This document provides an overview of the publishing industry and the roles of various publishing professionals. It discusses how publishers can help raise an author's profile and disseminate their work to a wide audience. The roles of literary agents, editors, copyeditors, marketing managers, designers, sales representatives, printers and booksellers in the publishing process are outlined. Self-publishing is also discussed, noting its challenges with discoverability, scale, availability and reputation compared to traditional publishing. The importance of time management for authors is emphasized.

1. T H EAUTHORS’
PUBLISHING
HANDBOOK
A COMPACT GUIDE TO THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY
AUTHOR MANAGEMENT MODULE
UNIVERSITYCOLLEGELONDON
SAMANTHARAYNER,INSTG067
AMANDAAMEN
14098641

3. i
m
o
k
g
s
z
e
r y
h
a
w

4. We exist in a digital landscape. Content
from around the world is now available at
the push of a button, and, everywhere,
people are broadcasting their creative
voices, clamoring to be heard. It’s an
exhilarating time to be an author, but how
will you carry your voice in the deafening
crowd? Publishers offer the resources,
power, and expertise required to raise your
voice against the masses. They invest in
excellent intellectual property and seek to
protect it, but their greatest investment is
you. A respectable publisher will raise your
author profile, build your personal brand,
and offer expert editorial advice to ensure
your vision shines through for readers.
Publishers research their distinctive
markets, use this data creatively to pursue
intended audiences, and design works to
meet market needs. This ensures maximum
exposure, relevance, and sales, benefiting
both author and publisher. The publisher’s
active rights department, moreover,
generates a worldwide sales network. These
established connections in foreign markets
disseminate the author’s work to its widest
possible audience and, over time, produce a
welcome authorial profit. The interests of
authors and publishers, consequently,
coincide—a publisher is merely the eager
intermediary between creator and
consumer. Discovering, nurturing, and
refining your voice in the din of the digital
world, your publisher is your partner.
PAGE2
INSTG067: AMANDA AMEN 14098641

5. WHATCANTHEY
DOFORYOU?
LITERARY(AGENT
A literary agent identifies promising creators and
acquires them by extending an offer of representation.
After negotiating with publishers and other media
outlets, an agent will recommend the offer most
advantageous to you. In return, the agent receives
standard commission from your advance and
royalties—15 percent for home sales and 20 percent
for transatlantic sales.
Remember, no reputable agent will ask for upfront fees.
It is wise to verify the status of potential agents on the
Association of Authors’ Agents members’ directory.
In some cases, an agent may assume editorial
responsibilities including manuscript revision,
promotion, media platform development, and brand
enhancement. Other agents will leave these
responsibilities to your editor.
EDITOR
An editor receives manuscripts and pitches promising
works to the company for publication. While
monitoring the performance of published titles, an
editor will draw your contract and negotiate terms,
advances, and royalties.
Ultimately, the editor shares your vision and desires to
bring it to fruition. They will suggest editorial revisions
to maintain cohesion in the manuscript, and it is
advisable for you to take these suggestions. Your editor
does not seek to change your vision, only to help you
say what you want to say and impart this message onto
readers.
COPYEDITOR
A copyeditor is fundamental to the integrity of an
author. Specially trained in mechanics, grammar,
syntax, and sentence structure, copyeditors save authors
from embarrassing distortions of spelling and style.
Committed to their work, authors often suffer the
delusion of re-reading and miss minute errors. A
copyeditor will handle your manuscript with finesse for
a polished, error-free product.
PAGE3
INSTG067: AMANDA AMEN 14098641
The component links of publishing ensure smooth
functioning in the book supply chain. Let’s take a
look at the roles that make up this linear practice.

6. RIGHTS(MANAGER
A rights manager negotiates rights deals and attends
major book fairs around the world.
Although books can generate profit in their original
format, rights act as a valuable extra for additional
income.
MARKETING(MANAGER
A marketing manager prepares and manages campaigns
for imprints, series, and individual titles, using tried and
true techniques to achieve maximum sales. They are
responsible for the branding, promotion, and publicity
of company outputs, and, therefore, have input in the
selection of publications. A marketing manager will
optimize publicity for your book by securing reviews,
features, and priority places for advertisements.
Before submitting your manuscript, you will be asked
to complete an Author’s Questionnaire. This contains
information on the book’s content and readership, and
will be used to shape the book’s marketing plan.
Information included in this questionnaire will also
develop the book’s blurb, catalogue copy, and
advertisements, so your extensive report is
recommended.
DESIGNER
A designer looks after the production of your book and
is responsible for its visual impact, production quality,
and design. They liaise with internal and external
suppliers and tend to issues of scheduling and
production cost.
If you have particular images or ideas in mind for your
book, it’s best to consult with your editor in advance.
The majority of images online are unlicensed or
licensed only for commercial use and do not meet the
recommended resolution for print.
SALES(REPRESENTATIVE(
A sales representative works with major trade
customers, negotiating promotional deals, and boasts
comprehensive knowledge of what is selling through
various channels. It is the sales representative’s
responsibility to ensure publications move profitably
through these distribution channels to the consumer.
Because they sell to retail sectors, sales representatives
determine the size of your print run, often considering
the viability of your proposed sales figures to draw their
estimate.
PRINTER
Today, many publishing companies outsource for
printing. Unfortunately, this means one printer may
accommodate hundreds of publishers in schedule with
little room for delay.
If you do not believe you’ll be able to meet your
contracted delivery date, it’s important that you contact
your editor immediately to circumvent any potential
delays caused by the printer’s schedule.
BOOKSELLER
Booksellers buy works from publishers or wholesalers
and sell them to customers.
At the end of the process, your meticulously designed
and edited book will stand among the greats, ready for
purchase.
PAGE4
INSTG067: AMANDA AMEN 14098641

7. p
i
t
a
l
f
l
t h e
s
o f s e l f - p u b l i s h i n g
PAGE5
INSTG067: AMANDA AMEN 14098641
DISCOVERABILITY(
In recent years, self-publishing has experienced
outstanding growth, and with good reason—authors
construct their own timelines, set their own prices,
receive a greater percentage of sales, have access to sales
figures, and never have to suffer the indignity of rejection
letters. It makes sense. After all, Virginia Woolf and
James Joyce were originally self-published, right?
Unfortunately, unless you’re writing Ulysses, you’re
going to have trouble attracting the attention of
retailers. Publishers provide an invaluable link between
the author and this channel. Publishing partnerships
with tech firms, more so, provide valuable market
insight, ensuring your book meets retailers’ needs.
SCALE
In 2012, over 235,000 print and e-book titles were self-
published. Even so, only a fraction of these titles had
copies available several months in advance of
publication for review. Without these reviews, it’s
nearly impossible to inform the public of your release,
let alone distinguish yourself from the self-published
masses.
AVAILABILITY
Self-published works are less frequently found in
bookstores, purchased by libraries, or reviewed in real
or even virtual professional periodicals. In fact, only a
few libraries are making efforts to access self-published
works.
REPUTATION
Often synonymous with vanity publishing, self-
published works are the presumed rejects of traditional
publishers. Because they lack reputable peer-evaluation
and publisher-validation, these works lose prestige and
are repeatedly rebuffed by academic circles and
curators of quality in libraries. The vigorous editing
process, customary in a publishing house, is lost,
creating quality and, potentially, legal issues. A self-
published author, outside of the publisher’s legal
expertise, has a much higher risk of copyright
infringement and defamation, particularly if a book
includes third-party images or extracts from other
works. Self-publishers also must invest their own
money, pay for third-party services, and bear sole
responsibility for design, production, marketing, and
distribution. Don’t play publisher; instead, devote your
time to writing.

8. PAGE6
INSTG067: AMANDA AMEN 14098641
LOOKATTHELIST
When choosing a publisher, an author’s fundamental mistake is to
privilege the status of the publisher over the content they publish. To
avoid this, look at the publisher’s lists. A list is a group of publications
—organized by subject area, theme, ability level, or age—that constitute
a segment of the house’s outputs.
Targeted toward specific market niches, lists provide a distinct
marketing advantage. Books within a list are produced for a particular
market, and are written at a particular level with a specific subject area
in mind to satisfy market demands.
Publishers have several lists to accommodate different markets and
seek to preserve the brand identity of these lists. To improve the
turnover of a group of publications, a commissioning or acquisitions
editor will build the list, supplementing existing content with a new
title.
Also, to enhance the appeal of existing publications, titles within a list
may be fitted with new covers, selected for new editions and spin-offs,
or employed to create a new work from their existing content.
All of these list tactics—re-jacketing, re-printing, and re-pricing—aim to
extend the life of your book and generate as much profit as possible,
which is good for you, and good for your publisher too.

9. Congratulations! Your book has been designed to appeal
to its market in format and appearance and, now, it’s
finally ready to launch into the world. Joining over
130,000 new titles published annually in the UK, your
book necessitates SMART marketing objectives—
specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-
bound. Marketers avoid fixed templates in their
strategies, but consistently research reader demographics
and social media analytics to establish your target market
for SMART objectives. These are tried and tested routes
to your individual market and a reliable source of profit.
Contrary to popular belief, the correlation between
formal advertising and book sales is weak. It’s difficult
to confirm advertising aids in sales at all, while the cost
of advertising acts as a natural deterrent in companies.
After all, publishers attribute only 6-10 percent of
turnover to their marketing budget. If your editor
projects sales of £300,000, the marketing department will
expect £18,000-£ 30,000 to achieve these sales. But
projected sales are net sales, the sum after retailer
discounts, and few of us are writing the next James
Patterson novel. More realistically, if your editor is
forecasting sales of £20,000, the marketing department
will be allotted £1,200-£2,000 to design and execute your
marketing campaign.
The marketing department’s first priority is word-of-
mouth. Word-of-mouth recommendations, in person and
digitally, produce sales. And, while good reviews
promote discussion, bad reviews raise discussion.
Social media is the digital equivalent to word-of-mouth,
necessitating a strong media presence from, or on
behalf of, the author in a marketing campaign.
Today, the flexibility and prevalence of digital
marketing is an advantage over traditional marketing.
Still, the best marketing campaigns integrate both
traditional and digital methods. These methods may
include catalogues, endorsements, exhibitions and
conferences, review copies, leaflets, e-marketing, direct
mail, in-store campaigns, digital chats with readers,
videos, and social media pages. Promotional events, more
so, may range from modest academic conferences to
expensive launch parties and signing sessions.
If time provides, you can supplement your marketing
campaign by maintaining an active website and presence
on social media, and by utilizing your existing contacts
and attending promotional events.
PAGE7
INSTG067: AMANDA AMEN 14098641
“A REALLY GOOD REVIEW
IS BRILLIANT FOR ANY BOOK.
A REALLY BAD REVIEW IS THE
NEXT BEST THING.”
THEPROFESSIONALS’GUIDETOPUBLISHING
((MARKETING((EXPECTATIONS(

10. W"H"E"R"E"""D"O"E"S"""T"H"E
T"I"M"E"""G"O""?
THE"IMPORTANCE"OF"TIME"MANAGEMENT
PAGE8
INSTG067: AMANDA AMEN 14098641
Writing is not mechanical. It involves critical thinking
and consideration. Even so, you must appreciate the
business relationship with your publisher and remain
conscious of the delivery date stated in your contract.
If you fail to deliver a completed manuscript within the
contracted period, your publisher may be entitled to a
refund of any advance paid to you and can terminate the
contract on grounds of non-delivery. This slippage, or
late delivery of contracted work, creates a hole in
company finances, delaying proceeds for salaries and
company overheads.
As a result, it’s imperative to inform your editor of any
delays as soon as possible. A timeline towards
publication is established as soon as the publishing house
selects your title.
This includes a comprehensive schedule for the
production and promotion of your book. It is critical that
this process is not held up once it’s begun.
Months before publication, Advance Information Sheets
are prepared and dispatched to inform sales
representatives, wholesalers, agents, and overseas
contacts that your title is on its way. This increases your
title’s chances in the market, promoting word-of-mouth,
but is of little use if your title doesn’t arrive on schedule.
To avoid these scenarios, Gill Davies, previously a
leading academic publisher in the UK, suggests you set
your alarm for 4 a.m., when your body is at its lowest
ebb, and call your editor. Only then, she says, will you
give an accurate projection of your delivery date.

11. CONTRACTADVICE
WHAT(IS(A(CONTRACT?
A contract defines the author-publisher relationship by
establishing the rights of each party. Remember, a
contract may be formed outside of a traditional
contractual document, in e-mails and even verbal
assurances. This constitutes a binding agreement and is
enforceable by law, so be mindful of what you write
and say in your professional conversations.
All publishing contracts contain an author’s grant. This
assigns the publisher an exclusive license to publish
your work in volume form for a full term of copyright
(70 years after authorial death). By granting a license,
you retain ownership of the copyright, merely leasing
your intellectual property. In return, the publisher
promises to protect your rights and copyright the work
in your name.
Warranties are non-negotiable to secure the safety of
your publisher. In a contract, the author’s warranty will
ask you to affirm that you are the sole proprietor of the
work, and that the work is free of defamatory, libelous,
and infringing matter. This is often followed by a
delivery clause, stating the agreed scope, length, and
date of delivery for your work.
The royalties and licenses clause, outlined on page 11,
asserts your financial consensus on all publication
proceeds.
MORAL(RIGHTS
Moral rights were created to protect your reputation and
social standing. So, although they may be waived, these
rights cannot be sold or assigned to anyone else.
Whenever your work is exploited commercially, your
moral right of paternity secures your right to be
identified as author.
Your right of integrity protects the wholeness and
integrity of your work, allowing you to object to any
perceived derogatory treatment. In publication, this
treatment may manifest as a poor edit that distorts your
authorial intent or as a mishandled adaption of your
work.
The right to prevent false attribution protects you from
having a work falsely attributed to you which could
potentially damage your reputation.
The moral right of privacy ensures that a photograph
taken for personal use will not be abused for
commercial gain. If you agree to a personal photo and
the photographer later licenses the photo to a magazine,
your moral right of privacy has been infringed.
PAGE9
INSTG067: AMANDA AMEN 14098641

12. (COPYRIGHT(
All ideas have an author, but there is no copyright in an idea. Instead, the idea must be given tangible expression
to obtain copyright. This is your reward for authorship—the right to protect your work and control copy by others.
As creator, you are the first owner of copyright. In a contract, copyright acts as a trading system for intellectual
property. If you intend to use someone else’s intellectual property in your work—an extract or a cover image from
a third-party, for example—copyright will need to be cleared and permissions granted on behalf of the third-party
creator.
In your author contract, you license these authorial and volume rights to your publisher. However, if you seek to
exploit your work in alternative forms, languages, and media, you will need to negotiate your subsidiary rights
and permissions. Sometimes an author grants all of these rights to their publisher in an “all territories, all
languages, all media” agreement. This allows the publisher to exploit your work for revenue directly, or to safely
sub-license your rights to others.
These rights are profitable and, as a result, are subject to reversion if not exercised in a contractual period. In
addition to their monetary gains, subsidiary rights grant access to new markets and audiences for authors,
enhancing their brand identity. As a result, your agent will often reserve some of these rights, confident that their
interests, contacts, and experience will aid in a more effective exploitation of your work. A selection of these
negotiable rights are listed below.
SUBSIDIARY(RIGHTS(
! ! ! ! First serial
! ! ! ! Second and subsequent serial
! ! ! ! Paperback
! ! ! ! Reprint
! ! ! ! Large print
! ! ! ! Translation
! ! ! ! North American (if the publisher is not global)
! ! ! ! Anthology and quotation
! ! ! ! Digest and condensation
! ! ! ! Electronic and multimedia
! ! ! ! Dramatization and documentary
! ! ! ! Film and television
! ! ! ! Audio and games
! ! ! ! Merchandising
PAGE10
INSTG067: AMANDA AMEN 14098641

13. INSTG067: AMANDA AMEN 14098641
PAGE11
ROYALTY
RATES
Royalties are a percentage of book sales paid to
authors. On average, they are 10 percent of the
publisher’s sales revenue for a title—the price the
bookseller pays to the publisher, not the title’s
recommended retail price.#The chart below details
this division of book sales. Nevertheless, to
access your royalties, you must first earn out your
advance.
An advance is a payment made to an author
upfront in installments. This is often paid in
thirds—on signing, on delivery, and on
publication—or in quarters, with an additional
second print for paperback publication. Unless
you are unable to deliver your manuscript as
agreed or your contract is unfulfilled, this
advance is typically non-refundable.
Legally, publishers are not obliged to supply an
advance. The advance is, instead, regarded as a
payment on account of future royalty earnings,
and a support structure for authors in the writing
interim. The median advance for a debut novel is
approximately £5,000, while the range extends
through seven figures for high-profile writers.
Still, when selecting your publisher, it’s
important to remember that the best advance is
not necessarily indicative of the best publisher.
Independent publishers offer modest advances,
but promise enduring support for their authors.
In fact, many professionals will advise you to
return the advance on your debut novel. An
initial investment in your title’s promotion, at
the expense of your advance, will engender
secondary income and benefits to your career in
the longterm. This endurance is what you want
as an author, and what your publishers want for
you.
Publishers nurture their authors over time, and
want to see you succeed long after your title’s
launch. They are invested in you and invested in
your work, so invest in yourself.
Invest in your career#and trust a publisher to lead
the way.
Word Count: 2,976
PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION
OVERHEADS
SALES AND MARKETING
PUBLISHER’S PROFIT
ROYALTIES
AGENT’S PROFIT
WHAT(TO(KNOW

14. PAGE12
Association of Authors’ Agents. Association of Literary Agencies. AAA, 2014. Web. 2 Dec. 2014.
! <http://agentsassoc.co.uk/>.
Davies, Gill, and Richard Balkwill. The Professionals’ Guide to Publishing: A Practical Introduction to Working
! in the Publishing Industry. London: Kogan Page Limited, 2011. Print.
Hadro, Josh. “What’s The Problem With Self-Publishing.” Library Journal 138.7 (2013): 34. Business Source
! Complete. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
Joanne, Teng. “So You Want To Self-Publish.” Art + Law 2 (2012): 1. Art Source. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
Jones, Hugh, and Christopher Benson. Publishing Law. New York: Routledge, 2011. Print.
Page, Stephen. “Publishers Should Be Proud of Their Legacy.” The Guardian. The Guardian, 25 May 2012. Web. 2
! Dec. 2014.
The Publishers Association. Publishers Association. PA, 2014. Web. 28 Nov. 2014. <http://www.publishers.org.uk/>.
Saffle, Michael. “Sustainability and Emerging Issues in Scholarly Self-Publishing.” Environmentalist 32.3 (2012):
! 326-331. GreenFILE. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
Sanson, Chris. “From the Editor’s Desk.” Authoright. Contemporary Publishing Magazine, Nov. 2014. Web. 18
! Nov. 2014.
Smith, Kelvin. The Publishing Business: From P-Books to E-Books. London: AVA Publishing SA, 2012. Print.
INSTG067: AMANDA AMEN 14098641
F"U"R"T"H"E"R""""R"E"A"D"I"N"G

16. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !