From: nicky.matthews@btinternet.com

On Tuesday, September 2, 2014 12:03:43 AM UTC+1, Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) wrote:
>
> 
> 
> 	My rule of thumb: No advance? They're not a real publisher. A real 
> 
> publisher believes they'll make money from my book, and they demonstrate 
> 
> this belief by giving me some portion of that money up front. If they 
> 
> don't believe in my book enough to do that, then I don't believe they'll 
> 
> be doing a good enough job with my book to be given the rights to it.
> 
> 
> 
> 	Self-pub IS going to be a lot more work; I'm doing that with 
> 
> _Polychrome_ now, and it's definitely a pain in the butt. Worth doing if 
> 
> you want to get it out there, but it'll be a lot of work, and there's no 
> 
> one backstopping you at any step unless you're paying for it; getting 
> 
> the cover, getting pro editing, etc.? That's gonna cost you.

> 
Sadly a number of UK publishers have ditched the advance and those who give
one have reduced it radically. 
I am grateful for all this feedback and I think I've come to the conclusion
that I don't want to invest much time or money in what was essentially a throw
away story. It didn't take long to write, I don't particularly like it and if
I make anything out 
of it at all it will be a bonus. (I don't want it to go out under my name
either. )
For those of you who might be shocked by my lack of faith in my own work I
must add that it's not a dreadful book - it's OK - pitched at a younger age
group than I usually write for, with almost no subtext and a lot of gunk and
slime. I will probably 
never get round to formatting it for self pub and if I leapt that hurdle, I
wouldn't be prepared to promote it energetically. The publisher is not a great
publisher but the book is not a great book. Realistically, if I don't sign the
contract the book 
will probably sit on my computer until I replace the computer and then be lost
forever.

Thanks, everyone.
Nicky

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
 * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)