The Benefits of Working with a Small Press

With hundreds of independent publishing companies producing work, writers—both professional and recreational—have more opportunities than ever before. These literary venues often offer a specific publication direction; some specialize in flash fiction, while others prefer lyric essays. Working within a category can increase your chances of publication, but it can also feel restricting. Edmonton Small Press is working around this issue by publishing work from all genres on all topics.

If, however, you want to work with a standard small press, we don’t want to stop you; the benefits of working with an independent publisher are manifold. Below, we have listed our top reasons for working with a small, independent press.

1. Small presses often have more contract flexibility. A large, traditional press will generally offer an author somewhere between 5% and 15% of gross royalties. Publishing through a small press may result in as much as a 50/50 net royalty split, and you have a greater chance of retaining subsidiary rights to your work. Negotiations are also easier; you will come to know the people working on your project, and they are more likely to hear you out.

2. A small press will allow more editorial control. At a larger press, manuscript changes are difficult to address and control. In most cases, a smaller press will allow you to be more transparent about the changes you would like to make to the final product

3. Small presses will often run the production and distribution processes for the author. If you work with a larger publisher, a production schedule can stretch on for more than a year. A smaller press has fewer projects and can therefore devote the time and resources necessary to turn your project into a reality. It can take as little as three or four months to turn a draft into a launch.