What New Authors Should Expect From A Publisher - Anna David

Any authors, artists, poets, copywriters, or influencers in nyc looking to collaborate on some projects? Im looking to build a team

Independent author

I’m an author of 4 books working on my 5th now my author name is Ivan Romance

Also the name of my company, I was signed to small publisher, I got signed because the publisher love my sample work I turn in

Doing being signed to them I saw how they can control everything the publisher her name was Tracy even control my name

And I didn’t like that, she end up closing the publishing company because she was going though an divorce and couldn’t focus on me and the other authors

She release me and it was the best thing for me because I could already hustle and I’m good at networking I just needed to see what I needed to get done by myself.

I got full control now and I make pretty good money doing so, I went independent because of the money and I know my worth

I published 2018 my first book now I have 4 I got married 2021 that year I didn’t have a job i actually quite my job

In 6 months I made 45,000 dollars and was able to pay for my wedding in cash and pay for my wife wedding rings

Now my books pay a lot of my bills and buy me clothes and shoes and pay for my dinner dates.. if I had to signed with a major pub I would want a partnership and the deal will have to make since cause owning my books do things for me

I’m an urban author if you want to fine me type in Ivan romance on social media.

But if I keep on hustling I will be able to buy me a condo and a new 2023 Chevrolet Camaro I plan on dropping 20 more books too.

The fact that if tolkien tried to publish in todays market will not get picked is a huge industry problem money is all that matters not art

wow I wasn't aware publishing could suck that much

Rejection feels like a kick in the teeth. Always.

More charming still.get at me

So everything is a grift, publishing companies don’t want to pay you anymore, and you need to become an influencer to make a living at art or writing. You can see the miserable deadness in her eyes as she tries to defend all this.

I’m a retired coal miner. I’ve written ten books, all comedies. Nobody reads them but I had so much fun writing them that it really doesn’t matter.

Your company is mostly for non-fiction?

This segment is GOLD.

My friend's wife has written books since the mid-90s and then you pretty much had to use a publisher. She wrote around 20 books between 95 and the early 2000s. She said since the mid-2000s Publishers got really cheap and paid out less. one of her last books she used a Publisher made the NY Times bestseller and she thought her next box in the series she would do a lot better but they only offered her 5k upfront to write it. this was around 2008. She refused to write it and later her Publisher dropped her. The next book she self-published in 2012 and made more money than her NY Times bestseller. There are so many ways now to Self-publish,even using Amazon or related sites to do it

golden advice

Yes, you need an ISBN number but the ISBN number is only for anyone to search your book world wide. It is an identifier. You do need to set up an LLC to set up your business as a legal entity and to protect yourself because world ain't so forgiving. You need to set up a legal entity and being sole trader is not good one because it doesn't protect you as much as an LLC. Un UK I think it is Limited Company but don't quote me on that. Do your research if you're in UK. Get that right first, the foundation legality of your business. After all, self publishing is a business. You got expenses, you want to claim them, you got taxes to pay etc. You need to also show to IRS and whoever your accounts every year or whatever the time limit is in your country. Even if you haven't sold one book or you're still writing it. I would not set up one until you got a finished product and then go set up your business and get the ISBN.

"People around you" means MONEY to pay these people. It's plain and simple. If you have a shitload of money to hire the professionals for editing, design, and, most importantly, marketing - self-publish.

She’s so candid in her storytelling 🔥

Published three times and these interviews are very accurate. This is exactly what it’s like, and she’s right on the money.

"It's not news to anyone when a book comes out." Absolutely spot on. Publishing is a quiet affair by nature. You have to make the noise, but you also have to learn to amplify it. Make your book part of every contemporary conversation you can.

Good lord that woman can do a great interview.

do publishers insist on getting the movie rights to a book?

I so wish Anna David's advice to get media attention would work for unknown novelists. My novel does have a focus on AI and its real-world effects. Sure, my story leans heavily toward technothriller mystery, but I actually illustrate a joint session congressional hearing where politicians and a technologist "debate" (read: have an altercation over) how "robosourcing" via AI will have a detrimental effect on workers and society as a whole. There are even solutions presented by the technologist.

I wrote it in 2015, published in 2020, and today with LLM-based AI we're seeing the effects of some of what I predicted while other predictions are just around the corner.

Unfortunately, no one listens to Zathras....

You just opened my eyes Madam, and even possibly saved me a lot of time, energy and cost.

Thanks!

She’s great! Her knowledge and awareness of the book publishing experience is very valuable.

Christ, it took forever, but finally they got an interviewee who doesn't mince words or dance around the topic, she just gets right to it and lays out a concept map. She can come back and answer questions about "toadstool art for deaf quadriplegics" and I would learn all kinds of useful stuff that I can actually apply.

I tried doing Twitter and social media to get a following it was exhausting and took away from my writing. I may make a booktok in the future. Not sure yet.

I’m meeting a publisher later tonight…

Would really like to know how many self-published books she's sold vs. books of hers put out by traditional publishers.

I honestly respect the gatekeeping though because it weeds out writers with an idea versus writers who are willing to hang in there. It's a necessary quality control

This was great. Self Publishing is a good way to maintain 100% creative control. Couldn't of come at a better time as a writer who's been navigating the publishing world. It takes about 6 weeks to even hear back from these traditional publishing houses.

I self published my first book after send out a bunch of query's and only getting one offer from a small publisher. Even though I went the self-publishing route that was a certifier of sorts that told me the book is good enough. In the end I decided I wanted full creative control and the only way to ensure this was to do it myself.

The process of hiring a formatter and book designer via fivver was frustrating at times but I definitely learned a lot from the whole process. With my next book, I'll prob reach out to traditional publishers knowing I can always do it myself if I don't get/like the offers.

Thanks for the interview!

I love her, she says so much with her eye contact !

Number of books I've bought in the past 10 years: zero

This was so great because she gives specific sites to go on and a lot of readily accessible advice.

Great info, she dropped a lot of gems/resources!

Always loved when she was on Attack of the Show years ago!

Wow! What great advice. Thanks.

I love this interview. She gave such helpful advice!

More Anna David please!! 🥳

My mother has kept saying I should just self-publish a book; this has helped me push myself to do what I never thought I would. I am going to try now. oh boy.

I’m writing my first book right now and this is so helpful and timely!!!!!!

I was rejected 200 times before I decided to self-publish. I have since published six books. Of course, the downside to self-publishing is that you have to do everything yourself. I’m lucky that my father is an expert in graphic design. Not being able to afford a professional editor, I have to do all the editing myself. I do attempt to get feedback from beta readers, although the feedback varies in quality. In my experience, the key to success is having a platform. Since I’ve joined TikTok, my sales have more than tripled. I used to dream about selling only one book a month. Sometimes, I now sell around a dozen. I’m thankful that I have complete creative control, something I wouldn’t have with traditional publishing.

My favorite person out of all the people you've interviewed on your channel. So much truth. Having illustrated 5 children books for self-published authors, and designed the covers of at least a dozen more, the thing I always tell people who ask me if they should try and get a publishing deal, after telling them, "good luck, it's nearly impossible", is that the advance publishers give an author at the beginning are based on presumed sales numbers. And if your book doesn't sell enough copies to cover the advance, you end up owing the publisher the money your book didn't earn. Might as well visit your local loan shark with those odds.

💯love this! Very cool info.

Querying is awful. I have been rejected so many times. Not quitting though.

Have you self-published a book? What was the experience? Was it worth it?