From Wikipedia, publishing is the activity of putting information into the public arena. Therefore, the publisher is the person responsible for making the information available to the public. In the book industry, the publisher is the one who will ultimately make the book available to the public, by overseeing and controlling the whole process of book production, from its conception to its sales.

So what a publisher really does?

First, a publisher reads. Reads books that might interest the public, any public. Most publishers and publishing companies have some sort of specialization. Some publish only novels, others just technical books. Some will go even further and specialize themselves even more. For example, among novels they will publish only mystery or historic-fiction or romances. The important point is that a publisher reads books and choose the ones in which he believes.

Once he finds a book in which he believes, he contacts the author and makes a contract in which he acquires the rights to publish the author‘s book. From that moment on, unless specified in the contract, the publisher takes full responsibility for the book. The author is put out of the process. His job is done and it is time to make the idea become an object. The publisher will than oversee each step of the process and make all decisions about the book, its content, appearance, marketing, sales, distribution and anything else you can think of.

But he will not only take managing responsibilities over the project. He will also assume the financial burden of the process. He will pay for every single task to be performed by professionals along the project. He will pay for editors, proofreaders, graphic designers, printers, binders, distributors and advertising agencies. He will assume the costs and also the risks of publishing a book, all because he believes there is a public out there eager to read it.

This and this alone explains why first time authors make almost no money when writing their first book. It‘s a great risk for the publisher. The book might sell millions or might stay on the shelf, invisible to potential readers. The publisher might hit the jack-pot, only pay for the costs, or assume all losses.