“So are you published?”

This is the most dreaded question among new writers. The implicit assumption is that unless your book is on the shelves somewhere, you're really just a dreamer with a laptop. Like a cook whose food doesn't get eaten, or a singer no one ever hears, the unpublished writer is a bit of a tragic case.

But what does it mean to be published anyway?

Traditionally, it meant that a small or large publisher decided you were worth the gamble of investing cash in a front cover, edits and a print run. The publisher then cut a deal with a distributor to take the book to the shops and there the public either bought it or they didn't. That's it. It didn't matter whether your work was any good, it all depended on whether it was a realistic economic risk and for most books it wasn't.

No one knows the exact figures but it's a fair guess that publishers lose money on around 80% of their books. A new author is like a long shot in the 3:30 steeplechase and publishers actually expect to lose money, hence they put in next to no effort to promote the book and just keep their fingers crossed that they'll get one lucky hit.

Consider: Catcher in the Rye sells some 250,000 copies a year 50 years after it came to press. Publishers live on the basis of a couple of success stories like that. If they find one Dan Brown, John Grisham or J.K Rowling then they're set. They really couldn't care less if your novel ten-years-in-the-writing gets pulped to be sold as recycled paper. You were only ever a long shot.

Publishers are so pessimistic about books that they rarely even look at submissions from writers and go through the quality control of submissions from literary agents instead. Thing is, to get an agent to represent your book is about as hard as getting a publisher as unless you have some kind of reputation/following already, you're just another hopeful with a manuscript and they have piles of those already on their desks. And even if they do take you on there's no guarantee that your book will ever hit the shelves.

So should the author give up?

No way. The advent of the web and superior print-on-demand (POD) publishing means that at the very least you can get your book out there and give it a fighting chance. With the investment of a great deal of time, creativity and the right idea, your book might actually generate enough sales to make you happy – or even attract the interest of a publisher who will see its potential with a wider distribution.

Just be sure to avoid vanity publishing and the many sharks out there who promise the earth and charge the same.