Weighing The Options-Making since of self Publishing

• Back in the day, when I was involved in song-writing, it was recommended by a lot of Pros in the Music Industry that serious Song Writers started there own Music Publishing Companies. This is exactly what I and my music partner did.

This was of course done to obtain publishing rights when a songwriter’s work got recorded. The established Publishing Companies would demand “60 /40 deals.” That is 60% for themselves and 40% to the songwriter.

This led to a “do it your self” attitude, eventually transforming the Music Business. Musicians started cutting there own CD’s and cultivating independent labels. That same enterprising attitude creped into Book Publishing and almost every business endeavour in the U.S.A.

When it comes to Self-Publishing, there is a ton of material available on the Internet already. That is why; I decided to condense the content so it will be a little easer to get an overview. I will do a lot of redirecting to other sites to get more details and other viewpoints

One of the resources I found on the Internet is presented by a Freelance writer and editor Lille Ammann. It is called The Self-Publishing Primer. I found it superbly written and it is free to download. Her Web Site is http://www.lillieammann.com/blog It is good place to get a lot of questions answered.

The more I research the possibilities available to writers, the more I become aware of its depth. I now realise that several segments will be needed to do the subject justice. In this segment, I will talk briefly about Mainstream Publishing, Print on Demand and independent Self-Publishing.

Personally, I believe that it is quite possible to get published by the “giants” while being an unknown writer. There is one splendid incident; of a writer that did just that! I am speaking of J.K. Rowling the Author of the Harry Potter Series that became a Best Seller phenomenon! That success propelled a single mother who was on welfare, to the second wealthiest woman in England.

When she wrote the first book, no “big time” Publishing House would give her the time of day, until she finely got Bloomsbury Publishing to publish 1,000 books. The original 1,000 are now worth up to $25,000 a copy! She of course, did get signed with a major Publishing House, Scholastic Inc. who has, now become the world’s largest publisher of children’s books. Just like the old saying says, “If there is a will there is a way.” Or, “if there is a will there is a relative.” Well that is another subject all together!

Now let us break out the scales and start “weighing the options.” On one hand you got the monsters, which are already over whelm with manuscripts and not looking to take to many risk on unknowns.

Because of the odds against the newbie writer getting signed up with the Mega Publishers, a lot of writers chose other alternatives. One of these options is Print on Demand Publishers. There are plenty to choose from and some of them will give several different plans and cost depending on what you are trying to accomplish.

One of the Publishers I keep bumping into on the Internet is iUiverse. They started out getting my attention when they made a claim of being number 1 in there form of publishing. I decided to ask them point blank, how can they prove they are at the top of the heap? Here is what Erin Sullivan, one of there associates told me word for word:

1. We are modeled off of Traditional Publishers. This means that we urge our authors to get to the top most level that they can achieve. For instance, we provide an opportunity for authors to get professional, unbiased opinions on their work by top Traditional editors. By utilizing this service, they also are eligible for our recognition programs. These recognition programs are stamps of approval from the industry for up-and-coming authors to be seen in a big way.

2. We have been around for nearly 10 years, so we have a long history of excellence.

3. Though we are Self Publishers, we do respect authors in their goals and finances. All our consultants strive to help authors make the best decision for their circumstances as possible.

I was expecting charts, graphs and other forms of Razal Dazal. What I got was clear-cut and to the point. No hoopla or hype. They also supplied a link to Forbes web site and an article there about one of there writers who made the best-seller list with a cookbook she wrote. This is not some rinky-dinky Johnny Come Lately mag, this is Forbs! I also have a writer friend that published short book with them. However, she found it to expensive to market the book though them.

Then there is an Author, Leslie Lee Sanders from Hub Pages; who likes a lot about iUiverse including there cover design and the bookbinding. She does feel though that there services overall are way to expensive, especially for a first time Author.

Another company is BookLocker who seems to be a good choice for writers who want to do E-books. There affordable and also seem to be straight-up on telling you what they can and cannot do. I ask BookLocker what were three reasons a writer should use there services and there spoke person told me that they did not want to “toot there own horn” and I would need to track down the authors who used there services to get the “real story. That is exactly what I did. I contacted a writer of a murder novel who chose BookLocker and ask her to tell her reason why she choice BookLocker. Her name is M.D. Abrams the Author of North Florida Mystery Series. The following is a direct quote from her:

“I have been entirely happy with Booklocker. They do what they promise. The quality of the books is entirely satisfactory. I get quick responses to my queries. And, best of all, they are among the least expensive POD publishers.”

There are many other companies I will feature in up and coming hubs. I will also showcase those writers who ventured forth and created there own companies. The times are defiantly changing, for at one time it was a common belief that using a POD would be like committing professional suicide for most writers. What I feel will happen is that the mainstream publishers could become “Dinosaurs” and will haft to change there tactics to compete.

I will end this hub with this request. If there are any writers out there that know of Print on Demand Publishers that are worth taking a hard look at, let me know! So for now Tuvalu until I right something new!

1. Random House
2. Harper Collins
3. Pearsons
4. Simon & Schuster
5. Hachette
6. Thomas Nelson
7. Holtzbrink
8. Tyndale House
9. John Wiley

  10   Scholastic