I'm retiring Friday, have a mss completed, thought about going with Tate Publishing, decided against it, need to bring in some income. I don't know beans about how to look for a "small press" publisher, I have looked up some of the publishers I'm familiar with but they handle big time names. Don't think I fit in with them yet. I have sample query letters, sample synposis (thanks Vicki!) but feel absolutely paralyzed with fear! Go figure, I've had story ideas, poetry, essays etc run through my head for weeks. Now that I'm actually facing it, there is nothing. I don't even have enough confidence to send my mss to anyone, not a publisher, agent or anyone else. I tried doing a synopsis and it sound like the most boring book and I wouldn't want to read it! Please keep me in your prayers, if you have any suggestions, I'm open to any and all.

Thanks for letting me spout off.

Sherri, I recommend this book

Jeff Herman's Guide to Book Publishers, Editors and Literary Agents 2004: Who They Are! What They Want! and How to Win Them Over!
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0871162016/102-1593308-9343317?v=glance

Lots of great advice, and oodles and oodles of publishers to submit your query letter and synopsis to.

Here's a couple of links to a list of small press publishers

http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/smallpresses/
http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Shopping_and_Services/Publishers/Fiction_and_Literature/Literary_Small_Press/

I hope that helps get you started.

Sherri,
What about going the AuthorHouse route or Lulu? Just because it isn't right for me doesn't mean it wouldn't be for you. You are retiring so you will have more time for chasing and promoting than I do. The initial investment, from what I'm hearing here anyway, is considerable less than what you were ready to spend at Tate. By the way, It sounds like steering clear of them was a good move. You had problems with Magellan didn't you?

I don't know anything about small presses either. (only the micro presses like mine I'm not that familiar with agents yet. I can only tell you the marketing piece is a lot of work, but you already know that. I've spent my whole morning sending press releases to newspapers, most of which will probably ignore it. I do have a local daily paper that is going to do a feature on my and my book in May and a local weekly that covers several communities that will run the release, but the others are a shot in the dark. I do better through word of mouth and carrying the books around and showing them to people. Also, the bookmarks and magnets are good.

Good luck.
Louisa

Louisa, over in the Featured Author forum I was asked what was my best marketing ploy, and I have to say it is word of mouth, like you said. I carry the books in the trunk of my car. I also have book marks. I never saw a correlation between newspaper features on my book and book sales. I would like to get into radio interviews, though, as Dianna said they were profitable for her. Sherri, wow can I understand your fears. Have you tried circulating your ms via the critique circle here? What editors have viewed your ms? How polished do you think it is? Luck, Love, and Light, Lynn

Chatty and Pam have reviewed it. Both responses were positive. I have finished the final draft, checked and rechecked it, have only 2 passive sentences and it's about 52,000 words. I'm not afraid to market, I enjoy it, I'm just uncertain about a lot of things right now and don't know which direction to go. I have only submitted the mss to Tate Publishing.

Sherri, go to a book store and find books that are like yours and write down the publisher's names. Then, do some research to see if they accept unsolicited queries or mss. It takes a while but worth it. Or, you can try to find an agent for your work. Small houses give more attention and a personal touch to their authors than the big houses.

I had a woman who found my agent for me. We had a huge argument tho because she used me as a reference and this guy emailed me and from what he told me, she was charging him up front, which is a big no no in the business. I told her she couldn't use my name anymore. But, she did find me a great agent so when she was still honest, she was good. Do some Internet research and see what you find. I wouldn't self-publish until my rejection slip file got thicker than my manuscript.

I highly recommend Herman's book too. It's jam packed with agents and publishers. Buy it, read it, and highlight any of them that might be a perfect fit for your book. Then go back and start submitting.

Dianne's suggestion is also an excellent one. I did that while trying to find a publisher and agent. Just go to the book store or library. Find all the books that are similar to yours. Look through the acknowlegement section. They will always mention their agent, especially if he/she is good. Write down the book title, publisher, and agent. Go home and start researching online. Then send your query to all those people. Be sure to mention how you learned of them. It sets you apart form all the other queries they receive.

Publishers and agents represent very specific subjects. You can't query one who sells women's issues if you are trying to market a book on sports. It's a waste of time.

Just because you are rejected doesn't mean your work isn't good. It means it isn't a perfect fit for that agent, or publishing house.

Sherri,
Looking at similar books for the publishers is a good idea--I'd add to that to look at the acknowledgements in those books because people will often thank their agents and you could then google those agents. Also--if it's in the budget, going to a good writers' conference where there are agents and editors can be really helpful. It has been for me. They give workshops, talk on panels and you can get one on one appointments with them.

Ditto all the above. Herman's book is great. So is the Writer's Digest Guide to Literary Agents. They also have one for novelists listing publishers--their adress, contact editors, etc.

My advice--be patient. Finding a home for your "baby" might not be easy. It certainly wasn't for FIREBRAND. I spent SEVEN years, and accumulated 208 rejection letters before Amber Quill took the risk to publish it.

Is your MS a novel? You might try selecting a few chapters that stand alone and try submitting them to magazines that publish your genre and accept novel excerpts. Another thing is look for writing contests. There are tons of those and could help get your "foot in the door".

But don't give up. Believe in your stories. Get them out to the world. Do your homework. Ask questions!

Sherri I absolutely agree with what everyone else has said about Jeff Herman's book. You can take a big pad of paper and pen to the library and do some research - that's what I did. I looked for all the publishers who "specialized" in mysteries - particularly those who had published series - and that's who I targeted.

I recently tossed out my file folder of rejections from both agents and publishers - we've ALL received those and you just have to allow receiving them to make you stronger and more determined! My journey took a couple of years and I learned a lot along the way.