Does anybody know of any inexpensive publishing companies?
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Hey I was wondering does anybody know of nice but cheap publishing companies.

there is a sight called smashwords that I heard about through another writing sight - it is free and you can post your work free or charge for it. It is supposed to be pretty legit. I recently got the book publishing for dummies and it is really good at showing you ways to self publish. Hope this helps. Good luck and happy writing. Kim

is smashwords like reviewfuse? Or is it something different?

smashwords is a place where you can post your book for free or for purchase. It is not the same as reviewfuse. You actually can get pd for your book.

I'm not sure what you're actually looking to publish, but your number one rule is "Money flows to the writer." People should be paying you to publish, not the other way around. You can use Duotrope.com to help find publishers for your work. They have a great, free tool to track submissions and have thousands of markets and deadlines listed.

Are you serious?! Do people actually pay you to get you book published. I mean my story is pretty much ready i just need to have it printed in book form and ready to be sold.

PureinHeart, you need to do some research on the publishing industry. If you've written a book, the first thing you need to do is find an agent. They will decide whether or not your book is ready to sell, then try and find it a publisher, if they think they can sell it. This website looks to be a directory of agents:

http://www.firstwriter.com/Agents/

Legitimate publishers don't take your money to print your book. They will buy it from you if they think it will make money for them. The thing you have to remember is, though, that it's not up to you whether or not your book is ready to be published. Agents and publishers know better than you what is likely to sell and what makes a good book.

You should only be looking into self-publishing/vanity publishers if you have exhausted every other avenue and are really convinced that your book is worth publishing.

Totally agree, Penny. I have been there -- done that. Two of my plays have been produced, but not one dime did I put into them. If someone believes in you, let them prove it.

I heard that most short stories gets rejectedthe first time, then to resummit it , it cost another One Thousand dollars.Any truth to this.? Thank You in advance. John

I have no idea where you heard that or what form of publishing it applies to, but this is my experience - if you want to publish a short story, you find as many magazines as possible that take stories of the right genre and post each of them a manuscript. A lot of magazines don't accept simultaneous submissions, which means you need to wait for each of them to get back to you before you can send it to anyone else. They also all have their own guidelines for submission that you need to read carefully before you send them anything, and they all reccommend that you buy a sample copy of their magazine.

It doesn't really cost anything to submit a story - if you're posting it then it's the price of the postage, and if you can find a magazine that takes email submissions, it costs nothing at all. Re-submitting isn't any more expensive. If you submit to a second magazine, you don't have to tell them that you've been rejected before. I've just used the same cover letter with the names changed.

There might be some truth to what you've heard, but only if it applies to some very specific form of publishing that I haven't heard of. :/

Okay, I was reading what you answered me as, but I'm a teen doesn't it cost BIG BUCKS to get a agent. Right now I'm in the midst of self-publishing using Morris Publing HOuse and all the costs are under $700! Is this a good idea do you think? You seem to know more about publishing then I do.

Sorry for jumping in here, but I think the question is, What is your goal for publishing? If you want to "make it" and be distributed nationally, then the self publishing route is not going to get there easily. And yes, agents cost, but if they accept you, it is because they see potential to sell in your work. Don't know if that was helpful to you...

Yes, thanks for the post. But if you self-publish enough won't somebody find out and want to be your publisher. All I'm saying is that this is a first book, but I do understand that for more books in the future I need to find a publish. Thanks again

I'm not an expert, but I don't think self-publishing is likely to get the attention of a proper publisher. It has been known to happen, yes, but I think for the most part, publishers are going to be after first publishing rights on your book. If it's been published before - with a vanity publisher or online or whatever - they can only publish it as a reprint. My advice would be to only try self-publishing if all other options have failed.

I have never published anything personally, but a friend of mine has. She is a therapist and had a self-published book that she brought to seminars. She got a lot of attention through her therapy work, and people started talking about her and her book. She continued to look for agents and 'real' publishers, and now she is getting published by the same publishers who did Chicken Soup for the Soul! Anyway, the point is, if you have a good way to publicize your work, maybe self publishing can work... who knows. I am somewhat confused by it all too. Just thought I would throw in a success story :)

All honor to you folks. I don't profess any great knowledge on this subject, however, here is something I picked-up on a week ago:

http://www.smashwords.com

Feedback on this operation is welcome. I am considering it for me. Bye!

I used createspace, if anyone is interested. for the past year I've uploaded excerptes of the book on diffeent sites and managed to get a fan base. I've also made it a point to blog on every single well kmnown author here is that writes the same genre as me so at tleast pople are seeing my name. On August the first, I finally released FALLEN ANGEL. It has a fanpage on facebook and I also have an author's website. Since FALLLEN's release, It has already sold 215 paperback copies and a little over a hundred in kindle. I gooled my name and over 300 hundred results came in. I paid just a little under thirty dollars to have expanded distribution and my book is already showing up on two Japanise websites. part of my publicity includes an upcoming contest where I'm having fans dress up as there favorite characters for prizes, merchandising and books signings where I've already contracted a good friend of mine to dress up (or rather undress, LOL) as my black-winged main character to sit next to me and take pics with fans. Createspace is a great tool. At least with this I can use it as a stepping stone for the rest of the books I've written and yet to be published (about thirty and I just started another one here on rf)

Um, excuse the errors I typed before. I dropped my laptop twice and the keys are acting kind of funky. I also have the bad habit of hitting ADD REPLY before I read what I wrote. (smiles sheepishly)

createspace is pretty nice. You submit your work and then people can order a copy through Amazon.com. the only time it cost you anything is when you order a copy of your own book. I think author copies are only about $5. Not sure if anyone has already suggested this, didn't see it when i first scanned through

Okay so if I go onto createspace, I don't even have a story in book form, how will I ever sell it? SOn't it be just a bunch of pages?