This is the home of the Association of Self-Publishers and Independent Writers (ASPIRE).
The aspiring writer today has little chance of getting published unless they went to school or university with a large publisher, or have an influential relative preferably a father or spouse who carries economic clout. Publishers only want to publish books they know are going to sell. That means books by established writers or books nominally by otherwise famous people, or books that do not tax the minds of an increasingly inattentive nation.
A publisher writing the publishing feature of Tatler a few years ago told us that there are now only about ten publishers in the UK and they own all the successful imprints. As a budding writer in the UK you might send your proposal for your great work to 50 major imprints but effectively forty will be a waste of effort. As soon as one imprint in a group turns down your proposal the decision is relayed to others in the group by computer and the others are automatically rejected! This saves the publishing group from paying a succession of editors to read the same piece. Of course it does not allow that the original editor might have been wrong, and plenty of writers have been turned down, then published a best seller.
That is one reason why more people are taking to self-publishing, but the publishing and retailing monopolies know you are over a barrel.
Writing and publishing books is relatively easy. Writing is a lonely occupation so you trouble no one but yourself and your immediate family. The services of a good editor is what most of us need at this stage. Self-publishing is again largely your own business, though you have to hire some experts in matters like printing and typesetting. The hard bit is selling your books when you have written them. That requires marketing skills and marketing budgets that few individuals and small publishers have. There is no help from reviewers or large booksellers who are cosily in bed with large publishers. Retail book buyers studiously avoid small publishers even on an experimental basis. They are all catering for the centre of the normal distribution of tastes leaving no budget for experimenting with cults and fringes.
One hears too that many buyers are lazy or dishonest. It is easier for them to spend their budgets on the big publishers who wine, dine and flatter them. If you write to them, you are lucky to get a written refusal, just as budding writers are lucky to see replies to their proposals despite the first class stamp they enclosed with each. They know that you have the choice of selling through advertising, an expensive and unrewarding path, or getting your books on display in High Street shops, so they hold all the high cards. A hefty lunch is the minimum they would consider, but the brown paper parcel passed under the table is reputed to help a lot. The same applies to reviews. An acquaintance, a writer but not of history, was asked for a four figure sum of money to have his work reviewed by a prominent person in a national newspaper. It is all Byzantine but just the way the country has gone in the the last twenty years when a prime minister can average several millions of pounds a year while supposedly in the public service.
The only alternative self-publishers have is self-help. That is the purpose of ASPIRE.
A self-publisher or writer who has not been published can submit a synopsis of their book for consideration here for the world (well, a tiny part of it!) to read. Send your synopses to AskWhy! Publications or e-mail us your item . If you have a web site send us the address and give us a link so that we ASPIRERS help each other by forming an ASPIRE Net or ASPIRE Ring (aspiring?).
Mike, I have the following comments on: ASPIRE. The Association of Self-Publishers and Independent Writers. AskWhy! Publications.
An interesting concept. I agree wholly with your comments regarding the bigtime publishers and their imprints. I know there is great talent out there still awaiting discovery. Let me mention that I have written several books. Some of the Big hitters who have seen it have lauded my works but are hesitant to take risks (according to them) with an Unknown Name. And, for my part, I have rejected offers of contributory publishing contracts!
I am attaching a synopsis of my first book My Learned Friends - thought it might be pleasant reading for someone. There is more to be found at www.karmarger.com and www.karmarger.wordpress.com. Karm Arger is my nom de plume.