Publishing a book
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I've published over thirty books in my life. I often meet people who dream of being published themselves.
What does it mean to publish a book? First, you must write it, and compose it (if it includes illustrations). Nowadays, the task has been greatly simplified thanks to word processors, spell checkers, and scanners. There are several things you need to know. The production of books has undergone a real inflation. Just ask a bookseller. I no longer remember how many new books are released each year in France, but I do know that, placed side by side, they would cover an area of one hectare. These books will therefore have highly variable lifespans, generally very short. An important point: all publishers make 90% of their revenue from just 10% of the books they publish. Thus, only successful books and authors interest them. By "books that sell," we mean books that reach or exceed sales of 10,000 copies.
An publisher will lose money if a book sells fewer than a thousand copies. Below that, it's a flop. There are such cases. We'll address the thorny issue of contracts later. For now, let's talk technically. The author has just delivered their manuscript to the publisher within the time frame specified in the contract. What happens then? If the contract includes (and this is desirable) a deadline for the book's release, the publisher will begin their work. Last spelling errors will be eliminated. If the book includes illustrations, the submitted or entrusted materials will be processed accordingly. The book will be typeset. But if it's a text-only book supplied on a simple floppy disk, the publisher's work will be greatly simplified. In the case of black-and-white comic strips, their work will essentially consist of sending the pages to "film-making."
All these operations are part of what is called "book production," which is said to be "launched into production." At the end of these steps, the book arrives at a printer, small or large, which produces the requested copies. Let's set aside issues related to color printing. The book will be printed in black and white using offset printing. Traditionally, the publisher reserves the right to choose the title, the cover design (including the selection of the illustration to appear on it), and the content of what is known as the "back cover blurb." This text is important. Indeed, it is the only one the bookseller will read when deciding which shelf in their store to allocate for the copies sent to them—whether on consignment or ordered. The publisher also sets the book's selling price, a choice that can carry significant consequences. On this point, some publishers sometimes pursue entirely non-commercial policies (for example: black-and-white comics sold for 90 F each, while excellent four-color printing can be found at half that price).
What authors often don't realize are the surprisingly low production costs of books (compared to photocopying). The unit cost decreases as the print run increases. There are unavoidable fixed costs: transforming the pages of a book into the same number of offset film positives. On this point, the cost remains the same whether printing 100 or 100,000 copies. For very small print runs, this dramatically increases the unit cost. Publishers, especially large ones, have preferential rates with printers. To give an idea: a 200-page text-only book, printed on medium-quality paper, in black and white, with a softcover featuring a color illustration, will cost less than 10 F to produce, while its selling price is generally ten times higher. If the cover page is duotone (two passes instead of four) or monochrome (one pass), the cost could drop to six or seven francs.
Color publishing is a different world altogether. The paper must be of higher quality. The number of film positives increases fourfold (four-color process). The machines must be precise enough to align colors accurately, within a tenth of a millimeter, on the pages. A color print run requires a higher sales volume to justify the cost.
The "major printers" work in real factories where tons of paper enter daily, and finished books exit at the other end, grouped into "pallets" wrapped in plastic, ready to be loaded onto trucks. The "Cameron presses" are fully automated and robotized. The only manual action the printer performs is entering the desired number of copies on a keyboard. Large publishing houses can thus respond very quickly to sudden public demand, sometimes within just a few days. This is why initial print runs have significantly decreased. In the past, when an author released a book, people would ask, "How many copies did your publisher print?" Today, that number means little.
The first thing that follows book printing is "distribution." The small publisher will work manually, sending books in small batches to various booksellers. The way books are stored in the bookstore can vary widely. The worst arrangement is "consignment." It's the author's responsibility to finance the book's publication. The bookstore will agree to display the book(s), preferably with a receipt, and send the author their share if everything goes well. But often, just a few copies or even a single book get lost in the maze of shelves and the clutter of the bookstore's accounting records.
Publishers may have representatives, either employed directly by the house or, for smaller editions, working on a per-job basis, whose job is to "sell" recently released books to booksellers ("Okay, so how many copies do you want?"). There are also distribution networks that send catalogs with order forms and ensure supply. Generally, books are not paid for immediately but are settled via bills due in 60 or 90 days. The profit margins for booksellers vary. At least 30%. Up to 40% for more efficient booksellers, or even 50% in large retail chains with high sales volumes. Sometimes, returns are possible (unsold books). There have also emerged "book supermarkets," reserved exclusively for booksellers. In vast warehouses, thousands of books wait on pallets, like Badoit bottles, ready for their customers. Booksellers then shop for themselves, pushing their carts to the checkout for either cash payment or payment on account.
How can you convince a publisher to publish you? One might think it's enough to send photocopies of manuscripts to various publishing houses, which are supposed to be reviewed by "readers..."