more advice about publishers
some small publishers are just scammers. they will demand you to hire their editors, hire their illustrators, hire some sales dude, ask you to front a small print run, pretend they approached the big stores but then something went wrong(after you paid because they pretended your book was going to go on best seller chart, if you just....pay)
so research publishers you pick, get reviews
You should only pay for what you really need.
I would also like to emphasise quite clearly here that if you are looking for an editor, etc., then you have to pay for it. Many people believe that everything has to be free and as soon as it costs something, you don't need it any more. It's not like that. If you self-publish, you have to take care of everything yourself. Of course, a professional editor, graphic designer,... would also want to be paid for their work. That's not a scam.
I think this should be communicated clearly, this prejudice is widespread among many people.
You have to make a clear distinction between the black sheep in the industry. Just because you pay money for a service doesn't mean it's a scam.
if your self publishing(finding a printing company)
(finding a independent editor) then yes obviously all costs come on you. to do the edit, illustration, print and distribute
however if a publishing company show interest of making your book where your pitching them to take you on
under their label and they want a cut of the profits then they should take on the costs. especially if its using their own inhouse talent to edit, illustrate and such
this is usually where they cover the costs to get your book into stores fully production ready, and they take the rest of the profit to cover their upfront costs after you take a royalty
. if they see your story is very intriguing or is worthy of a series of books. they would also offer you a stipend to cover your living costs whilst you further develop your story
but yes there is a big different between a publishing company vs a self print self publishing model
the biggest emphasis is some people that want to self publish try to find volunteer editors and make fake promises of % of profits later. however this is where the book writer is trying to scam independant editors. because many scam book writers just want to abuse other skilled eople for a one time use with fake promises of ongoing royalty.. so just make things simple pay for the time you use