Summary: Welcome to The Writing Show's very first Q and A podcast! To kick off our new series, we examine what happens to self-published authors who want to pitch their work to traditional publishers. We asked three publishers for their take: * John Bryans, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher, Information Today, Inc. and Plexus Publishing * Olga Gardner Galvin, publisher, ENC Press * Sue Lutz Hamilton, publisher, Dialogue Publishing. Many thanks to Steve Tupper, a 2005 NaNoWriMo participant, for submitting the question: Suppose that an author has self-published through Lulu, etc. but the author still wants the validation of being published by a major publisher. Does the fact that the author has self-published the book (print, e-book, etc.) that the author is submitting turn off publishers who might otherwise consider picking up the book? Would the author be sticking his thumb in the eye of a major publisher by submitting a copy of the Lulu-published hardcover instead of the 8.5 x 11 manuscript? Even if the author submits his manuscript on 8.5 x 11 paper like everybody else, does professional courtesy require that the author tell the publisher up front that the book has been self-published and marketed on a small scale (and I suspect that it would, being that the publisher wouldn't be getting the actual first distribution of the book and probably deserves to know that).
