charges for electronic publication.

After the contract is signed for the publisher to acquire the rights for a specific term (usually one or two years), and ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is assigned, the work edited, the cover and internal layout designed, and the book prepared for distribution in one or more electronic formats. All of this - and more - will be done by the publisher as part of the publication process.

You will find publishers on the Christian E-Author site. Links to publisher members of EPIC, the Electronically Published Internet Connection can be found on the organization's Web site. A directory of publishers is available on the Publishers We Love. However be aware that both of these directories includes publishers in all genres and are not necessarily endorsed by Christian E-Authors.