When people find out I’m a published author, I frequently get questions about a book someone’s working on. “I’m interested in publishing a book. I was thinking of going with x publisher. What do you think about them?”
I always say, “Sounds good. Go for it.” Because to be honest, I don’t really believe the publisher matters that much. I’ve found that a publisher deciding to publish your book isn’t necessarily a reflection on how successful the book will be. Instead, it’s a reflection on whether or not the book has obvious market value.
Can the publisher see the value in this book? If so, they’ll probably pick it up and publish it. But unless they pour hundreds or thousands of dollars into promoting the thing, it’ll sit on the same bookshelves as highly unsuccessful books occupy.
A book doesn’t succeed just because a big name publishes it. Yes, that helps. But the success of a book is when people pick it up then tell their friends about it. It’s connecting your audience with your book. It’s finding people who need this book and making it available to them.
The coolest thing about the world and culture we live in now, is that anyone can write a successful book. Anyone can record a successful album. Anyone can do this whole “independent” thing, because it’s easy to get your work out there.
You could get a book listed in Amazon.com tomorrow if you wanted. That’s the easy part. Skyrocketing the book to a number one bestseller list, though, that takes something else.
So my recommendation is this: Focus less on the publisher. Instead, find a group of people who need your idea (who need your book) and make it something that’s absolutely perfect for them. Then let them know about it, and let the publishing be the last thing you worry about.
