The modern writer has outgrown the book industry. The age of celebrity-level royalty advances and selective book marketing is waning as the new transformative and context-based culture matures and generates untapped markets with consumer-driven economics. Consumers are turning to their peers to find books and are paying less attention to what the book publishers are telling them to buy. With publishing in an annual rest and bookstore sales in decline, Internet sales are growing. Publishers are only now beginning to plug in to the contextual culture and generate products that consumers demand. Authors cannot expect equal treatment from the publishers and although their projects may be accepted, the authors take the marketing burden.
The Way Things Are Publications has a three-point approach to avert the deteriorating pattern of the publishing industry:
1. Only accept projects that will be fully resourced.
2. Only accept projects that have an existing demand.
3. Only accept projects that fit the company’s mission and values.
This approach changes the publishing game in various ways. Publishing companies tend to take on more projects than they will market and so will, therefore, only promote the big and established authors. If there is no market for a book, the publisher will attempt to create a market through rigorous and expensive marketing tactics. Publishers accept such a wide range of materials they do not develop an identity that creates and supports a system of consumer loyalty.
Reversing these three components, will position The Way Things Are Publications as a consumer-oriented, quality-driven, and reliable publisher.
Fiction
The Way Things Are Publications publishes novels and short stories of a variety of genres. Although it is a niche publisher, it does not publish a niche genre. Any genre will be published as long as it fulfills both the company’s mission to elevate awareness of social issues as well as the three-point acceptance criteria: marketability, available markets, and is compliant with the company’s mission and values.
There must be broad appeal for the fiction, not only for the genre, but also for the message of the book. The market needs to be hungry for what the book provides. The company strives to publish books that are passed around and reread, stored on bookshelves and remembered over time.
Non-Fiction
The non-fiction titles published by The Way Things Are Publications are pertinent, digestible, and socially aware. The books can be on a range of topics from business to politics, but ultimately need to elevate consciousness of social issues and fit the acceptance criteria.
Queries
The Way Things Are Publications is currently accepting queries for books to be produced in 2012. After the author has carefully determined that his or her manuscript fits our acceptance criteria, then please send a query to publisher@waythingsare.com.
It is part of our company’s value system to do our part to limit waste in the publishing industry. Please do not send queries or manuscripts by mail. If we are interested we will ask for a digital copy of your manuscript.
In the event you absolutely need to deliver multi-media to us as part of your query, please use a free file transfer service like http://www.wetransfer.com to avoid unnecessary postage.
Thank you and we look forward to hearing about your work!