Publishing Books
Blog | Posted by Carole on Wednesday 28 February 2007
I got an email from a reader who asked me if it costs anything to get a book published. I thought it was a good question and other aspiring writers might be interested to know the answer.
A writer doesn’t have to pay a publisher to print their book. Writers have expenses of course (I have to pay for paper, ink cartridges, books, train fare to the library etc.), but when a publisher accepts a book that you have written or has commissioned you to write, they pay you for the right to publish the book. The writer gets an ‘advance’, an amount of money before the book is in the shops. (Though it usually isn’t enough to live on for a year or however long it takes to write the book.) Then the writer gets a percentage of the money earned from book sales.
It is the publisher who pays to get all those books printed. They are the ones who invest money in a book. I only invest my time. The publisher pays for the paper the books are printed on (an expensive item for a print run of thousands of books), cover design, marketing, distribution etc.
Some people think that it is the writer who owns all the books that you see in the shops. That’s not the case. Though the writer still owns the story, it is the publisher who owns the actual books. As part of the contract between the writer and the publisher, the writer gets a number of free books (I get 20).
Self-publishing is another way to get a book published. That’s when you pay for the printing yourself. I don’t know much about self-publishing, but I imagine that (unless you are very rich) you would print something like 500 books, a lot less than a publishing company would print.
…wow…I’d never be able to manage that…
My respect for you has just gone up to a whole new level.
Wow. That’s some great info. Thanks Carole.
I am writing a book called SPIRIT RISER and it is the first book in The Spirit Risers Series. All six books are planned. They are about the Spirit Risers’ who are on a journey to save the land of Duskvelden from the powers of the evil Lord Raven. I am loving writing. Have you got any tips and also, how can I make my work longer. With 6 chapters there are 15,000 words but I am aware that a book is 50,000 minimum.
Hey Carole. I live in Melbourne Australia too! I have completed Dragon Keeper and Garden of the Purple Dragon. They are Awesome! Thanks for the info on publishing books. Great stuff. Can’t wait for Dragon Moon!
Krystal, Ryan,
Glad you found the info interesting. Good luck with the book Ryan. The only tip I have is ‘keep writing’. Who says a book has to be a minimun of 50,000 words? I’ve written books that are 35,000. Novellas can be shorter than that. A book should be as long as it takes to tell the story and no more.
Steph,
Good to know I have readers in Melbourne!
hi
i`m going to start write writing a advedture fantsy with dragons in i love drogon stories.
it starts with a ordany tea picker who sees sommething snuggeld up in a bush and at first thincks its a snake then realises its a drogon!
Alaska,
Sounds good. Good luck with that!
hey! i’m also writing a novel and i find myself terribly flexible with my writing plan! i think i change the plan a bit every week or so. not sure if it’s a good trait for a writer, what do u think? and i also have problem with getting my character out of a sticky situation.
Sarah,
Everyone has their own way of doing it. I like to be very firm about beginning middle and end and be flexible with the bits in between.
I’m writing a book called DragonBlood,about a chinese girl that lives in Sanfrancisco. She was adopted and has very strange behavior which a girl should not have. Then she found out her real parents were dragons and were killed by a dragonslayer. Now she must escape and return to China before the dragonslayer kills the other dragons. She will have to make it in time and warn them. But will they trust her? How will they know she has dragon blood if she looks like a human?
I am an eleven year old girl who lives in Canada. I enjoy writing and drawing during my free time. I am writing a series called Galaxy Royale, about the nine planets and the nine princesses that live them.
Mrs.Wilkinson, if you read this, I have a question. Is my idea lame? A lot of kids in my class say so, but I am not sure if they are right. I wanted to know your opinion. Please try to reply. Thank you.
P.S. – your Dragon Keepers book series is amazing!
Margaryta,
I can’t really judge your ideas. It sounds okay to me. The hard part is doing the writing and keeping it interesting and exciting. It took me 7 years to write the Dragonkeeper trilogy.
Good luck with it.
I LUVVVV YOUR DRAGONKEEPER SERIES!!!!so does my friend Natasha.she wans to ask wat is your religion?
Nicole,
I don’t think that is an appropriate question to ask on this blog. Sorry.
I absolutely, well and truly love your dragon keeper books!!!!!!!
I must admit i have only read the first one but the others are just as good so i’ve heard. Me and my friend are your faithful fans to the end!! We live in Western Australia and today we are going to a writers festival at the university of western australia. After reading about it on the internet a bit, i got the impression that you were gonna be there!!!!! You are aren’t you? Well if you were you probably won’t get to answer that question. I’ll find out soon anyway. I really hope you’ll be there!!
Write on!!
Gabby
Gabby,
I was there! Did you go to my session?
Your books are very good! I am planning to write a book too (or books(^_^)) Visit my website and see a little bit about what I might put…
http://gorynynch (no www.!. webs.com
Athena,
Thanks. That’s great that you are planning on writing. Good luck with it.
I like writing a heap.
But I will never manage to become a full time
writer.
If you have any ideas could u plz write them here. You don’t have to, I have a few ideas of my own too!
Sakinah,
I think it is always best to come up with your own ideas. It isn’t always easy, but that’s the challenge of writing.
Best of luck with it.
This information is very helpful, thanks so much Mrs. Wilkinson I really love your books!I am thirteen years old and I decided to write my own book in fact, I am done now editing and all. Now I need to publish it. I was wondering does Black Dog publishing have an age limit? I am not sure if they will accept the work of a thirteen year old boy.
Navin,
I’m glad you found it useful. I wrote this blog a couple of years ago. I am currently writing a series of blogs about writing. So far I have written called The Premise and another called The Research Phase.
I can’t speak on behalf of black dog books. You will have to email them. I imagine there are no age limitations. They will be interested in publishing any good book, no matter who wrote it.
Good luck with your writing.
Hi Carole!
I’m 12 years old, and am currently writing a book about dragons. I’ve done my maths, and if everything goes to plan, it should be roughly 130 pages long. I’m deeply inspired by your writing, and love your books. I was actually looking around your site for some facts like ‘how much does it cost to have a book published?’, although I wasn’t very sure I’d find what I was looking for. I’m glad you have questions like this answered on your site, as it will help alot of writers-in-the-making. I actually didn’t know that the publisher was the one paying for the making of the books!! So thankyou for adding this into your FAQ’s.
Thankyou once again, from Chloe
Chloe,
I’m glad you found it useful.
Hi the dragon keeper series rocks
I’m a ten year old girl from ausralia(vic)
i am currently writing a book called the secret of the plesure gardens it’s about a homeless boy in china who is kidnapped by a very mean and selfish man. The man has a wife and a daughter surprisingly his daughter and the boy turn out to be great friends and one day they go out to the plesure gardens and catch sight of a fairy the fairy turns them both into fairies the fairy asks them to accompony her on an adventure to find out the truth about what happened to the young fairy prince that dissapeared at the age of three they accompany her and find out what happened to him and relised he had been close to them the whole time
Do you like it?
thanks
Mikaela
Mikaela,
It sounds like an interesting idea for a story. Good luck with writing it.
Hi my name is shakira and im 18 i wrote a book when i was 16, i have been thinkin bout publishing my book but it needs more work and an expert to read though my book to seeif it is good enough to publish.
I have a daughter and she is 2 we have been through a bad tiime in the last few years even me myself she has a heart condition and also an operation in september, one thing i have wanted is to have a book that everyone wants to read and say to my daughter that is what i wrote and make her proud.
Would you be able to contact me as i would love to here more on how you published your first book.
Shakia,
I am sorry to hear that you are going through such a difficult time.
You can read more about how to get a book published on my FAQs page.
Before you send it off to a publisher, you need to make sure it is as good as you can make it. You might want to read about how I go through that process on my blog
http://www.carolewilkinson.com.au/news/2009/06/05/writing-process-3-zero-draft/
I wish you luck with your writing.
Hi!!! Your DragonKeeper series ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m currently writing a story called DragonStar. A normal girl discovers an ingured dragon and they become fast friends. She soon learns that when a specific star rises, dragons will re-inhabit the earth. But, some of them want revenge. The girl and the dragon must stop an on-coming war bettween dragons and humans. Is this a good idea or not?
Olivia,
It sounds like a good idea. Now you have to write it! That’s the hard part.
Carole,
How many times did you practise writing books or did you not like some of the books you had started to write and not finish them? Should I do that or should I not? Practise make perfect, I guess. Other than history or dragons what other subjects do you like to write about?
Thanks
Maddie
Maddie,
I started off writing short stories. Then I tried writing a novel. I wrote three that were never published before my first book was published. I always finish my writing projects. Yes, practice makes perfect with writing as with all skills. I mainly write historical books. You can see my other published books on my website.
http://www.carolewilkinson.com.au/books/
Good luck with the writing.
Hi Carole,
You and your daughter Lili are very big inspirations to me and I love your Dragon Keeper series.
Like you, I do like history, and I am currently writing a story loosely based on the Spartan war. Even though I am 13 years old, I hope one day I will be able to publish it.
Thankyou for sharing your expriences in writing because they have really helped me with mine
Meg
Meg,
Thank you. It’s great to hear that you have found my experiences inspiring. Best of luck with your writing, it sounds like a terrific idea.