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In early 2010 I entered a story in the Writing for Children Competition put on by the Writers Union of Canada.The entry deadline was April 24 but they still have not finished judging the entries. Winning the competition would make it very easy to get published, but I've been wondering what I should do if I don't get “recognised” from the contest.
There could be a couple reasons if I don't have success in the competition:
- the book sucks
- the book has different merits than what they are looking for
- hey maybe those are both the same thing, I dunno
One challenge is that the book needs to be illustrated. I've not much
experience with illustration but I have some drawing ability. I'd like to do it myself, if I only had the time.
Anyway, judging from some of the terrible books we lug home from the
library, I feel like my story has some potential, so I've been looking
into the different options for getting published.
1 - Traditional route: submit manuscripts and find a print publisher to hold my hand
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Pros: I have financial backing, the prestige of having a printed piece and a publisher, an existing distribution network
- Cons: I could get the raw end of a publishing contract, the
publisher takes a big cut, I lose an unspecified amount of creative
control
2 - Self publish limited print run
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Pros: Lots of control, more profit per book perhaps, get a printed piece,
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Cons: Lots of work doing promotion, sales and distribution. Lots of expense/risk
3 - Self publish, print-on-demand
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Pros: Lots of control, less risk, sell through Amazon, etc. easily.
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Cons: Potentially less profit
4 - Publish as e-book
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Pros: It's an emerging market, maybe not as saturated. I have good tools and knowledge already for electronic media.
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Cons: Bad medium for bedtime books.
Right now I'm leaning towards #1 for my children’s book because I want it printed and I'm too busy/lazy for self-publishing. I have another book in the works which is a collection of my Twitter updates and I would ideally like to have it done as a hard cover book but I'm considering generating interest for it first by releasing it electronically.
Decisions, decisions. At least nowadays, there’s tons of options. Anybody out there in a similar position?
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