Book Publishing: Past and Present

In the past, people who wanted to get their first book into print had a number of options. Depending upon their individual circumstances and preferences, many were able to find the option which worked best for them.

It was not too far in the past that even an unknown writer had a relatively good chance with a popular publishing company. Even top publishing houses were not averse to new writers who showed potential. In fact, this is the way that some of this era's most well-known and best-selling authors got their start. They needed to begin somewhere; and many began as unknown writers having their unknown works reviewed and published by major publishing companies.

Today, this method is virtually impossible. Most if not all major publishing houses will not work directly with unknowns. If a writer has not yet proven his ability to generate sales from his work, "We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts" is the response which is is most likely to receive.

A second method was to enlist the assistance of an agent. While a good agent could be found, and result in a positive experience, this too was often a long and difficult endeavor. To become represented by a quality agent, a writer needed a bit of business knowledge, as well as plenty of time to spare in sending manuscripts around until he found an agent who liked his work and whose terms he agreed upon.

A third method was known as vanity presses. Vanity presses* have been around for decades, offering a writer the easiest method of seeing his work in print. Differing from standard publishing companies, vanity presses basically operated by offering a service to writers. While these services were open to nearly anyone who could produce a manuscript, they did not come cheaply. For a rather hefty sum, a vanity press would print a specific quantity of books, and then ship the books to the writer. The writer would then be on his own to distribute or sell his books as he saw fit.

A major breakthrough in book publishing came with the founding of Lulu Press** in 2002. Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, Lulu Press offers some of the most important services of major publishing houses, but without the time-consuming frustration of dealing with agents or publishing companies' editors.

Differing from vanity presses, Lulu has the purpose of making the writer's work available to the public. They offer a range of distribution services, so the writer can choose the distribution that is the most appropriate for his material. Books which are published through Lulu can be listed on Amazon.com and made available to bookstores, to name a few. Also differing from vanity presses, writers are not charged for their books being published.

Online publishing is the way of the future, and has been available for a number of years. For anyone who struggled with manuscripts on paper or disk in the past, this is good news. On-demand publishing has made getting one's work into print and available to the public a much easier experience for everyone.

* Example of a popular vanity press - Vantage: http://www.vantagepress.com/is_it_for_you.html

** Example of an on-demand publisher- Lulu: http://www.lulu.com/publish/books/?cid=publish_portal