FAQs about Pince-Nez Press
We publish books of merit that we believe are marketable. Rarely will we publish fiction and more rarely, poetry. It is simply too hard for a small publisher to sell. Apparently something like 7 out of 10 books published either just break even or don't make money. We wish we were wealthy enough to publish beautiful books without worrying about whether they will make money. We have tried this several times, but we have to pay the bills. As a small press, we can't afford to make many mistakes. So if you have a really lovely book but we say that we don't think we can make money publishing it, please understand.
Please do not send unsolicited manuscripts. We have a big recycling bin for them. We used to feel guilty about this but we don't anymore. Send a query by email describing your book idea and your qualifications to write the book to us at pincenezpress@gmail.com. If we are interested, we will ask you for a book proposal.
A book proposal describes the book you are writing as well as provides the publisher with a lot of information that will help them decide whether to publish it. For nonfiction, some of this important information includes your qualifications to write the book and what other similar books are on the market. This information will cut down on the time it requires the publisher to research the marketability of your book. (If you do not provide it, your proposal will likely just sit somewhere in a pile of proposals that require research - or in the recycling bin.) People who teach writers how to write book proposals say that successful authors spend nearly as much time on the book proposal as on the book itself. There are lots of websites that provide outlines for and examples of book proposals.
No, it means that the small independent publisher 1) has already filled her plate with all the books she can handle for the near future; 2) has determined that your lovely and well written book is not the type of book she can sell; or 3) has decided that your lovely and well written book is not her cup of tea. You need a publisher who loves your book and can enthusiastically discuss it with bookstore buyers. If she publishes only wilderness guides, she may not be able to sell a book on faux painting. On the other hand, if she has just published five books on dogs, don't assume she wants to do another; she may be sick of dogs and want to do a book on cats.
You're thinking Nez Perce, meaning Pierced Nose. We are Pinched Nose, as those precocious children from the French-American school remind us by pinching their noses when they see our logo. Pince-nezs are the little glasses that sit on the end of the nose, referred to regularly by D.H. Lawrence and Proust. And as time goes by, we have to explain this more often.