question: Why do authors go through book publishers to sell their content?
comment: Traditionally, it was very very difficult for an author to publish their book and get it sold in stores. The logistics involved in getting a printer, getting stores to buy that book, having that book shipped to stores, having the book advertised, were so complicated that it just made sense for authors to get through traditional book publishers. The benefits of having the business end of making a book handled by someone else mean that the author can focus on the creative end instead. Now, modern technology does make it easier for authors to self-publish their books, but for many, the benefits of going through a publisher and not having to do that extra work seems work it.
passages: According to TLC's new Director Aki Schilz, "We're lucky enough to be both well-connected and well-regarded, and can also refer writers onwards to various trusted services for things like copy-editing, proofreading, and publishing services. Where we see manuscripts of a particularly high quality, we are often able to help writers onwards towards publication, usually via agents."
  
  Section::::Activities.
   Some writers follow a non-standard route to publication. For example, this may include bloggers who have attracted large readerships producing a book based on their websites, books based on Internet memes, instant "celebrities" such as Joe the Plumber, retiring sports figures and in general anyone a publisher feels could produce a marketable book. Such books often employ the services of a ghostwriter.
   The Australian genre fiction collaborators known as Alice Campion are thought to be the first in the world to publish commercial fiction as a team of five, now four. Their popular novels, "The Painted Sky" (2015) and "The Shifting Light" (2017) were published by Penguin Random House.
  
  Section::::Commercial collaborations.:Legal aspects.
   Most agents and major publishing houses do not accept unsolicited manuscripts and slush piles are on average usually regarded as undesirable in many literary circles due to the large number of both aspiring and former writers who often produce content of unsatisfactory quality. However, this is not always the case with many smaller publishers or independent editors who are often open both to inexperienced writers as well as formerly established writers—both of whom may be able to create original content for the publisher and potentially turn a profit.
   Section::::Traditional versus self-publishing.:Advantages of self-publishing.
  
  Benefits include:
  
  BULLET::::- Speed. An author finds out right away whether a book is a hit with readers; there is not a six-month or longer delay typical with an established publisher since the usual back-and-forth steps with a publisher are bypassed. It is possible to release a book within a few weeks after it's finished. Further, it is possible to avoid the lengthy process of trying to find a literary agent to secure a publishing contract.
  
  BULLET::::- No start-up costs. Manuscripts uploaded to KDP or Smashwords typically do not incur any fees.
   The direction of the marketing and promotion effort is the responsibility of the author. Self-published authors can negotiate to have audiobooks made.
  
  Section::::Main routes to self-publishing.:Publishing platforms.
  
  The dominant self-publishing platform is Amazon which controls the vast share of the market, but there are numerous competitors and platforms in which authors can upload and sell their books.
  
  Section::::Main routes to self-publishing.:Publishing platforms.:Kindle Direct Publishing.
   An increasing number of authors are using niche marketing online to sell more books by engaging with their readers online. These authors can use free services such as Smashwords or Amazon's CreateSpace to have their book available for worldwide sale. There is an obvious attraction for first time authors who have been repeatedly rejected by the existing agent/publisher model to explore this opportunity. However, a consequence of this change in the mechanics of book distribution is that there is now no mandatory check on author skill or even their ability to spell, and any person with an internet connection can publish whatever they choose, regardless of the literary merit or even basic readability of their writing.
   Some writers have been dissatisfied with the marketing efforts of a traditional publisher. One writer got fed up when the publisher made basic mistakes with a book launch, and so he "decided to take his book back" and self-published it. He hired the firm Reedsy to redesign his book "The Pink Marine", and went on to form his own imprint. Novelist Louise Walters felt that traditional publishers were "debut-centric" and obsessed with celebrities. David Mamet, whose book "The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture" had been on the New York Times bestseller list, chose to release his novella by self-publishing. He had been dissatisfied with the marketing efforts of his traditional publisher. There was a report that suggested that traditional publishers have lessened their marketing efforts on behalf of authors. Another example is romance novelist Courtney Milan who switched to self-publishing because she wanted to have "more agency over the background of her characters" and her stories. Some photographers, who felt hemmed in by the traditional photo book publishing world, have started up their own imprints as a way to publish their own books. Writer Sarah Grimm moved away from the traditional publishing approach to self-publishing because she wanted greater control over cover design, publication dates and the story content.
   Many book publishers around the world maintain a strict "no unsolicited submissions" policy and will only accept submissions via a literary agent. This policy shifts the burden of assessing and developing writers out of the publisher and onto the literary agents. At these publishers, unsolicited manuscripts are thrown out, or sometimes returned, if the author has provided pre-paid postage.
  
  Established authors may be represented by a literary agent to market their work to publishers and negotiate contracts. Literary agents take a percentage of author earnings (varying between 10 and 15 percent) to pay for their services.
   Some businesses maximize their profit margins through vertical integration; book publishing is not one of them. Although newspaper and magazine companies still often own printing presses and binderies, book publishers rarely do. Similarly, the trade usually sells the finished products through a distributor who stores and distributes the publisher's wares for a percentage fee or sells on a sale or return basis.
   Authors have tried numerous approaches to promoting and marketing their books, including...
  
  BULLET::::- Building a web presence
  
  BULLET::::- Building a mailing list
  
  BULLET::::- Promoting e-books through targeted giveaways
  
  BULLET::::- Offering a limited edition print book
  
  BULLET::::- Promoting books through social media
  
  BULLET::::- Writing a blog
  
  BULLET::::- Having an author website
  
  BULLET::::- Raising funds for advertising through crowdfunding
  
  BULLET::::- Having book signings
  
  BULLET::::- Going to craft fairs
  
  BULLET::::- Hiring a public relations firm
  
  BULLET::::- Generating positive word of mouth
  
  BULLET::::- Joining a self-publishing group
  
  BULLET::::- Adding an audio book
  
  BULLET::::- Becoming an indie publisher
  
  BULLET::::- Entering contests open to self-published authors
   BULLET::::- More crossover activity. As self-publishing loses its stigma and its benefits via technology become more apparent, there are more instances in which new authors choose self-publishing as their primary route, as well as established authors leaving traditional publishers and self-publishing their titles. There are greater instances of self-published authors selling their books in major retailers such as Barnes & Noble, Target, and Walmart.
  
  BULLET::::- Rapid growth in all-you-can-read subscriptions.
   BULLET::::- Having to spend time marketing the book. One self-published author in Britain was working "14 hour days", spending months promoting her book "Only the Innocent"; while she eventually made it to the UK Kindle bestseller chart, Rachel Abbott still has difficulty getting the publishing world to take her book seriously. Another writer, Ros Barber, thinks self-publishing is a "terrible idea for serious novelists" since the requirements of marketing and promoting a book will prevent one from writing, and he continues to recommend the traditional approach.
   The Bookseller of the Year Award was created to celebrate the role that independent booksellers play in aiding the discovery of diverse authors and illustrators. The program launched in 2017 with over 25 nominations and the winner was Sara Luce Look from Charis Books and More in Atlanta Georgia. To be eligible for the award the nominees need to meet the following requirements:
  
  BULLET::::- Participation in the aba winter institute, ABC children's institute and co-development of outreach to diverse teens at the Texas teen book festival.
   Analyses have been made suggesting that self-published authors' earnings have been comparing favorably to earnings from established publishers, and this may be a factor causing established authors to switch to the self-publishing approach. While a self-published author can typically keep 70% of the sales price, a typical contract with a publisher will be payment of an advance sum such as $5000 to $10,000, plus receiving 25% of digital sales and 7% to 12% of the list price for bound books, which the author will receive after the publisher recoups the money paid for the advance to the author.
   BULLET::::- Erotic romance author Meredith Wild sold 1.4 million digital and print copies of her books, and founded her own publishing company called Waterhouse Press; she founded the firm in part because she felt that her novels were "not being taken seriously" as an indie author. An advantage of having her own imprint is that it is easier to get books into chainstores and big-box retailers.
  
  BULLET::::- The breakout hit "Wool" by Hugh Howey was self-published originally and garnered more than a million dollars in royalty monies, and has generated over 5000 Amazon reviews.
   Writers in a specialized field or with a narrower appeal have found smaller alternatives to the mass market in the form of small presses and self-publishing. More recently, these options include print on demand and ebook format. These publishing alternatives provide an avenue for authors who believe that mainstream publishing will not meet their needs or who are in a position to make more money from direct sales than they could from bookstore sales, such as popular speakers who sell books after speeches. Authors are more readily published by this means due to the much lower costs involved.
  
  Section::::Recent developments.
   Russell points out that Outsider Writing “should be at pains to be like the Outsider Art movement and keep itself free from writers who simply fail to make the grade”.
  
  Despite the suggestion that Outsider Writers should be driven by a need to write rather than publish, Russell appears to admit authors who have self- or vanity-published.
  
  Section::::Outsider Writers.
  
  BULLET::::- Sandor Berger (1925-2006), an Australian eccentric driven to self-publish many books and booklets, of poetry and his letters to newspaper editors.
   "We will never grow so large that all members of the firm cannot read and be interested in any book we publish," Farrar said. "While we believe in applying journalistic methods to publishing we feel that … there is a need for literature that is written in quiet places and that is brought to the public with dignity."
   Book scouts are the individuals who carry out this process. Many book scouts in a particular market work on retainer for one or more publishers or literary agencies in another market. When a potentially interesting book in the book scout's market is published, he or she will make his or her clients in the other market aware of this literary property. There is no conflict of interest for the book scout in representing multiple publishers, so long as there is no overlap in the type of book being scouted. For instance, a book scout cannot represent two or more romance novel publishers, but is free to represent a business publisher and a science publisher for the same particular market. 
   Still, it is likely that when a self-published author creates a bestseller, that he or she will accept an offer from a major publisher. Some traditional publishers troll the lists of bestselling self-published titles to look for new books to sell. Smashwords president Mark Coker predicted that it will become more difficult for traditional publishers to entice the best self-published authors, simply because traditional publishers don't pay as much. Successful self-published authors have been courted by literary agents and publishers offering substantial sums of money. It's getting harder for established publishers to woo away successful self-published authors since the royalty structure they offer may not match the profits to be made from publishing on their own.
   The few traditional publishers that directly solicit and encourage VF works tend to be small and unstable.
  
  Section::::Publishing and marketing.:Current status.:Online vendors.
  
  While online vendor, Amazon, claims to adhere to BISAC strictly, its print offerings are usually pre-coded by the publishers with results similar to the above.
   In July 2017, Market Theatre Foundation partnered with Exclusive Books.
  
  Section::::Corporate social responsibility.
  
  In 2002, in a move to formalize the corporate social responsibility programme, Exclusive Books established the Exclusive Books Reading Trust. The three trustees are Zakes Mda, Mandla Langa, and Brian Wafawarowa.
   BULLET::::- Minnesota social worker Amanda Hocking uploaded several books in 2010 and sold a few dozen copies. She published several more manuscripts and within a few months was making enough money to quit her daytime job. She later won a deal with Macmillan publishers, and went to being a millionaire in a year. She sold her series to St. Martin's Press in 2011 for two million dollars.
   Book publishers represent less than a sixth of the publishers in the United States. Most books are published by a small number of very large book publishers, but thousands of smaller book publishers exist. Many small- and medium-sized book publishers specialize in a specific area. Additionally, thousands of authors have created publishing companies and self-published their own works.
  
  Within the book publishing, the publisher of record for a book is the entity in whose name the book's ISBN is registered. The publisher of record may or may not be the actual publisher.
  
raw_presuppositions: Authors always go through book publishers to sell their content.
raw_corrections: Some authors self-publish now that modern technology has simplified it, but many authors prefer the benefits of going through a publisher.