I know. You feel like you’ve been told by God to write a book, but somehow or rather, things don’t seem that easy.
You are searching high and low for a publisher in Singapore (click to read about my own journey from not being published before to publishing 4 books), or even more widely in Asia, but you don’t seem able to find one. You’re sending in submissions, taking time to fill up the forms required, but you hear nothing back.
You might even have seen the ads for Partridge Publishing, and you wonder if that’s really the way to go. Paying $1990 to be published? I thought authors were paid to write! Not having to pay to write.
I hear you.
| Publisher | My experience with them | Why I recommend them | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gutenhag (our own publishing imprint) |
Whilst this is biased, we do think that we aren’t that far off compared to other publishers. We are willing to take first time authors for Christian manuscripts. | Most publishers don’t offer publishing consultation. It’s either a ‘yes’, or ‘no’. They don’t work with you to see how you can move the ‘no’ to a ‘yes’. And that’s what we do for you. | Prices tend to start from $7,000 for 500 copies printed and editorial support. |
| Armour Publishing | They rejected my manuscript | They do some Christian-leaning books, though it may not be explicit. | If they take you under their imprint, you may not need to pay. |
| Candid Creation Publishing | I paid them a total of $11,500 to publish my first full length book. | They are very focused on hybrid publishing, allowing the author more control over the process. | $10,000 for 500 copies, design, and editorial support. |
| Ethos Press | They rejected my manuscript but are friendly, kind and very open to talking more about how to improve your manuscript. | They do very thoughtful books like You Yenn’s ‘This is What Inequality Looks Like’. | If you’re under their imprint, you do not pay. |
| Graceworks Publishing | They are friendly, kind and will at least sit with you for a chat if you ask for it | They focus exclusively on Christian books | If you’re under their imprint, you don’t pay. |
| Write Editions | They accepted my manuscript on mental health (Take Heart). | Their ability to design a cover is second to none. | Starts from about $8400 for 500 copies printed, editorial support, together with design, and layout services |
I can’t exactly say I understand, but I’ve been down a similar path where I was searching for publishers who were open to unsolicited submissions.
The issue with finding English publishers in ASEAN
Having done business in ASEAN over the past 2 years, we’ve come to realise this.
The market for publishing within ASEAN is extremely fragmented.
ASEAN is a polyglot, and that means every market serves its own learning needs through its own language. It tends to read and write in its own language. This is largely because of the differing developmental states of the different markets.
For example, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia tends to have some of its younger people under 35 being able to work with English.
If you compare this to the bigger markets in Western Europe, its development means that many of its younger people can read and write in English, though they may not always want to.
This means a larger market that can buy English books, and a bigger space for risk-taking.
That brings us back here to Singapore. Whilst there are as many as 76 publishers registered in Singapore’s Book Publishers Association, Singapore is a small domestic market of about 5.9 million people.
Therefore, publishers may have a higher bar for what will qualify as something they will publish (at their expense).
The challenge with Christian publishing
Having cut our teeth publishing annual reports for non-profits like churches, we know what it’s like to put out Christian literature.
In short, it can be a real pain.
With such a small domestic market, and such a fragmented international market, getting a publisher to place their bet with you, may be even more difficult.
One reason why you’ve not seen Singaporean Christian books making it to worldwide bestseller lists is because our ecosystem generally starts from Singapore; before going out into the world.
Global Christian publishers think world-first, Singaporean publishers think Singapore-first
But for global Christian publishers, they think about how the message will resonate with the world, before just focusing on their internal American market. Take a look at your shelf now.
How many of those books come from Singaporean authors? We all know the Singaporean authors though – Benny Ho, Edmund Chan, but they don’t tend to be front and centre when you think of a Christian author.
You might think of Timothy Keller, John Eldredge, but definitely not the Benny and Edmunds of Singapore.
Why, and how do you change this?
When I asked a publisher why they didn’t explore more ASEAN markets, one publisher told me this,
it’s not that we’ve not tried, but that it’s really difficult.
The first time we did this by working with an Indonesian distributor, the partner there struggled to pay us and we had to write off the account.
You might then tell me,
Why don’t I aim for the big Christian publishers out there then?
Sure, you can try, but you may end up getting more and more rejection letters.
Start with small steps, and put your first book out there with hybrid publishing
Having spoken to 4 aspiring authors over the past year, we notice similar points whenever we ask them to consider the hybrid publishing route.
They will say,
I don’t have the money for it.
I want to go the traditional way where I’m paid for my writing.
I don’t want to do vanity publishing.
If you believe that you’ve a unique message to share with Christians, why does it need to pass Zondervan’s criteria before you’re willing to publish it.
Sure, we can say that Zondervan is able to preserve and improve the quality of the manuscript, but I urge you not to dismiss the qualities of other hybrid publishers.
Find hybrid publishers who will take unsolicited manuscripts
Starting small, and starting with your first book is going to give you a lot more credibility when you write your next book.
You might end up constantly polishing your book, but never getting anywhere because of your resistance to starting small.
Don’t let that dream die.