I've just been emailed this statement that was delivered to a client of mine recently:

"If no-one wants to take on your book then it’s not worth printing...you'll be on to a loser there!"

Ever since I first started helping authors to get published I've come across people who dismiss what I do and what my clients are doing as 'vanity publishing'. This accusation is mostly borne out of ignorance of the way that the publishing world and the book trade works.

There are many, many reasons why a book will not find a home in a traditional publishing company. Publishing companies are no different to any other company. They have to make profits. Contrary to popular opinion, this is not just a case of a bunch of talented commissioning editors waiting around for the next JK Rowling to walk in the door with a manuscript. In fact there are few fiction houses left who will even look at a manuscript from a new author unless it has been pressed upon them by a well-known and trusted author's agent.

In non-fiction, publishing houses have an increasing tendency to know exactly what they are going to publish in any given period and will be actively seeking authors to write those books, rather than taking the more passive role. Of course, some of them are open to original ideas, but the risk involved does make it hard for authors to get a foot in the door with them.

Therefore the books with the tiniest niches will struggle to find a publisher. And yet it is these very books that independent publishers will market and sell well, providing the quality of the content and the production is high. The very nature of small niches means that people looking for information in that area will be delighted to find a book on the subject.

My company has published one textile art book that has sold in excess of 18,000 copies and is still selling all over the world. Are its authors vain, egotistical losers? No. They are now known as the experts in their field and have gained massive credibility on a global scale. Was the book not worth printing? Well, four print runs of 5000 books each time seems to indicate they know just what they're doing. Making a tidy sum thank you very much!

Of course, if people choose to publish a book that is not focused on any group of readers, that is poorly edited and proofread, that is badly typeset and designed (or not designed at all), then there is a chance that that book will not do well. Just because you choose to publish yourself does not mean you have to produce a sub-standard book!

Please don't assume that the only way to publish and gain from the experience is to spend (often) years finding a suitable publisher to buy the rights to your book for what can amount to a pittance. For some people this is the right route. But not by any means for all. And crushing the confidence of budding authors in this way is tantamount to destroying at birth some undoubtedly jolly fine books!

Sue Richardson, Word4Word