How do publishing deals work?

[DiscountedArtist]

I saw a thread saying that they got a publishing deal. I don't know how publishing deals work, so can anyone tell me?

[WolfUnderTheMoon89]

nope.
but following (sorry!)
I am looking into self publishing

[joannekwan]

It really depends on the publisher.

1. In most cases, you will approach a publisher with your work to query, either through an agent (that you have to find) or by yourself if the publisher is open to unagented submissions.

2. If you're lucky, and your work is super popular or of high quality and a publisher/agent sees potential in publishing it or a new project from you to a wider audience, they will contact you.

3. But be wary of people who approach you, there are lots of scammers out there. And even if they are legit, not all agents or publishers are cut from the same cloth. They could be D-listers and if you do sign a long-term exclusive contract with them, they might be limiting your work's reach in the long run.

Here's a vid about how to spot red flags when looking for agents

and this article covers scams and things to be wary of in traditional and self-publishing

Author Scams and Publishing Companies to Avoid

[CosmicLeon]

i suggest you look into the company you want to sigh with. see how reputable they are, and while your at it, look at their advertising to she how well publicized your story will be. I also suggest getting your story copyrighted before you show it around, because there are shady places out there and that will protect you. For a better explanation check out this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf366p0TABY
She covers the process pretty well. The chance of you being approached by a publisher is pretty low, but that doesn't mean you can't seek out them if you want a company to publish it.

[Prisim]

My post will be strictly about novel publishing since I know nothing about comic publishing or how it might differ LOL

To add on scammers warning, be VERY aware of what's called a Vanity publisher. They're "publishers" who will ask you to pay for a service in order to be published. Unless you're self publishing, never ever ever pay for a publisher to do anything. Money flows to the author, not from it and the point of getting a traditional publishing contract is that they take on the financial risk of publishing the book. The majority of the time you're paying for these services to get ripped off. You will get crap editing, crap cover, crap marketing, and still lose a percentage of your sales on top of paying them to publish you.

It is extremely rare for someone to be approached by a legit publisher. Your book or comic will have to be absolutely exploding in order for a legit publisher to take notice. If you are approached, do your research and tread carefully.

I remember the first time I was approached by a company on Wattpad. Now I knew I wasn't ready to publish because I hadn't edited the book they were interested in (and they actually took time to name the book by name which is VERY rare for those kinds of messages. Usually it's a generic "dear author we think "cut and paste of name if they even take time to do that much" would be a good fit. Contact us blah blah blah") so I ignored it. But then a thread about said company showed up on the forums so I decided to go ahead and follow it while looking into the company. And oh lord, the editing of these supposedly professionally published books was ATROCIOUS. Like they had errors that a basic entry level editor should catch. If I, a dyslexic nobody writer, can spot the problem then surly an entry level editor could. And the thread about them reflected how spammy they were being at the time. That was my first true interaction with those spammy scams.

So just do your homework. Research and ask questions if a publisher does approach you. People want to avoid the querying trenches, and I don't blame them because I did 4 queries before I realized i was not mentally ready to actually pursue publishing for real, because it's a long and thankless process that will lead to tons of rejection. But when it comes to publishing there is no quick answer. Even self publishing is going to take a lot of work if you're doing it right. It won't be as simple as upload book and watch sales roll in unless you're really really really lucky.

[Geek_Aflame]

If someone is popular enough to be approached by a legit publisher they're almost better off handling everything themselves and having full control over their IP. Especially if they're writing for or about a minority group like a lot of writers here. A huge reason I read indie/self published novels/comics is because they tell stories mainstream publishers would never give a chance.