You don't pay to publish.

Let me repeat that, my fellow South Africans.

You don't pay to publish.

The publishing house pays you.

If you paid to have your work published, then you've either been conned, didn't do enough research into the publishing industry, or - and this is the minority - know exactly what you are doing and have weighed the odds. You also probably have a lot of time to market your work, and knowledge of exactly how good marketing works.

I was trawling through the various writerly and publishery sites that litter the internet, and I kept coming across the same sort of questions - how much will it cost me to get my book published, what kind of fees will my publisher charge me, I don't have R25 000 to publish my book, and so on.

A legitimate publisher will, if they accept your work, pay you a certain amount upfront - your advance. When your royalties from the sales of your book have earned that money out, you will then begin earning royalties. Not all books earn out, but even if they don't, you will not be asked to return your advance.

The publisher will not only pay you an advance, but will also pay the related publishing costs, and will most likely have a budget set aside for marketing. If you're a n00b writer, that budget probably amounts to having your book advertised in trade magazines, if you're Stephen King, well, lets just say it's a little bigger.

But in all of this, no-one is going to be asking you to finance your own book. They'll want you to do your bit by working with the editors and copy-editors on any changes, and proofing the work before it goes to press, but that's your job - you're the writer. And there's another thing; a legitimate publisher will edit your book so that is it as free from error as is humanly possible.

You will also not be expected to buy your own book. Most publishing houses give the author a number of copies to keep and for review purposes, but they don't expect sales to come from your family and friends.

So before you run off to a glorified printing company masquerading as a publisher, do your research, and find out how to submit your manuscript to valid publishers. Sites like Preditors And Editors have exhaustive list of publishers and agents, with information relating to their legitimacy.