Electronic Publishers

There are hundreds of sites out there claiming to be e-publishers. Some aren't worthy of the name. To make it onto my list, the rules are simple.
Authors do not pay to get published. Never. They are paid for their work. Always.

The only thing the e-publishers sells is books. No editorial services, no packaging fees, no marketing fees, no artwork fees.

Selling eBook readers is okay, so long as the books themselves don't require one to read them. Meaning, HTML and/or PDF must be available formats.

Free editorial service is a must. If the publisher's going to put his name on my book, and he's not proud enough of his name to make sure the e-book is done right, screw him. He won't last very long anyway.

The web site must look professional. Meaning? I have to like it. Fast, good-looking, professional, designed so the reader can see the titles or the appropriate menu option right there on the first screen of the home page. No busted links. No missing artwork. No pop-ups. No big hype about their publishing services plastered all over the front page, while the potential reader has to hunt for what he wants.

There can be no typos. Not a damn one. I saw one site with typos in their ad for "editorial services for a reasonable fee." You know what they can kiss.

Hit counters can lie. But if they have one, I'd better see more than 47 hits. Trust me -- there is such a place. But it isn't on my list.

If their site spends a great deal of effort advertising some contest that closed in April 2000, screw em. Keep the place up-to-date, please.

They must accept e-mail submissions. I live in Thailand. I'm not mailing anything to the US except a signed contract and possibly a disk along with it. Furthermore, this shows they're serious about using the Internet. What kind of e-publisher wants you to use paper?

Promoting your book. Okay, now you're published. Great! But what will this publisher do after it's all said and done to make sure your potential readers know you exist?

You probably will not find an e-publisher who pays an advance, but they'd better pay you at least 35% of the sale price.
Also, remember that not every publisher is right for every author. Find someone who publishes something similar to what you write.

I have experience with Books Unbound, CrossroadsPub, Crystal Dreams, Hard Shell Word Factory, Jacobyte Books, NovelBooks Inc., Wordbeams, and Zumaya Publications.

The last time I read the contract for Writers Exchange, it specified that you can't resell the edited version of your work. That bothered me.

I would never sign a contract saying my publisher gets the first look at my future books. If they're doing a fine job as a publisher, they'll get the first look anyway. Otherwise, they won't. Putting it in a contract spares them the pressure to deliver.

How much promotion will they do for me? Never enough, but I'll still evaluate their efforts prior to signing a contract.

Finally, I admit that "my list" no longer exists. I don't have time to maintain it. Plus, Piers Anthony's website at http://www.hipiers.com/publishing.html is much better than mine ever was. So go take a look. I'll wait.