Do small presses sort of act like a minor league system for the big five? That is, people are likely to gain success and establish their credibility/audience at a small publisher, and then land interest from a bigger imprint later on? I sort of assumed that everyone would prefer a bigger press to a smaller one (larger audience/money/whatever), but maybe that isn't the case.
It's not exactly a minor league system, but what you describe could be the end result. I think that a book that really hits big from a small press was probably going to hit big anywhere, and then that author can certainly use that success to level up, so to speak. You might just get a fantastic editor that really improves the book at a small press, but that's not MORE likely to happen at a small press. It's just kismet. I think it's accurate to say most writers would prefer a bigger press to a smaller press as much as it's accurate to say what most people want about anything. Probably true, with vocal opponents. :)
This was a lot of useful information. Question--why do the big publishers have imprints? And imprints are good, right? They are not small presses; they are part of a big house. Is that correct?
Publishers have imprints to organize their staff and books. Sometimes it's because a bigger publisher bought a smaller publisher and incorporated their brand/branding, but imprints are started from scratch every year. Think of it like cars. Ford has lots of makes and models. That's how you know the difference between and F-150 and Focus.
Imprints are very good. Without them, it'd be a big mish mash. The average reader doesn't think a lot about imprints and honestly probably has only heard of one or two (Knopf is an imprint of Penguin Random House) but agents and editors know.
Do small presses sort of act like a minor league system for the big five? That is, people are likely to gain success and establish their credibility/audience at a small publisher, and then land interest from a bigger imprint later on? I sort of assumed that everyone would prefer a bigger press to a smaller one (larger audience/money/whatever), but maybe that isn't the case.
It's not exactly a minor league system, but what you describe could be the end result. I think that a book that really hits big from a small press was probably going to hit big anywhere, and then that author can certainly use that success to level up, so to speak. You might just get a fantastic editor that really improves the book at a small press, but that's not MORE likely to happen at a small press. It's just kismet. I think it's accurate to say most writers would prefer a bigger press to a smaller press as much as it's accurate to say what most people want about anything. Probably true, with vocal opponents. :)
This was a lot of useful information. Question--why do the big publishers have imprints? And imprints are good, right? They are not small presses; they are part of a big house. Is that correct?
Publishers have imprints to organize their staff and books. Sometimes it's because a bigger publisher bought a smaller publisher and incorporated their brand/branding, but imprints are started from scratch every year. Think of it like cars. Ford has lots of makes and models. That's how you know the difference between and F-150 and Focus.
Imprints are very good. Without them, it'd be a big mish mash. The average reader doesn't think a lot about imprints and honestly probably has only heard of one or two (Knopf is an imprint of Penguin Random House) but agents and editors know.