Anyone here publish a book with a frum publisher?

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Forum -> Hobbies, Crafts, and Collections -> The Imamother Writing Club

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little neshamala

Sun, Apr 19 2015, 2:44 pm

Hi, I'm looking for anyone who has experience publishing a book with any of the frum publishers (feldheim,israel bookshop,etc) and is willing to answer some questions.... (I'd like to write a novel)

thanks in advance!

r_ch

Sun, Apr 19 2015, 4:15 pm

Why don't you ask them directly?

doctorima

Sun, Apr 19 2015, 5:56 pm

I haven't published a book, but just a suggestion: this forum doesn't allow anonymous replies. I could imagine that those who have published may not want to respond under their sn's. You might get more feedback on a different forum that allows for anonymous posting.

Rubber Ducky

Sun, Apr 19 2015, 6:04 pm

Good suggestion. Try The Imamother Writing Club forum: http://www.imamother.com/forum.....f=234

little neshamala

Sun, Apr 19 2015, 9:35 pm

thank you so much for the advice. I PMed a mod, hopefully it wil be moved

amother

Wheat

Mon, Apr 20 2015, 3:33 am

Now that it's moved, ask away! Smile

amother

Peach

Mon, Apr 20 2015, 9:36 am

I have. Feel free to ask.

Mama Bear

Mon, Apr 20 2015, 9:40 am

you can join the Soferet group on google, or the Facebook Frum Freelance writers group, lots of women with experience in both.

little neshamala

Mon, Apr 20 2015, 10:34 pm

Thank you!

so I looked online at the publishers' websites and they all basically say to just send in the manuscript, no further details.
so here are my questions:

Before I begin typing, is there a specific framework as far as font, line spacing, how far I indent, etc that they prefer or is it not that detailed?

I don't remember where I came across this, but I once read that some publishing houses proof-read and edit, but others don't (they just print exactly what you typed?)....is that true?
Along these lines, when I type, am I expecting the publishers to re-type and re-format according to their liking or is it just printing out what I've written?

Are there any major differences between the different publishers? I want to write a novel geared for young teens. Anything I should know in advance?

In your experience, are some publishers easier to work with than others? If you've worked with multiple ones, who would you recommend and why? How does it work as far as payment?

That's all I can think of for now...

thanks so much!

amother

Peach

Mon, Apr 20 2015, 10:54 pm

little neshamala wrote:

In general you'll want to type in Times New Roman, size 12, with the lines double spaced. That's pretty standard.

Quote:

I don't remember where I came across this, but I once read that some publishing houses proof-read and edit, but others don't (they just print exactly what you typed?)....is that true?

Definitely not true. Unless you're self publishing, expect to be edited.

Quote:

Along these lines, when I type, am I expecting the publishers to re-type and re-format according to their liking or is it just printing out what I've written?

They won't retype. They'll take your Word document and work on it in whatever program they use. Then they'll send it to the typesetter to be properly laid out in book format.

Quote:

Are there any major differences between the different publishers? I want to write a novel geared for young teens. Anything I should know in advance?

Some publishers specialize in a certain kind of book, or avoid another. Always best to find out.

Quote:

In your experience, are some publishers easier to work with than others? If you've worked with multiple ones, who would you recommend and why?

I would cross that bridge when I come to it. Ie. If you get interest from more than one publishing house, worry about it then. It's unlikely.

Quote:

How does it work as far as payment?

Don't expect to make any :-)

amother

Wheat

Tue, Apr 21 2015, 2:12 am

First you should meet their requirements for a book. Not everything people write can be published.

It should also be of a certain size (sorry, I'm not familiar with children's book format but there is a certain number of words).

If it's your first book publishers can be rude and not answer your question "why" when they turn your manuscript down. Even if they don't, not all of them are writer oriented, they prefer their own gain and don't even think you're worth it. Yes, it's sad truth, bear with it.

And now write your novel.

amother

Hotpink

Tue, Apr 21 2015, 6:22 am

I once considered it. What I did was contact the submissions section of the publisher I wanted, and they sent me a good set of guidelines detailing what they wanted submissions to look like. Kedai to do that.

little neshamala

Tue, Apr 21 2015, 9:06 am

Thank you all for your replies.
Is it okay to submit the manuscript to multiple publishers at the same time?
Any advice on which publisher you were/were not happy with? any publishers known for paying less than others? Or notorious for not getting back to you etc....any heads up in this regard would be very helpful before I pick one...they all seem to be the type to publish the kind of book I'm writing

amother

Wheat

Tue, Apr 21 2015, 9:09 am

little neshamala wrote:

No way. It's lashon hara.

Plus I think publishers ask to not submit to more than one publisher at a time. It can lead to confusion of interests.

amother

Peach

Tue, Apr 21 2015, 9:21 am

little neshamala wrote:

Yes, you can submit to multiple at once in the frum world (in my experience). Don't worry so much about choosing which publisher - it's unlikely that you'll get that much interest. (this is no reflection on you or your writing, since I have no clue how you write, it's just the reality in the publishing world).

But again, if you're doing it for money, don't bother. It's generally a royalty deal. A pretty common one is 7% of profit, which is next to nothing. If the book sells for $15, only $3-4 of that is profit and then you'll be getting 7% of that. Sometimes they offer a higher percentage if you wait until they cover their costs, but that is risky because you may never get paid. Some publishers offer an option where you lay out the publishing costs and then you get back more. If I had the funds, I would probably do that.

amother

Saddlebrown

Tue, Apr 21 2015, 9:27 am

I'm not OP, but do you need to be "known" to get in with a frum publisher? I heard they won't even look at you if you don't have a recognizable name.

amother

Peach

Tue, Apr 21 2015, 9:35 am

amother wrote:

I'm not OP, but do you need to be "known" to get in with a frum publisher? I heard they won't even look at you if you don't have a recognizable name.

I haven't found that to be true.

amother

Wheat

Tue, Apr 21 2015, 9:35 am

amother wrote:

I'm not OP, but do you need to be "known" to get in with a frum publisher? I heard they won't even look at you if you don't have a recognizable name.

I wasn't known. Two of the publishers said no. One of the explained their refusal by my bad writing, the other didn't bother to explain. I submitted to a third who accepted on terms of self-financing. Which means I covered editing, cover, typeset and print, and let them sell it. For that I'm getting 30% royalties. Happy end but I hate their attitude to writers without whom they wouldn't have anything to sell.

little neshamala

Tue, Apr 21 2015, 12:42 pm

Interesting that it's so hard to get accepted if you're new...I assumed otherwise because I see so many very poorly written books published, and I just thought they aren't tHat selective...

amother

Wheat

Tue, Apr 21 2015, 2:28 pm

There aren't natural laws in the Jewish Literature. Unfortunately.

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