In my ongoing quest to address the needs of our blog readers, I am answering more questions authors have posed in the comments section of past blogs.
What publishers do you generally work with, and with which ones do you have the closest working relationship, or usually contact first? Which ones do you avoid? And why?
What I think you really want to know is, “If I sign with you, where will I land?” I will break down your question into parts in hopes of offering clear insight.
Publishers we generally work with:
We work with all the top drawer publishers. A quick look at our client list as it appears on our web site is proof positive. You name a Christian publisher and we’ve probably done business with them.
Which publishers we work with most closely:
We have excellent relationships with dozens of publishers. For us, it’s not a matter of which house we work with most closely, because we work closely with them all, but which house is right for the author. Routinely, projects we represent generate strong interest from several houses. When considering interest, we look of course at contract terms. We also consider the author’s ministry, career, and financial goals, along with the overarching mission and personality of the house. While all CBA houses work to glorify God’s kingdom, the differences in their individual missions may be nuanced. We look at where the author will be a good fit and plan accordingly.
First we contact:
We contact those publishers where we think the author will be successful.
We avoid:
Fly-by-night publishers or those with little or no track record of success. Between the three of us we have seen many come and go and we want our clients to be successful.
Your turn:
How much research have you done regarding publishing houses?
Who is your dream publisher and why?
How involved do you want to be in deciding where your agent will send your work?
