Very few writers make money from books. As trade lore has it: "For every hundred books that are thought of, one is started. For every hundred that are started, one is finished. For every hundred that are finished, one is published. For every hundred that are published, one makes a profit." That's pretty bad odds, and I'm not denying them. No wonder mainstream publishers are wary of new authors!

Steve Barrett Books is a publisher with a difference. I agree with the mainstream publishers but I'm not really in it for the money, believe it or not.  I know from experience that becoming a published author for the first time  is extremely difficult - however good your book may be - so I decided to set up this site to offer lots of free advice and some reasonably-priced practical help for those who have written a book and want to move onto the next logical stage - seeing it in print.

National newspapers and magazines often carry advertisements aimed at unpublished authors. The majority of these are so-called vanity publishers. They offer to "review" your manuscript and "if" it is deemed suitable for publication (it always is, oddly enough) they will produce a number of copies of the book for you, at a price. You pay up-front and they have no incentive to sell the book at all. They know that a book from an unknown author is unlikely to sell.

Mainstream publishers too are well aware of how difficult it is to make a profit from a book especially when the author is unknown to the general public. If you are not an established author or a "celebrity" they are going to be extremely wary of taking you on. Many deal exclusively with author's agents and it has been claimed that it is even more difficult these days to get on to an agent's "list" than it is to get onto a publisher's "list".

Self-publishing is a tempting option for those who have written a book and want to see it in print. Click on the "publishing your own work" button for more details on what is involved and to see how we can help you. Be warned though, it is very difficult to make money from writing books.