What is Co-Publishing?
Q: I’ve been to a few writing conferences and have heard several authors say they “co-published” their books. What does co-published mean? –Charles M. A: A co-publishing agreement is one…
Q: I've been to a few writing conferences and have heard several authors say they "co-published" their books. What does co-published mean? –Charles M.
A: A co-publishing agreement is one where the author and the publisher share publication costs to get the book in print. This is more common in poetry and experimental fiction than in others, but does happen in all walks of publishing.
The bad news: It costs the author some money upfront to get the book published. The good news: The author gets a much, much bigger share of the profits. More risk is put on you as the author, but that risk can reap a higher reward. It's a trade off you have to consider before diving in to this type of agreement.
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Jane Friedman is a full-time entrepreneur (since 2014) and has 20 years of experience in the publishing industry. She is the co-founder of The Hot Sheet, the essential publishing industry newsletter for authors, and is the former publisher of Writer’s Digest. In addition to being a columnist with Publishers Weekly and a professor with The Great Courses, Jane maintains an award-winning blog for writers at JaneFriedman.com. Jane’s newest book is The Business of Being a Writer (University of Chicago Press, 2018).
