The Independent Publishing Magazine

Hampton Roads Latest Publisher to Launch Self-Publishing Imprint

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Rooney) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:03:00 +0000

Hampton Roads Publishing, in a collaborative endeavour with Hierophant, Red Wheel/Weiser Conari, have formed Turning Stone Press - a self-publishing service. Significantly, unlike previous new self-publishing services, this looks like an in-house staffed collaboration rather than a publishing house outsourcing to a company like Author Solutions. It looks expensive, but I'll take a closer look at this latest development in publishing on my return from overseas next week. For now, from the original breaking source - PW.

Red Wheel/Weiser Conari Press, in collaboration with Hampton Roads and Hierophant Publishing, are entering the self-publishing market for spiritual and self-help authors. The companies have formed Turning Stone Press which will be under the director of Red Wheel /Weiser Conari publisher Jan Johnson.

The press will offer editorial and production services including copyediting, book and cover design that will be overseen by Red Wheel/Weiser’s art and production directors. Red Wheel president Michael Kerber noted that the entire publishing process “is managed 100% by us. We do all the work.” Turning Stone will charge a one-time fee of $7,500 and authors will be paid on a royalty basis. “There are no hidden charges,” said Kerber, noting that if a book takes off, the additional printing costs will be covered by Red Wheel. “We’ll treat [Turning Stone] titles like any other Red Wheel book,” he said.

iBooks Author Review | TechRadar

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Rooney) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 23:31:00 +0000

Gary Marshall, over on TechRadar.com, has a nuts and bolts review of Apple's new iBooks Author tool for the creation of textbooks. Now that the dust has settled after yesterday's announcement, I'm not at all convinced that this new tool for self-publishers is a serious rival to Amazon's Kindle publishing program. You need to 'click-off' on an agreement with Apple that sets you through some hoops and loops such as having your own ISBN, quality approval through the iTunes Producer, an iBookstore Seller Account, it requires MAC OS X 10.7.2 (and not Windows OS compliant), but critically, iBook Author looks like it will be restricted to US-based authors with a tax number from the IRS. As a book creation tool, it rivals and exceeds what Blurb (Booksmart) - and maybe even Lulu - offer in their engine rooms. The jury is still out on pricing - my guess is that Apple will stick with the 70/30 revenue split. Apple may have produced one of the best free book-creation tools for self-published authors, but right now, it's like running a Ferrari on a country back road.

Hands on: iBooks Author review | News | TechRadar:

"Apple's latest content creator is designed for a very specific audience: textbook publishers. If you're looking for a do-everything app that will export in every conceivable file format, iBooks Author isn't for you - for that you'd be much better off with Scrivener. If you want to make eye-popping textbooks for the iPad, however, iBooks Author makes it exceptionally easy to produce very high quality stuff."

'Read More From TechRadar'

Publishing Opportunities from Online Communities | Writing.ie

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Rooney) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:28:00 +0000

The quote from the piece below is a feature on Writing.ie this week. It's an general overview about online publishing and communities and takes a look at three particular sites, Authonomy, Book Country and YouWriteOn. I'm not sure I'd agree with some of what is said, and there is a definite tendency to focus on the positive PR spin of three online publishing communities which have had their fair share of criticism from established and self-published authors. I've written quite a bit on Authonomy and Book Country here over the past two years and observed online discussions on YouWriteOn. In fact, a couple of years ago when I considered reviewing YouWriteOn, I decided against it after hearing of authors' experiences and the wider debate. For me, all three set out with admirable aims, but all fall far short in addressing the publishing slush piles, bridging the vast ocean that exists between publisher and submitting authors, and providing a fair, worthwhile and economic community platform and self-publishing services.

Publishing Opportunities from Online Communities:

"Authonomy Editor Scott Pack told writing.ie “Authonomy had a good track record of finding new talent, with a number of Sunday Times bestsellers being discovered on the site, but we wanted to step things up a bit. So we have started an Authonomy imprint which will look to publish 10-12 digital originals a year through HarperCollins. Our first, The Qualities of Wood by Mary Vensel White, is coming out at the end of January and we have already announced a second, More Tea, Jesus? by James Lark, with more announcements imminent. Any title that performs particularly well as an ebook will be published in a print edition by HarperCollins."

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10 Common Self-Publishing Scams You Should Be Aware Of | Online Accredited Colleges

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Rooney) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:14:00 +0000

10 Common Self-Publishing Scams You Should Be Aware Of

For many writers who’ve faced rejection after rejection from publishing houses, self-publishing can start to look like a pretty good idea. While there are writers out there who’ve managed to make self-publishing work for them, there are risks involved with self-publishing that every writer should know about. Namely that some self-publishing companies may be pretty shady and could cost you extra time and money if you’re not aware of the kinds of scams they run. Here are some of the most common scams that happen in self-publishing, a list that anyone even considering self-publication should read before entering into any kind of agreement or paying any fees associated with self-publishing.

Universal Publishing Group (The Author's Friend) - Reviewed (Updated Jan 2012)

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Rooney) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 01:58:00 +0000

This publishing service is currently undergoing an identity crisis. TAF Publishing now comes under The Universal Publishing Group, which in turn is now run by The Book Producers Ltd. I suspect Elvis has left the building, and right now, I'm trying to decipher this maze of Russian Dolls, wrapper by wrapper - who left who - who runs what, and just exactly what it means for self-published authors. When I peel off the wrappers, work my way through the broken links, I hope to have an update on The Universal Publishing Group in 2012, which will enviably supersede this review.

The Author’s Friend is a division of TAF Publishing, an Irish publisher of self-help guides for writers and authors. TAF Publishing was founded in 2009 by Oscar Duggan and David Jones and is based in Dublin.

“We call our service Assisted Publishing because that is what we do. Assisted Publishing is a rapidly growing alternative to traditional publishing routes. It is popular with authors because it puts the author in control of the publishing process.

We assist authors and writers of all genres (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, prose, biography, autobiography) and all markets. Authors who come to us may be aiming to publish to the widest public audience, or they may be seeking to publish privately or within their immediate circles. We help authors target their audience and publish to their niche, whether it's a blockbuster novel or a family memoir, local history study, community fundraising venture or even classroom projects.”

The Author’s Friend is clearing telling us the company publish a wide variety of book projects, with each author having different reasons and aspirations, but I am not sure any author or publisher would look to market a ‘blockbuster novel’ at a ‘niche’ audience; niche generally implies a small or specialised target audience.

What I like about The Author’s Friend is that it does not present specific publishing packages or programs, but instead, provides a menu of book publishing services from the completion of a manuscript through to marketing and promotion of the finished book. Most Irish author solutions services base their services on providing complete packages, but with The Author’s Friend, an author can choose one or more services, be that editing, cover design, internal layout and typesetting, or submission of completed PDF files for printing and binding.

“We cover the entire range of publishing requirements, from manuscript preparation, to printing and binding, ISBN and legal deposit, copyright assistance, through to the marketing, promotion and sales of your book.

Availing of our services does not restrict you in any way. You can pick and choose the services you require. There are no restrictions in terms of book size, print quality, page count etc.”

I think, though, The Author’s Friend would do well to change the final line of the above – the unintended suggestion is that the service print quality has a variable, and that’s a no-no. What we have here is quantity being mixed with quality. Authors want a variable and flexibility in quantity, not in the quality of their book.

“MORE BOOKS FOR YOUR MONEY - the primary objective of The Author's Friend is to help you get your books into print. Check our pricing against any self-publishing company and see for yourself. With The Author's Friend you get substantially more books for your investment.”

That is a bold boast. Let’s put it to the test. I sent an online quote for a completed PDF submitted book file, requiring no editing or finishing, full colour cover for varying print runs of 100, 250 and 500 of a perfect bound standard sized paperback 6 x 9).

“YOU KEEP THE COPYRIGHT - Writers often overlook the importance of their copyright, and give it away in the haste to get published. Your copyright is important; it protects your work and identifies it as yours. It could prove very valuable if your book becomes a commercial success. With The Author's Friend your copyright belongs to you, not us.”

This is a common assurance made by author solutions services, but the reality is that only the most unscrupulous vanity publishers now believe they can get away with taking copyright from an author as well as first publication rights. Your book is copyrighted the moment you write it; publishing processes by law, like legal deposit and library cataloging, simply copper fasten that right.

ISBN and Barcode: Single fee of €25 applies. For this we provide you with a unique ISBN and scannable barcode.

Copyright Assistance: Single fee of €10 applies. For this we will ensure that your moral rights as an author are adequately asserted and help to address any concerns you may have.

It is not clear what the author is getting for the €10 they are spending on this service – is it simply the insertion of ‘The author has stated their moral right....’ paragraph at the start of their book? Ok, there is the advice The Author’s Friend may offer, but as in my previous paragraph, I’ve addressed copyright, and I didn’t charge anyone €10 for it.

Legal Deposit: Postage and packaging charged at cost. A handling fee of €40 also applies. 13 copies are retained from the original print run to be deposited at copyright libraries in Ireland and Great Britain.

Manuscript Preparation: We provide the full pre-printing and booksetting service - editing, proof-reading, typesetting, cover design. Charges vary but are usually based on an hourly rate that will depend on factors including:

• manuscript size or volume - word count, number of pages where editing and proof-reading is concerned. The job of proof-reader is seldom entirely separate from that of an editor and vis-a-versa. For this reason most proof-readers and editors will want to see a copy of the manuscript before quoting.

• degree of complexity where typesetting or cover design is involved. For example novels and works of fiction are typically easier to typeset than academic or non-fiction works.

• prices charged for Cover Design will vary depending on whether artwork and/or illustrations are supplied or if these have to be sourced/originated. The Author's Friend provides standard book cover templates that can be customised and individualised from as little as €120. We can can provide a full, bespoke design service.

Printing and Binding: prices quoted will be based on job specification provided and will factor in a number of considerations. These will include book format size, number of pages, black or colour printing, inserts and illustrations, binding and finishing.

Delivery - Charged at cost. Collections can be arranged.

Sales and Marketing - Books are taken on sale or return basis. The Author's Friend takes 35% commission of the selling price for every book sold.

We can quote for any job and advise you on your options if you are unsure.Contact us today for a no obligation, free quotation, or use our online service.

The Author’s Friend do not make it clear if the 35% commission they take is exclusive to sales through their website bookstore or on all sales through any channel. If it is, authors need to bear in mind that the retailer is also going to take a discount of anywhere between 30% and 55%. Nevertheless, the sale or return contract The Author’s Friend have with retailers is a strong point to help get your book stocked, but this only works best using their short digital print run option and having the physical stock to put on shelves rather than relying purely on the POD (print on demand) model, which is when a book is printed only after an order is received for it from a customer, through a retailer.

The marketing services offered by The Author’s Friend are tagged with the bold headline – ‘Helping You to Sell Your Books’. Again, the emphasis is on ‘Assisted Publishing’.

We can promote your book to bookshops and libraries. We can help you take advantage on the business platform that is the worldwide web, with the potential for exposure to almost 2 billion internet users worldwide.

Every title we help to produce is included in The Author's Friend Online Catalogue. We provide free web space including guest books, picture albums, review sections and any number of interactive facilities to generate interest in your book.

We can also give you advice and guidance in carving out your own online presence, including web hosting, domain name registration, blogging and social media, networking etc.

The Author's Friend offers you access to extensive media contacts (TV, radio, national and local press). We can help you put together media packs, press releases etc. We can even help you to prepare and host your own book launch or book signing - important functions that help to get publicity, but also to you sell your book.

The Author’s Friend use Gemini International, also based in Dublin, for their printing, and this is one area I have a little bit of a concern. It is fine if an author is based in Ireland and expecting the vast majority of sales to come from there. But if an author envisages book sales on the UK market, customers buying a book sourced and printed in Ireland may incur more shipping and packaging charges, specifically POD titles. Ideally, having now expanded to 30 plus titles in their catalogue in the last year, The Author’s Friend could benefit greatly from using a print partner like Lightning Source to fulfil their UK orders.

Prices for books from The Author’s Friend are above average, ranging on Amazon UK from £10 to £15 for a paperback. TAF do support their own bookshop, but I would prefer to see more books visible on their website.

Regarding print costs on my quote, The Author's Friend come out pretty strongly. My quote resulted in the following prices per unit:

100 copies - €425
250 copies - €899
500 copies - €1489

Other service costs if required:
Book cover design - €100-€350
Typesetting - €250

The cost of small print runs with The Author's Friend is less than many of their competitors, but the higher print run figure (250+) creeps above some of the competition. Nevertheless, even at a cost of €2.97 per unit at a 500 unit print run, it is pretty competitive. If an author submits PDF interior and cover files, there is no set-up charge incurred.

In conclusion, if you have a book for the Irish market, TAF may be the way to go. I’d would like that they provided pricing samples online. If they are going to go the way of DIY self-publishing, and offer an a-la-carte menu of services, then, that must be something they should do outright. They need to think more globally. I do think TAF have a really strong catalogue of books, author guides as well as self-published books, and they are betwixt and between a publisher and a publishing service. Six months ago that may have been ok in their business strategy. Now, it isn’t. Maverick’s Book Republic has arrived and stolen some of their steam, and Checkpoint Press has moved to much more traditional publishing, while still maintaining their self-publishing wing.

I’m putting the issue of TAF not coming back to me on a print quote aside, and giving them the benefit of the doubt for Irish authors...

RATING 6.8/10

The way ahead for publishing | Books | Guardian UK

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Rooney) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 15:08:00 +0000

The way ahead for publishing | Books | guardian.co.uk:

Here is a nice summation piece by Stephen Page in last Friday's Guardian UK about the developments in the publishing world in 2011, and where it might be going beyond 2012...

2011 was a dramatic year for the UK books industry. Waterstones changed ownership and leadership. Ebook sales grew to around 7% of the general books market, with WHS Kobo and Apple emerging alongside the dominant Kindle, which had a major Christmas. Agents set up publishing endeavors, publishers created successful apps and writers published themselves. The contentious debate about a fair royalty rate for ebook sales continued, and Amazon set up its own publishing arm.

'via Blog this'

Arima Publishing UK - Reviewed (Updated Jan 2012)

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Rooney) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 02:30:00 +0000

Arima Publishing is a UK self-publishing service based in Suffolk, England. The company offer authors ‘global publishing services’. Arima follow the business strategy most UK-based companies take and call it as it is for authors wanting to self-published a book. To be fair, Arima make no pretensions about being a grandiose publishing company.

Writing a book is a feat that many people dream of, but actually relatively few accomplish. It is a challenge but can also be a very rewarding experience. Completing a book is a significant achievement.

arima is a highly innovative global, publishing services company that offers flexible and very cost-effective solutions to those authors who aspire to see their work published.

arima offers new and established writers a range of quality services to assist them to bring their books to the market, as well as global distribution channels that include Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

The emerging digital age is changing the face of publishing. It is bringing exciting opportunities to thousands of new authors, realising book projects that traditionally would have struggled to get off the ground.

At heart, Arima is a printer offering ‘global distribution’ services. Big deep breath. There is nothing ‘Global' about printing books digitally, one by one through POD (print on demand), and making them ‘available’ online. Putting 20 pallets of refrigerators on a boat or plane from Liverpool to Rotterdam is.

Arima, like all publishing services using POD, make the bulk of profits from revenue generated from the fees charged to authors. Arima’s homepage displays up to 35 advertisements for books they publish. You would be amazed how this presence of books on a publishers main homepage makes an impact on authors. For the most part, readers and buyers of books visit their local bookstore chain or go to e-retailers like Amazon.

However, whilst print-on-demand has many advantages it does not necessarily suit all types of book. Currently, the process available does not allow for internal colour; pictures and diagrams are limited to black and grey scale. Also, because all book pages are printed on the same non-glossy paper, black and white photographs may have a slightly grainy appearance. Technology continues to progress though, and improvements are coming on-stream all the time.

Arima has had the above detail on their website and in their publishing brochure for a few years now, and I think the company need to heed their own advice. Yes, print technology has moved on and continues to improve, but it's Arima's information that hasn't moved on with the times. Perhaps Richard Franklin and his staff would care to take a look at a 'global' company like Blurb to see that colour books using POD technology is not only possible, but can be of very high quality. There is also no mention of short-run printing which has become an essential part of the self-publishing menu offered to authors in the past few years.

Arima’s basic package for publishing which has fluctuated from £575 to £795 over the past 2 years. The £575 was the cost of the basic package, but it is worth noting that by 2012, Arima does not list package pricing on their website. A brochure of their services can be requested on this link.

Details like this on a website worry me.

Imprints

In addition to the arima imprint, arima also publishes under a number of specialist imprints. For more information please contact us.

click here for our contact form.

Why? Is it so secret that you cannot tell us, or is it another series of self-publishing plans which you don’t want to tell us about for fear we might say they are ridiculously expensive. Perhaps Arima is trying to tell us that they have hidden a traditional publishing company behind a self-publishing printer! The 'other' imprint alluded to is Abramas, a POD service for academic books and thesis.

The very basics of publishing a book go with Arima’s package, basic cover and internal layout, ISBN, online availability, proofs and author copies, but little else. On royalties, we are looking at some shenanigans.

The brochure claims 30% to the author of a book selling for £11.00. through Arima without having to take a third party into account. £3.30 sounds pretty out the window. With third party sales – it reduces to 20%. Yet, it costs Arima about £3.50 to print the book leaving £7.50 . The author might make £3.30, but the publisher is making £4.20 out of all this. There is a similar anomaly in the third party figures as well.

For author royalty copies; we see a similar discrepancy which sees the author paying far away above what the books cost to print as against the price they can buy them from their publishers.

Arima provide no marketing or promotion of titles outside of providing the author with some moderate feedback through a booklet and printed materials to support a marketing campaign by the author. Arima do have an online bookshop, but it has very low traffic.

Arima are far from the cheapest self publishers. You will need to have a fully prepared book file in MS word or ideally a finished PDF. And regarding your cover file:

“Whilst Arima employs professional graphic designers to produce all our book cover work, we understand that some authors would like the opportunity to work closely with the designers to develop a more detailed and personal design brief. A full design commission service is available for both cover and interior work, at £250.”

Arima offer a production and printer service for self-publishing authors. The services seem mismatched and are neither printer nor a full author solution service. There just is not enough here on the marketing side, and the focus is what I would describe as 'nuts 'n' bolts' publishing - copyright, registration, data listing, online distribution etc. Arima say much of the marketing is up to the author. That’s fine and the company is honest about that, but it is hard to see Arima as anymore beyond the nuts and bolts of self-publishing and that is with considerable input before as well as after the book is completed.

For me, Arima may be honest in what is offered, but far short on specifics. e-Books services reflect this.

e-books
Publishing your book as an e-book is an optional service. arima produces e-books in adobe, palm and Microsoft Reader formats.

This reads like it was written five years ago. There is no mention of Kindle, iPad or iPhone advances in the e-reader market. And in short, it is how I see Arima and what I see as their approach to self-publishing services - suffice if it were five years ago, but entirely out-of-touch in today's self-publishing service world. I certainly can't see how Arima would appeal to a seasoned self-published author who knows publishing works and the value of a service reflecting what is happening now in the publishing industry. Too much of what Arima offer is how self-publishing used to be when self-published authors where still dipping their toes in the water. Things have changed a lot since then.

RATING: 5.0/10

HarperCollins Launches Backlist Print/POD Program | Shelf Awareness

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Rooney) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:06:00 +0000

HarperCollins Launches Backlist Print/POD Program | Shelf Awareness:

"HarperCollins today is launching its Comprehensive Backlist Program that will enable independent bookstores with Espresso Book Machines to promote much of the company's backlist through a combination of "a core assortment" of printed books on the shelves and in-store "digital-to-print at retail." The program encompasses thousands of adult trade paperback titles and some YA paperbacks. For now, illustrated books, picture books and some other titles are not included.

The program officially begins at 1 p.m. Eastern time, when the initial nine participating stores will simultaneously print a copy of Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett. (Patchett became an independent bookseller last year when she co-founded Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tenn.)"

'via Blog this'

Self-Publishing Experiences: Over Streams and Squirrel Woods - Alys Williams

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Rooney) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 01:28:00 +0000

It's quite a while since we had a post from our self-publishing successes/experiences series. So, today, Alys Williams (pseudonym of author Jenny Thomas) describes her not so good experience with AuthorHouse, and her eventual publication of her beautiful book, Over Streams and Squirrel Woods, a chronicle and memoir of her relationship with her mother during her years of dementia. - [Editor]

I tried twenty-two small publishers and four agents. Some of them were interested, but then got cold feet in the ‘currently difficult climate.’ I decided after a couple of years to get the book into print, onto the Kindle, and off my desk. I sent for three books on self-publishing, read magazine articles and scoured the internet for help, and I also spoke to everyone I knew who might have a view.

I tried to compare prices and what one gets for the money between Crowdspring, CreateSpace, Lightning Source and a myriad of companies who do the cover design, book layout and distribution, but it took weeks of research. I eventually decided that I was not technically capable of doing the whole thing, and with recommendations for AuthorHouse from creative writing teachers and other authors, an offer of 40% off the basic package, as well as a ‘you will retain the rights so you’re not tied down to any strings’ and ‘you will get a non-exclusive or open ended contract’ and ‘you can price the book at £7.30’ and ‘YES the book will be available on Kindle’ and ‘we never charge for any additional printing costs, administrative fees, or retailer discounts’ ringing in my ears, I paid the £453.15.

A day later, my check in co-ordinator phoned and sent me an e-mail with some instructions. So I electronically sent off my paginated book layout, a photo for the cover, and book description for the back cover. I entered a password and my e-mail address into the Authorcentre and waited. When I logged into the Authorcentre a few days later I saw that although I had formatted my book to be 6x9 and had asked for the text to be kept in Times New Roman as the italicised sections looked too curly in their usual font of Garamond – these details had been entered wrongly. My co-ordinator replied to my third e-mail saying she had altered the details and, YES, I could have ‘all profits from this book go to the Alzheimer’s Society’ on the copy line. After this, I could not get into the Authorcentre to check. Eventually I was given another password and the changes had been made.

The proofs came back from my design consultant for me to view. In the first round I was allowed 25 interior corrections, though any number of their mistakes could be changed. The cover was very strange. My photograph had been cut into three pieces and attached to a tree. It was very imaginative, but not what I had asked for, and did not fit the book’s content (which of course they don’t read) and the cover image way too dark.

Completing the Cover Modification and Galley Modification Forms was a difficult process. The forms had minds of their own and trying to put the typos in the ‘Incorrect’ column was tedious as they were immediately changed to being correct – so they looked the same as the ‘Correct’ column. I spent two days ensuring that I had made every detail as clear as possible and included explanatory text to back up the changes.

There was a three week delay, during which time I saw the retail price for the book had gone up to £11.92! I e-mailed my AuthorHouse representative – got no reply – and then I could no longer get into the ‘Authorcentre’ again.

The cover proof was returned with no bark included, but suddenly there was too much blue sky covered with clouds and it was a wrap around cover, so the writing was squashed into a thin column – it was just no good for my older target audience. I sent more explanations of what I wanted in an e-mail. A week later I phoned and it was as if I had never written to them – my design consultant typed what I was saying as I spoke. I confirmed the points again with another e-mail to back up my four points.

The galley modifications were returned, but not one of the twenty-five author corrections had been done and only seven of the twenty-seven AuthorHouse corrections. They had taken out the different font I used for my quotes and double-spaced some and run others into my text, so in many cases the quotes merged with my opinions. I had sent them a perfectly laid out file in the first place! Why had it been so messed up? I had spent so much time trying to make each necessary alteration crystal clear on the Modification forms – what was going on? We spoke again and I asked for the fourth time where ‘all profits to Alzheimers Society’ was on the copy line and why there were two spare pages at the beginning of the book. I backed this up with another e-mail repeating all the points.

Meanwhile I had been reading more and more complaint reviews on the internet. About how Lightning Source prints the books for between £2.90 and £3.70 and then AuthorHouse marks them up to more than double the print cost. Why do they have to make such a huge publishing profit when the author has paid for the cover and text?

My thought to put the book onto Kindle and charge £2.99 and get a printer to print me two hundred copies from their electronic files suddenly evaporated when I read a furious reviewer who said that I don’t own the rights to the designed and formatted version of my book, so I couldn’t republish or have the book production files to work from – they are owned by AuthorHouse! Where does it say that? I poured over everything on their site, every e-mail they sent me – but nowhere was this said. I thought I’d purchased a design package which became mine. I’d neither seen nor signed a contract.

I was too naive.

I e-mailed a friend who had worked in the publishing industry. My friend advised me to coolly work my way through the nexus of technicalities and focus on exactly what I signed up for, and to get complete clarity and then see if I could negotiate. If not, perhaps threaten legal action. I think that is a step too far, but I vowed that I would tell them that I am writing an article about my experience...

My marketing consultant rang up to introduce himself and to ask me what my goals were. I said it was to market the book at the prices agreed in my e-mail communication with the person who had signed me up. I said that I was writing an article about my experiences with AuthorHouse, and if they reneged on our agreements I wanted my money back. He said that the introductory person would be ringing me…they never did!

I argued with them for two months about how much the book would be on their site – I had a friend whose book was the same number of pages and was able to insist that the same price was set – she had already battled endlessly with them.

A friend designed the cover for me, as nothing they produced was worth having, and out of frustration I put the book onto Kindle myself – a month before they would have done so.

I cannot emphasise how hard I have had to fight and how many e-mails I’ve written and phone calls I have made - dozens and dozens - they do not reply and all the call staff I was dealing with were in the Philippines, the cultural understanding and style they produced was not my taste and somehow there was a big gap in understanding one another. [AuthorHouse no longer have a physical presence in the UK since early 2010 - Editor]

Eventually, because my friends book had been published before mine, I knocked them down from £7.50 to £5.60 for one hundred books, but the £94 postage charge was prohibitive, so I re-edited it, used the same cover, removed the ISBN number and had a printer in Norfolk do one hundred copies for me for £5.42 per book with no postage – so I saved £1.23. I could have done that in the first place and saved the £453 and not had five months of frustration!

In the promises that AuthorHouse send to punters it says:

Your book will be available to buy from the largest book distributors worldwide. These are;

• Gardners Books• Bertrams Books• Nielson Books• Ingram Books• Baker & Taylor and• Andrews Bookstores in Australia.

Yet two months after the book had gone live on Amazon, Over Streams and Squirrel Woods is still not registered with Nielsen Book Data and Bibliographic Data Services – and until this happens all the distributors above will not stock it and all the libraries I and friends have contacted, cannot order it! It’s quite shocking.

The sales on the internet are good and I have worked hard at contacting alzheimers local branches, putting details on dementia websites, sending details to newspapers, magazines and libraries and contacting everyone I have e-mail addresses for. My friend has had massive sales because she does book signings in book shops and is very persuasive. As my book is more specialized, I don’t see myself doing that, but seem to be having steady sales on Amazon with regular cheques in the post to me.

It is £8.82 on Amazon, plus £2.70 postage, as an e book for £4.58 or £7.99 directly from me plus the £2.30 postage. If I make any profit, it will go to the Alzheimers Society. I wish I'd had a book like mine when I was struggling to make life and treatment better for my Mum.

Why did I write it? Anger at the 'system', catharsis and because I want to believe that the human brain can still be creative and powerful even when it is damaged by plaques and tangles, so I tried to imagine how it felt if you knew that it was happening to you and wrote alternate chapters from my Mum’s point of view based on what she said to me and from what I observed.

In the other chapters I have described factually and honestly the journey we took together. Recording my experience of her illness, treatment and life in two nursing homes made me question what constitutes identity, self and the soul and be appalled by the way we treat our elderly, corralling and containing them and our lack of effort to communicate with those with dementia is particularly shocking.

Would either I or my friend use Authorhouse again? Well, no, but neither would I pay huge amounts to any self publishing company – it’s money wasted - do it yourself if you can’t find a publisher will be my maxim in future.

What is it like to watch a loved one deteriorate with the onset of dementia? How does it feel to know that it is happening to you?

A daughter’s honest and insightful account of her mother’s slow slide into Dementia with Lewy bodies and the mother’s thoughts as her internal journey gradually becomes her new reality.

Over Streams and Squirrel Woods explores what can happen when reality becomes too painful, and the disconnection between people when they see and hear differently from one another. It is about boundless love, frustration, guilt and the inexorable inevitability of aging.

Alys records her experience of Catrin’s illness, treatment and life in two nursing homes, provoking her to question what constitutes identity, self and the soul. In startling parallel is Catrin’s stream of consciousness, the clarity of which suggests that there is still power and creativity in the human mind and gives us hope that the descent is transformed not into pain and darkness, but into another life.

It is not only an intriguing read for all of us who have had or might have to deal with those who suffer from dementia but also leads us to consider our own futures.

“This is a valuable addition to the dementia literature, rewriting our expectation of what those with dementia can think.” John Suchet.

Been Offered A Publishing Contract? - Lynn Haz Good Advice For You!!

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Rooney) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 01:21:00 +0000

Just because they offered you a contract doesn’t mean you need to take it « Behler Blog:

This advice from Lynn Price of Behler Publications already looks like one of the blog posts of 2012.

"Because I’m fairly active on the Absolute Write Water Cooler, I receive a few emails and PMs from writers wondering if Brand-Spanking-New Publisher or Known-To-Be-A-Scam Publisher is a good bet. Anyone who knows me knows that I call ‘em as I see ‘em. If they’re a brand new company, I look at certain parameters:

Who’s running the company
Marketing and promotion capabilities
Distribution
Editing
Experience"

Lynn Price, Behler Publications

'via Blog this'

O'Reilly Radar Podcast With Author Dan Gilmor

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Rooney) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:34:00 +0000

Dan Gillmor is an author and instructor at Arizona State University. He is one of a growing number of authors who have published with both a traditional house as well as self-published. In this O'Reilly Radar podcast, he discusses the pros and cons of both options with Joe Wikert.

Olympia Publishers UK - Overview

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Rooney) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 02:10:00 +0000

In late 2007 I came across a thread on AbsoluteWrite mentioning a UK publisher called Olympia Publishers. At the outset, it should be stressed that this publisher has nothing to do with the distinguished Paris-based literary and erotica press founded by Maurice Giordias during the early 1950’s. Giordias’ avant-garde esoteric publishing house introduced us to classics by Burroughs, Beckett, Bataille and Nabokov. Giordias also ran the erotica imprint Ophelia Press which published one of literatures most famous and enigmatic publishing mysteries in the form of Pauline Reage’s The Story of O. Every time I come across the Olympia Press during research, I keep telling myself I should do an historical publishing piece on this publisher. But that one is for another day.

A quick Google of Olympia Publishers will quickly reveal a whole plethora of publishers over the years that have traded under derivatives of the Olympia name. I can understand a ‘Ted Jones’ from Melbourne, Australia trading under Jones Construction if that is his line of business, but frankly, in today’s age of global communication, the Internet and company records readily available to the general public, I can’t understand any publishing house trading under the name of a similar and previously existing publisher or press unless the confusion is deliberate. It was the first bane of frustration for the authors posting on the cited AbsoluteWrite thread above.

Olympia Publishers UK, part of Ashwell Publishing, began sometime around late 2007. The publisher lists its address at 60 Cannon Street, smack in the heart of the City of London. That’s a pretty nice piece office real estate to lease and operate out of, but when you’re a publisher with 250 listed titles (on Amazon UK), a catalogue comprising mainly of new or unknown authors, something doesn’t quite ring true. I’m a pretty frequent traveller now, and I’ve learned from experience when I’ve decided to ‘call around’ to the offices of publishers or companies offering self-publishing services, I’ve discovered vacant rooms above laundrettes, chip shops, residential homes, derelict or abandoned buildings with no more sign of a thriving publishing house than rusting galvanised shutters and a overstuffed ‘mailbox’ and a builder with a steaming-hot Pot Noodle clutched to his bosom. I’ve had experiences like this with several UK self-publishing services – are you taking note Mr Miller from BookForce/UnDiscovered/discovered Authors/Callio Press?

I may or may not be calling to a publisher/self-publishing service near you soon! Fortunately, I’ve also had many good experiences with companies that are only too open to me paying a visit. Not surprisingly, most of these companies tend to be the better service providers to authors.

From the Olympia Publisher website:

“We continue to publish books by well-known writers and have also given writers at the dawn of their careers the necessary opportunities to have their books published successfully. Therefore, we can now pride ourselves on achieving fame for previously unknown writers. We have been able to achieve this by proven methods of internet marketing and by well-established and traditional forms of promotion. To achieve this we have developed very useful and beneficial links with the Media, and this has escalated world-wide; consequently more and more of our books are reaching the potential that they deserve.”

Hmmm, ‘pride ourselves on achieving fame for previously unknown writers.’ Is that what unknown writers seek or what Olympia think they are seeking?

I actually do like the layout and presentation of the publisher’s website. It has what a publisher’s website should have; plenty of books on display and lot’s of author event news. A look at the book covers throughout the online bookshop reveals a pretty mixed bag. The site provides ample information on upcoming author events and links to short biographys to its published authors. However, I’d like a great deal more about this company on the main page and ‘About’ page, primarily why Olympia Publishers are different to other publishers and what their staff experience is. There is also a dramatic lack of trade information suggesting to me that this publisher does not have the trade and media links it claims to have. The publisher does support an online bookstore, but returns for customers and groups are not accepted. My concern here is that this is transferred to trade accounts as well.

Let’s get to the nub of Olympia Publishers in this overview, because that’s all it can be. Even a commercial publisher provides more detail than this publisher – trade order details; details of editors and staff experience; and a full overview of the company history. In essence, Olympia on the surface look like a standard publisher, but this belies the experience of authors submitting to them in the AbsoluteWrite thread cited above, and the more recent threads here.

"Initially all manuscripts submitted to us are considered under non-contributory publishing contracts. This is where no costs are incurred by the author and the whole outlay is taken on by Olympia Publishers.

Should we be unable to offer the non-contributory contract for those manuscripts that would fit in with our high standards and genre criteria, an alternative means of being published is considered. This would be under a slightly different form of contract which is contribution-based. We would like to point out that the promotion and marketing of all our books is carried to the same depth regardless of the type of contract that is offered.

As always, we dedicate a great deal of our resources to researching new methods by which we can move forward, in keeping with modern innovations. Some of our future plans include the provision of e-books as these are currently gaining impetus; now it appears that e-books are beginning to pose an important addition to normal publishing. We plan to encompass all our future and existing titles to be sold as e-books as well as in paperback format. “

Olympia reminds me a great deal of Austin & McAuley, who until about two years ago did not inform authors about fees entailed with publishing as part of their programs. I’ve no problem with a publisher adopting a hybrid approach to publishing. But traditional and self-publishing imprints must be kept separate, and all financial details as part of a paid service must be disclosed before an author submits to the publishers – and that includes costs (absolute or by example) as well as royalties. In short, you can’t play the game as a ‘publisher’ but operate in whole as an author solutions provider.

It should be noted that fees cited in the above links by authors after they submitted to Olympia ranged on average from £2500 - £3500. Publishing should be a democracy – open to everyone – but you simply cannot operate an imprint that claims to publish one author for free, and another for £3500, and give both the same marketing and promotion.

RATING PENDING

Apple Poised To Launch Self-Publishing Program This Month

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Rooney) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 20:14:00 +0000

Apple to launch new Self-Publishing Program later this month | Good E-Reader - ebook Reader and Tablet PC News:

Reporting on Good E-Reader this morning, Michael Kozlowski has revealed that Apple will host an event in New York later in January and speculates that it may herald the launch of a self-publishing program for iBooks that will rival Amazon's DTP and the Barnes and Noble Pubit platform. As yet nothing formal has been stated by Apple.

"Apple is going to be holding an exclusive event in New York city later this month to possibly launch a new program for their iBooks and Publishing platform. Sources close to the matter have told us that they intend on launching a new digital self-publishing platform to get peoples content into the iBookstore. This is a huge step forward for Apple to compete with Amazon (DTP) and Barnes and Noble (Pubit).

One of the only ways to get listed into the Apple iBookstore if you are an independent author is to go through a 3rd party such as Smashwords. They assign you a free ISBN for choosing them and they will submit your books to iBooks and tons of others."

'via Blog this'

AllThingsD this morning pointed out the significance of Apple's Senior Vice-President of Internet Software and Services, Eddy Cue, will play a key role at the event, suggesting the launch will be service and media driven and not the launch of a product. Up until now, authors could only use third-party services like Lulu and Smashwords to get access to the iBook store. If the speculation is accurate, then it will be a significant move by Apple to take on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Guest Post: Is Self Publishing A Real Option? By Mike Welham

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Rooney) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 14:07:00 +0000

My first book was published by a mainstream publisher in 1989 and titled Combat Frogmen. It was non fiction and unique in that nobody had written about the subject since the Second World War. It sold well and was even translated into a German edition. At that point the reality of being a published author was made known to me at a meeting with the editor of the book. He said that it was very lucky for a new author to get published. He showed me a growing pile of unopened manuscripts which would never be read by that publisher, but in time, returned to the author with a ‘not this time or not for us’ style of letter. I had fortunately sent a letter separate to the manuscript and the right person read it and the rest as they say is history.

Path to Self-Publishing

In 1993 I ventured into self-publishing following a disastrous holiday with a well known top-end tour operator. I found little to no help with our cause and was left with only one option; putting the case through the courts. The outcome was successful and the claim was settled out of court. At the time there was very limited help available, so my wife and I wrote a book to provide advice to others. Successful Holidays: And What to Do If They’re Not was in the making. The problem came when we could not find a publisher as it was claimed that it could be seen to put the travel industry in a bad light.

Determined to continue we looked at the options. There were at the time publishing companies called vanity publishers. They wanted large sums of money to produce a book, which when printed, copies were delivered direct to the author who then had to market, sell and distribute the books. Following some research we found that we could do what the vanity publishers offered, at a fraction of the cost. We set about typing the manuscript, found an editor to work on the content and an artist to design a cover. Obtaining an ISBN and complying with publishing requirements was not a problem. A printer set out the contents and printed the books. We had a good professional product but then faced the hardest part of publishing, getting the books into the marketplace. At this time there was no worldwide web or social networking sites. The media facilitated mass advertising from travel companies and they did not want to promote a book that helped people to deal with travel problems. The book was sold wherever we could find a customer and that really was the hard bit.

When I was commissioned by a mainstream publisher to write a book entitled Exploring the Deep it required me to write the contents and obtain more than 200 specialist photographs within a time frame of nine months. After a mammoth effort on my part the book had a flurry of sales and then just moved down the list of published books. The company had moved on to new titles.

We were flogging through the conventional publishing houses with our new titles but became frustrated with publishers' attitudes. One publisher confirmed that the focus was on ‘celebrities’ and those well known at the top of the pyramid. Their demands for high advances meant that the amount of money available to everybody else was dramatically reduced or in many cases not available. So we sought to self-publish using a company that was not a vanity publisher but a professional house that could undertake the whole process. I cannot stress enough how important it is to select a good company providing self-publishing services as it is your money that is being invested.

So how do you find one?

My first action was to search the web which produced copious amounts of information relating to self-publishing companies. I also consulted the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook for information on self-publishing, but, beware, they will advise that if your book is good enough it will be published by a mainstream publisher. Now, that requires an agent. I have had an agent but found that they focused on mass market selling authors, of which there are not many when compared to the vast volume of books available and ‘celebrities’ who dominate the bookshelves. It could take at least two years to get an agent to accept you. Then you wait until a publishing house decides whether you have a book worthy of their name. However, you could be lucky, right place - right time!

Equipped with information about self-publishing, I reviewed those companies that could do the best job for me. I required a professionally published quality book where consultation would allow an input into what the finished product would look like. In fact, I was lucky, because my son provided the cover photograph/designs for my latest self-published books The Crabb Enigma and Crime Pays. There had to be access to editors if deemed appropriate. Equally important was what each step of the process was going to cost. Many of the companies I evaluated said they could produce the book for a minimal fee but I then found that there were hidden extras.

I also needed the publisher to have an in-house marketing and PR option, utilising the web and social networking and not just a link to another unknown company, which made it difficult to assess their credibility. The books had to be available to the distributors and be an integral part of the industry. So from the vast amount of information, I found a company that ticked all of the boxes. However, even with the odds in my favour, the one thing they cannot do is make a customer buy a book. So in terms of your investment, ask yourself why anybody would want to buy your book; know what it is going to cost you; understand that you may not get all of your cash back; and then decide to publish and be damned. Through self-publishing you will be the master of the destiny of your book.

Mike Welham was a magistrate for sixteen years and a chairman of the Bench for most of that time. He sat on a wide and diverse range of cases in the adult courts.

When not in court he was an enforcement officer managing a team of government inspectors. During this time he gained experience in both investigations and court activities. He also worked with the police on investigations and prosecutions for manslaughter. Using this experience, he wrote a professional book, Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide – A Managers Guide to Legal Compliance. He has for 6 years acted as an expert witness to the courts.

This combination has placed him on both sides of the adversarial arena and in the middle making judicial decisions. Although he no longer sits on the Bench, he is on the supplemental list retaining the JP title.

Mike served in the military and also worked in the dangerous world of oil and gas diving, both in the UK and various parts of the world. His interests outside of court and work activities include researching, with his wife, the life of Commander ‘Buster’ Crabb, a frogman who ‘disappeared’ in mysterious circumstances. They have produced two books on the subject: Frogman Spy and the recently published, The Crabb Enigma. He has a keen interest in elephant conservation.

Mike chose Matador, a self-publishing service of Troubador Publishing UK for The Crabb Enigma (with Jacqui Welham), and now, Crime Pays - Reflections from the front line of criminal justice, available from 3rd January, 2012. We are very pleased with their professional services and it frees us to spend time on research and writing.

www.crimepaysuk.com

www.crabbenigma.com

Smashwords: Smashwords Introduces New Ebook Gifting Feature

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Rooney) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 14:24:00 +0000

Smashwords: Smashwords Introduces New Ebook Gifting Feature:

Smashwords yesterday released a new ebook gifting feature. Because Smashwords books are available in multiple ebook formats, our books are...

Merry Christmas From The Independent Publishing Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Rooney) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 18:52:00 +0000

It's been a very fruitful year at The Independent Publishing Magazine, and for me personally with the publication of The Memory of Trees. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for all their support, input, comments, debate and friendship over the past twelve months.

The publishing world continues to change and develop, and the ebook march continues. If there is one single thing that has struct me in 2011, it is the fact that the serious self-published authors have gained a great deal of savvy, maturity and success in an industry which once looked down at them simply as a nuisance.The publishing world is unrecognizable to the industry it once was, even two or three years ago. Print books are no longer king to the evolution and future of the book publishing industry. Our very understanding of what a book is and our reading experience of it has irreparably changed. How good or bad that is - only the future will tell.

On a personal basis, 2012 will bring its own changes, challenges and excitement for me. More about that during the new year.

For now, best seasonal wishes, thoughts to all of you and your dearest.

Mick Rooney

Author, Editor, Researcher & Publishing Consultant

The Independent Publishing Magazine.

Original Writing - Reviewed (Updated Jan 2012)

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Rooney) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 02:00:00 +0000

Original Writing is an Irish self-publishing service and was founded in 2006. Based in Smithfield, Dublin, the company has become one of Ireland’s most popular choices for authors looking for self-publishing packages.

A couple of years ago, Garreth Bonner, Sales and Marketing Manager with Original Writing was interviewed by The Independent Publishing Magazine.

Original Writing is open about the business of self-publishing and the author services they provide. They welcome visitors to their Dublin offices and their contact phone number and address is clearly displayed on their site. They have an online bookstore for their catalogue, where books can be purchased, as well as a linked blog and a writers’ forum for writers to discuss their work and display sample work for feedback. The main website features plenty of book advertisements for present and new release titles.

We’ll work closely with you on all stages of book production from your final draft through to the finished book in your hands. You have full control over all the important decisions regarding your work. Our expertise is there to help make your vision a reality and deliver a book you can be truly proud of.

Original Writing say they offer two distinct author service packages, but effectively it is actually one, either hardback or paperback publication with 100 author copies offered with each.

We offer two standard publishing packages for your book – either hardback or paperback. Both packages include 100 free copies of your book and full completion of all administrative aspects of publishing. We realise that every book is different and can also put together bespoke quotes for individual publishing projects, large or small. Full details of our packages are listed below.

It does irk me a great deal when companies refer to ‘free copies’. The books are not free. The company factors in the cost of print to the publishing package. Since I last reviewed Original Writing, little has changed in regards to the rigid publishing package offered. Since 2009, when I did my first review, I would have expected Original Writing to have grasped that if their business is to expand beyond authors unfamiliar with the publishing business, and authors happy to concentrated on localised self-publishing, then we would now have seen much more flexibility with the ‘package’ on offer. One fit for all just does not work with self-publishing now.

The package (€1595/1895) includes the following:

§ Design: Professional inside page layout and typography

§ Full colour joint cover design

§ Full range of book formats

§ Up to 5 electronic proofs for review

§ One final Proof (only if required and unbound) prior to final decision to print.

§ Publish: 100 paperback copies delivered to author specified address

Additional copies (minimum order of 50 units) over and above the 100 free copies can be ordered at any time (exact cost based on final specification but normally in range of Euro 4.50 to 5.50 per copy).

Online Sales

All titles are listed on the Original Writing Online bookstore and other suitable online bookstores and we handle the fulfillment of all online orders.

Administrative details

Original Writing handle the assignment of ISBN numbers and author’s copyright notice as well as EAN bar coding for retail sales (if required). We also handle provision of Legal Deposit copies to the following libraries:

§ The National Library of Ireland

§ Trinity College

§ NUI, Cork

§ NUI, Dublin (UCD)

§ NUI, Galway

§ NUI, Maynooth

§ University of Limerick

§ Dublin City University

§ The British Library, UK

Pricing

The price for the paperback package is Euro 1595 payable and the price for the standard hardback package is Euro 1895 with Euro 500 due on commencement of project and the balance due on sign-off of final Proof Copy.

Earn royalty payments

The Author will earn 75% royalties on margin achieved by Original Writing on all sales online and to retail and wholesale outlets. The Royalty is payable every six months. Margin is calculated as to net selling price less cost of printing and transport and after deducting 1.50 Euro for handling fees.

Additional charges

Delivery charges for initial 100 copies are charged extra and vary according to location.

Design Charge of Euro 450 if Original Writing is to design cover from scratch

An additional per page cost if final layout is over 224 pages (Normally around one Cent per each additional page per copy).

Oh, and those ‘free 100 copies’? There will be additional charges depending where the author is located. Not so free now, are they?

The package includes, non-exclusive rights, ISBN allocation, full original colour cover design (450 euro as a stand alone bespoke service), full internal layout and design, legal deposit to national libraries, 100 author copies (will have an additional delivery charge depending on author’s location), a range of book sizes, 5 rounds of electronic proofs and a final single unbound paper proof. This also includes online distribution and a listing in their bookstore. Unlike many UK based author solution providers, Original Writing use an indigenous Irish digital printer and provide all online fulfilment. Orders are forwarded on to Original Writing from online sellers and books are shipped directly to customers from Ireland.

Pricing as of 2012:

Original Writing does include some marketing with these packages. A summary marketing plan will be prepared and offered to the author as well as their standard web listing page on their bookstore site. Authors ordering more than 500 copies of their book will also receive a full author website dedicated to them and their book. A circulation brief will also be submitted to bookstores and libraries as well as author review copies (amount not specified). Further marketing services are also available to the author on request.

Every author receives the following free marketing support:

§ Summary Marketing Plan prepared by our staff

§ 100 copies of book.

§ Listing in our online bookshop.

§ Author webpage and extract from book (if required).

§ Circulation of book details to all bookshops and libraries.

§ Author website with orders of over 500 units. (Bad, bad clause)

§ Listing on Nielsen and subsequent listing on other online bookshops.

The Summary Marketing Plan covers the following areas:

§ Marketing Materials.

§ Initial promotion.

§ Book Review submissions.

§ Distribution options open to the Author.

§ PR and press release options.

Authors may order some or all of the following marketing materials and services:

§ Flyers

§ Invitation cards

§ Posters

§ Business cards

§ Print on canvas

§ Individual Author website with or without Adwords campaign

§ PR campaign

§ Targeted Press release campaign

§ Targeted Book reviews

Authors can purchase additional copies of their own books, with a restriction of a 25 copy minimum at between 4.50 and 5.50 euro per copy. Without knowing Original Writing’s own print costs, it is difficult to judge how much of a mark-up per book added by the publisher, if any at all.

"The price for the above package is 1595 euro payable as 500 euro on commencement of project and the balance on sign-off of final Proof Copy.” “An additional per page cost if final layout is over 224 pages (Normally around one Cent per each additional page per copy).”

Ouch! This is a potential limitation, with the 200 page moderately-sized book just coming barely in under this.

Proofreading and editing services are not included with these packages, though Original Writing can refer an author to an outside source. The author’s work ideally needs to be delivered to them in Microsoft Word format and the production timeline is estimated to be approximately nine weeks from submission.

Royalties are calculated at 75% of net sales, that is, after wholesale and print costs have been deducted and also a handling fee.

“The Author will earn 75% royalties on margin achieved by Original Writing on all sales online and to retail and wholesale outlets. The Royalty is payable every six months. Margin is calculated as to net selling price less cost of printing and transport and after deducting 1 Euro for handling fees”

And on the 2012 edition of the website:

If you are able to create a demand for your book you can make more money than you would make with a traditional publishing contract. Instead of a paltry 5 to 15% royalty, you will make 75% royalty on sales. While you will not make a huge profit self-publishing, if you put the work in you can make a healthy enough profit.

The 75% royalty on net sales is competitive when compared to other author service companies, and Original Writing also only subtract the print costs, 1 euro handling and transport fee for books sold at their on line bookstores. This is where many authors will depend on sales of their book. Books sold by other online sellers are also subject to the standard wholesaler discount which can be 40% or higher. The average price of Original Writers books is 15 euro (£12 on Amazon UK).

The packages are on the expensive side at 1595 euro, but even with a full cover design (authors can supply ideas and/or their own artwork if they so wish) as well as 100 author copies. The critical downside could prove to be the limitation on book page-length and it is a pity this has to be tied into these packages.

Original Writing offer a package for inexperienced authors and they will appeal to those authors who want some input into the production and publication of their book, but do not want to be hands on with the technical stuff.

The critical challenge for Irish author solution companies who use printers here is maintaining competitiveness and attracting overseas authors. I don’t see Original Writing in anyway appealing to authors outside of Ireland, and most of what is offered is available more cheaply in Ireland, and outside of it. An author could go directly to Gemini, or any other modern Irish printer, and get a far better deal, while dealing with the online listing and marketing peripherals themselves. I just don’t see enough here to convince me that authors are getting the best deal they can.

RATING: 6.2/10

RTE Liveline Self-Publishing in Ireland | Analysis and Review

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Rooney) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 02:33:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

It’s always a very heartening experience for me to hear or meet self-published authors gathered in one place at a particular time, whether that space is face to face, or listening to the experiences of so many Irish self-published authors on Tuesday afternoon on Joe Duffy’s national Liveline programme on RTE. You can find the podcast of the full programme here. It’s not too often that a national broadcast station will hand a whole 75 minutes over to the subject of self-publishing and books. I think we are pretty lucky here in Ireland. We have a vast amount of local and community radio stations, a vibrant culture very open and aware of all fields of the arts. There are a vast variety of subjects highlighted at local and provincial level regularly permeating all the way through all national levels of the broadcasting airwaves.

I said last week – in previewing Joe Duffy’s programme on self-publishing – that this was the second run up to Christmas where he has chosen to do this feature, but I was reminded by someone today that it is in fact the third year. I should also point out Tuesday’s Liveline programme, which goes out 5 days a week between 1.45pm and 3pm in Ireland on RTE Radio 1, was just one day this week when Duffy will do a great deal for all authors and publishers throughout the Irish publishing and bookselling industries, as well as many areas in the world of arts.

For now, I want to concentrate on Tuesday’s programme. It was nice to hear a few familiar voices and names getting some attention on the airwaves – for them – they deserve it with a creative product of sometimes many months and years.

I’m not going to name check the 20 or so authors who got on air with Joe Duffy and shared their wonderful experiences of writing a self-publishing, because to comment or single out a few would be unfair on the many others authors who didn’t manage to get any airtime on a very packed schedule. I have listed all the authors who submitted their books for inclusion on the Liveline programme at the end of this piece.

For a few authors, their self-published book may be the only one they will ever publish, and they will be content with that. For many, writing and publishing books is not just a casual passion, and I was actually surprised how many said in the programme that they were on their second, third and fourth self-published books. The self-publishers I worked with when I first started out a few years ago as a publishing consultant is very different to the self-publishers of today. While today’s self-publisher may still have a lot to learn about the publishing industry as a whole, what remains important to them is how to express their story and share it with readers. It is admirable they should hold that core and heartfelt philosophy (I wish more publishing houses understood it), but ultimately, self-publishing is a part of the greater industry, and you must understand the core ways the business wheels turn.

In light of that, I was heartened to hear on Liveline that self-published authors – certainly in Ireland and the UK – are becoming a much more discerning community. It’s something I have steadily found over the past year to eighteen months. There was a time when I had to ask authors to think long and hard about self-publishing – and consider all the reasons why they were doing it – but now, I’ve authors contacting me saying that they have decided not to self-publish a printed book. Instead, self-published authors are entering self-publishing via digital publishing through platforms like Kindle and Smashwords. Two years ago I was cautioning authors that ‘perhaps’ Kindle was the wisest and safest way to dip their feet in the publishing waters. In simple terms, I still believe Kindle publishing is one step back from true or print self-publishing. It’s an area right now where too many lines of distinction are blurred. True self-publishing and using a POD service, as well as digital and print publishing, should only make an author nervous or unsure if they do not understand the critical differences between those paths. None of those paths should be confused because they are all distinct paths in their own right. This article is not the one to tackle those great differences. I’ve spoken at great length here about what true self-publishing is, as well as warning authors not to confuse digital publishing with self-publishing. Many large publishing houses utilise the technology of digital publishing – it is not a sole facet or path exercised by self-publishers, though sometimes you could be forgiven for believing that.

I want to focus on the 79 authors who submitted their self-published books to Joe Duffy’s Liveline programme. Sadly, but understandably, Joe only got to speak on air to less than a quarter of the authors who submitted books in to his researchers. For that reason I spent a little time taking a look at all the self-published submissions over the past couple of evenings with the purpose of understanding a little of what path those authors took to seeing their books published, and crucially, I wanted to see if it tallied with my own experience of authors I have worked with as a consultant from many places and circumstances. I also wanted to understand the Irish experience in a wider context globally. I don’t proffer anything below as definitive statistics on self-publishing everywhere, but I do believe it offers a valuable and general insight into how self-published authors think, right now, as 2011 draws to a close, and perhaps the philosophy and attitude of self-published authors well into 2012.

If there was one single thing that struck me about the 79 authors featured from the Liveline 2011 feature, it was how many of the authors fell under the commercial radar. The most important thing a self-published author needs is to have their book featured, listed, stocked in as many venues and platforms as possible. I won’t pretend I wasn’t a little disappointed in this respect when I checked out a lot of the books. Of the 79 books, all of them were ‘eventually’ found somewhere, online with a search of retailers, listed on a POD publisher’s bookshop, or tucked away in a provincial paper, and quite a few were resigned to just the author’s site. Three of the 79 books I found in two local bookstores. Not bad for self-published books! However, 31 of those 79 books showed as ‘unknown’ publisher and had no representation on almost all of the online retail sites – major as well as independents. That means the author did not really consider online sales, and instead, most likely chose a local printer and concentrated on family, friends and their local community. And that’s okay if that was their aspiration for their book. In fact, one of the authors interviewed was one of those authors. Yet, the author sold (according to his words – and some national and local coverage verifies this) that almost 15,000 books have been sold. This was one of the two books I found in my local bookshop. This is the critical area of self-publishing that is difficult to monitor – a local book with massive sales. It’s an area a large publisher’s marketing department struggles with. Those 31 are unknown, simply because they didn’t show up in any sales database I looked in, didn’t choose to go with a large POD company like AuthorHouse, or any ASI company. The author didn’t publish with any of the big or small POD services, but instead choose to use localised printers and take all of the marketing on themselves.

Over the past ten years, I’ve heard a lot of figures thrown out about how self-published books, on average, and at best, sell between 50 – 200 copies. I’m not disputing those figures. My second and third self-published books fell within those figures after the first print run in the 1990’s. But those figures and estimates are based on analysis now on services like CreateSpace, Lulu, Wordclay, Café Press, and other such companies, but self-published books don’t dance to the industry tune of sales monitoring because sales are generated at local level, sometimes with books without ISBN’s and POS barcodes, outside of the print on demand system, sold in independent shops not monitored by publishing’s big brother. There is a false perception that every shop in every part of the world is run like Target or WalMart in New York, or Eason in Ireland. Most authors live in places like Clonmelon, Como Springs, Chudovo and Chang Jiang. They don’t do WalMart or anything like it, and getting books people want moves them toward an online source. A word search placed online – when used in the right place - is more efficient sometimes than a journey or a phone call.

Let’s take a look at some figures:

SUMMARY	TOTAL
Unknown	31
Self-Imprint	21
Original Writing	7
CreateSpace	4
Lulu	4
BookLocker.com	2
ePrint	2
The Varsity Press	2
Booksurge	1
iUniverse	1
Matador	1
Paragon Publishing	1
Pen Press Uk	1
The Poet's Press	1
	79

As you can see, 31 went direct to a printer and did not used a recognised POD publisher or assisted/vanity publisher, choosing a more ‘true-self-publishing’ option. A number of the books I checked of this group did not have an ISBN number, suggesting any sales would have been much localised. What is clear to me is that what we perceived as old-style ‘vanity publishers’ have long gone – joined the POD subsidy group, or reverted back to what they always were – printers! The second group of 21 are our authors who went the full self-publish route – creating an imprint of their own, their company or organisation and using marketing strategies of their own using what skills were available to them, or employing professional book market and PR services.

The next group is interesting – Original Writing, a self-publishing service based in Smithfield, Dublin. Ireland over the past few years has developed a number of self-publishing services, North and South. I’d say we now have about six serious contenders, but Original Writing has grown and developed to clearly become the service company of choice by Irish authors. I reviewed them about 2 – 3 years ago and it looks like about time I revisited that review. Clearly, authors feel they are doing a lot of things right when it comes to their books.

The DIY self-publishing option with companies like CreateSpace and Lulu also provides a strong option for many authors, and both of those companies are reflected in the Self-Publishing Index rankings. ePrint is another Irish printer and self-publishing service.

The Varsity Press is a company I need to look at more closely, and again, even in a small country like Ireland, high calibre companies like BookLocker, Matador and Pen Press register. But the most interesting showing on the above chart is iUniverse – one of the older stalwarts of self-publishing services bought up by self-publishing commercial giant, AuthorSolutions Services. It’s interesting that one of the older brands should outshine services like AuthorHouse and Xlibris. I’m not sure whether that says more about iUniverse and what is offered or branding within the self-publishing community.

What would be even more enlightening is a snapshot such as the above in the UK and USA to validate my general findings, but I’d suggest we would need at least 1000 UK authors and 10,000 USA authors to reach the same conclusions. I’d proffer that UK authors might use POD/assisted services a little more than Irish authors, but that such services would be used a lot more in the USA – simply because there is a lot more diversity of choice than this side of the pond.

For now – the roll call of Ireland’s self-published authors who took part in Joe Duffy’s Liveline show on Tuesday:

TITLE AND AUTHOR	SOURCE
Recession busters' business bible By Rory & Gerry Carron	Unknown
The Season by Mike Geoghegan	Original Writing
Home City by Nuala Lyons	BookLocker.com
A very different county by Robert Mulhern	Self-Imprint-Imprint
The Red carpet by Fran O'Brien	Unknown
Revive the spirit 'Poetry & Art of our time' by Michael McDonald	Unknown
Bankrupted by Brian O'Sullivan	Unknown
Negligent behaviour by Josepha Madigan	CreateSpace
Under the Avalanche by Anne McCabe	The Varsity Press
The dirty islanders by Dee Throwaway	Original Writing
A deadly greed by Adeline Bolton	BookLocker.com
The best laid schemes by Eugene Owens	Self-Imprint
The Heron's Flood by Evelyn Walsh	CreateSpace
Poppy's birthday Tea Party by Jillian Stout	Unknown
March away my brothers by Brendan MacQuale	Unknown
Murder in a sleepy town by Anne Crosse	Lulu
Xceptionalize: Success secrets for students by Kevin Kelly	Self-Imprint
The James Connolly story By Sean Farrell	Unknown
Natural health through wiser living by Mary T. Keane	Unknown
Earth angels are everywhere are you one? By Dolores Keaveney	Self-Imprint
The Rattler Mickey Byrne by Michael Dundon and The Byrne family	Unknown
Sabrehilt by Maxwell McCann	CreateSpace
Cranium Kid (The boy of the head) by David Byrne & Natalie McGlynn	Self-Imprint
Under Connemara skies Towards light by Martina Goggin	Unknown
Let's read a story by Jerry Mulvihill	Original Writing
The Baron & Rosa by Baroness Rosa Kende	Original Writing
A Cat's Soliloquy learning Japanese through poetry by Mitsue Jimi	Original Writing
It wasn't me The story of Pollux and Castor by Jill Ferreira	Unknown
England is perfectly still by Trevor Carolan	Pen Press UK
Free Spirits Irish travellers and Irish Traditional Music by Tommy Fegan & Oliver O'Connell	Self-Imprint
Wise & Witty Words of Wonder by Don Kelly	Unknown
Fat and Fed up No More! 7 steps to permanent Natural weight loss by Catherine Hassett	Self-Imprint
Open to love by Norah Clifford Kelly	Unknown
Northside 117 Views of The Liffey Bridges, paintings By artist Tom Byrne	Unknown
Eggshells & Broken Dreams by J.P Rodgers	Self-Imprint
Daisy thinks Big by Audrey Fitzgerald	Unknown
Psychosilly by Alan Murphy	Self-Imprint
Tales of old Ireland and Australia by Ned Egan	Unknown
Oh! Pére Lachaise The Trials and Tribulations of Oscar Wilde by Jim Yates	Unknown
Shh! 'Don't Tell;' A true story of survival by Miriam Moriarty Owens	Lulu
Karena the Fairy trilogy by Mary McShane	iUniverse
No Love Here A priest's journey by Martin Gordon	Self-Imprint
Take it easy by Michael MacDonald	Self-Imprint
Singing the Blues The long walk back to happiness on Hill 16 by Paul Huggard	Unknown
Fifty Years behind the Counter by Kevin duffy	Self-Imprint
Take your Ease & Rest awhile enjoy some poetry from Renvyle by Daniel Sammon	Unknown
Coda Journey of a freeborn clone by G.M. Ellerbeck	Unknown
Sacred Messages from Sacred Ireland by Jane Donald	Self-Imprint
Adam's amazing adventures by Benji Bennett	Self-Imprint
Spirits of Wood Quay by Geraldine O'Connell Cusack	Booksurge
My great sporting memories from local Club to Olympic Games by Lorcan O'Rourke	Unknown
Kembali Return of the mystic by Jan Taki	Self-Imprint
The Adventures of Pippy & Dippy The Outside World by Jim Bartley	Self-Imprint
The flight of a magpie by Billy Costine	Unknown
Your health and welcome to it by Cathy Breslin & Dr. Garvan Browne	Original Writing
A harvest of memories Rural Ireland from the 30's to present times by Dick Jeffers	Unknown
Jack's fantastic Journey by Emmet Boyle	Lulu
Love to change? Then Change to love by Marian Egan	Self-Imprint
Collected short stories by John M. Byrne	ePrint
Dandelion by Audrey Shanahan	CreateSpace
Twisters: Short stories with a twist in the tale by David Jones	Unknown
Under an Irish Sky, A John Morgan novel by Darren Darker	ePrint
Sometimes it just happens by Carol Fitzgerald	The Varsity Press
The Nymph's cookbook by Adrian Boland	Self-Imprint
I have travelled this country, songs of Cathal McConnell compiled by Gerry O'Connor	Unknown
Gold Rays by Kathleen Maddy	The Poet's Press
Crumlin Cookies by Nancy Looney	Unknown
W.B. Yeats Seanad Eireann speeches 1922 28 by Michael Manning	Lulu
Soccer History Westport United 1911 editor Pádraig Burns	Unknown
Sleep with Buteyko by Patrick McKeown	Self-Imprint
String and Rindabytes Tales and poems on life, love and lunacy by Niall Herriott	Paragon publishing
Looking towards the past Topical Talks of the 60's by Myles O'Farrell compiled by Ursula O'Farrell	Unknown
Show me the prisoner and I'll show you a young man, a memoir by Patricia Farren	Matador
Snowstorm of doubt and grace by Ken & Caitriona Hume	Original Writing
Hy-Tuirtre Trials and Tribulations in a Ulster Kingdom by Patrick J Flynn	Unknown
The Ancestors within a search for soul purpose by Tom Hyde	Unknown
God's little Errand Boys Christian clergymen who helped the jews come home by Yanky Fachler	Unknown
David Norris Trial by media by Joe Jackson	Self-Imprint
The Lobby Bar Music Through the Windows of Union Quay, Cork by Monica McNamara	Self-Imprint

InfoTrends InfoBlog | On Demand Book Printing at Airports?

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Rooney) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 20:42:00 +0000

InfoTrends InfoBlog »
On Demand Book Printing at Airports?:

"The last couple of months have seen a slew of new placements for Xerox and On Demand Book’s Espresso Book Machine (EBM). Installations have been growing rapidly, with four installs (Darien Library in Connecticut, Tattered Cover Book Store in Colorado, Politics and Prose Bookstore in Washington D.C., and Sacramento Public Library in California) occurring throughout October and November. The new installations have brought the total EBM install base to over 50 installs worldwide, with about half of them located in the United States, and with over 25 additional units pending installation. The increases in installs is a good sign for on demand book printing technology in kiosks, as well as an enduring demand for physically printed books."

'via Blog this'

10 Ways Book Publishers Are Fighting Back | ACCOC

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Rooney) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 11:09:00 +0000

10 Ways Book Publishers Are Fighting Back

Against piracy! Against the digital encroach! Against illiteracy! Against each other! Publishing, that cheeky teaser of mind, body, and soul, enjoys the same level of excitement and drama as other fields, if not more. As with every industry out there, it plays host to a crazy ensemble cast of heroes, villains, threats, challenges, underdogs, and other archetypes. Then conflict happens — or at least publishers come across a conflict that needs addressing. What follows are just some of the few exciting adventures that go down in the publishing world.

Collier and Dewji Take Honours at Women in Publishing UK Awards

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Rooney) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:57:00 +0000

Late last week the Women in Publishing UK Awards were held at the Savoy Tup Function Room in London. The two deserving recipients were Suzanne Collier of Bookcareers.com, winning the Pandora Award, and Leila Dewji of Acorn Independent Press, who won the New Venture Award.

Speaking to The Bookseller last week, Collier said:

"Winning the Pandora award is such a great honour. As a young girl in publishing, and through the years, I have stood at the WIP awards, and watched as many great names in publishing, such as Carmen Callil and Judy Piatkus have been awarded this prize. To know that my name is added to that list means more to me than any words can say."

Leila Dewji was equally delighted having launched Acorn Independent Press with her brother over a year ago:

"This has been a crazy year, we’ve worked very hard to get Acorn off the ground. When you start a new business you never quite know how your first year is going to go, especially in an emerging market, but we’ve had lots of lovely surprises and built relationships with some amazing authors and agents alike. This is the perfect way to round off our first year. 2012 promises to be just as exciting but I’m looking forward to a family Christmas with my sales & marketing director (and brother) Ali Dewji."

Fifty things I've learned about the literary life | Books | The Observer

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Rooney) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 20:32:00 +0000

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Fifty things I've learned about the literary life | Books | The Observer:

"From time to time, this column is asked for advice, sometimes obsessively, about decoding the many mysteries of "the world of books". There's a widespread view, held by those looking from the outside, that there must be a philosopher's stone for success in literature, a magic formula that will turn everything to gold. The truth is much closer to Thomas Edison's definition of creativity: "1% inspiration, 99% perspiration."

'via Blog this'

RTE Radio 1: Liveline Special on Self-Publishing

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Rooney) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 22:57:00 +0000

It's not too often when self-publishing and, in particular, self-published books, get a prime time radio spot and an entire programme dedicated to this area of publishing. For the second year RTE Radio's flagship afternoon Liveline show, presented by Joe Duffy, will focus on self-published books and authors. This is probably about as open an invitation any Irish author is going to get to talk about their self-published book on national radio. The slot proved very successful last year and it returns next Tuesday, December 20th, in the run up to the Christmas weekend. (Podcast link for full details)

"It’s going to be a great long Christmas week for Liveline, six days next week we’re on Monday as usual. On Tuesday, we’re doing a programme—we did it last year, and it was a great success in terms of interest for a programme featuring a selection of your self-published books. If you have published a book yourself this year and you maybe want us to trying and get the opportunities to talk about it on Tuesday and you want to do the same then contact us or send a copy of the book in and we will do our utmost to include you on Tuesday."

Joe Duffy, Presenter of Liveline, December 14th.

The day after, Wednesday, December 21st, the Liveline will also broadcast its annual feature of books of 2011.

Hachette Internal Memo - What does Publishing Mean? (Updated)

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Rooney) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 02:05:00 +0000

Below is the text of the internal ‘leaked’ document as published by Digital Book World on December 6^th. Let’s deal with the first obvious points. This is not a document intended only for the eyes of Hachette Book Group staff and management, and it is certainly not a complete document. The ‘audience’ it addresses is not internal because the voice is directed outward and is forthright and defensive of the values the publishing industry believes in and tries to represent. This document was intended to be seen externally outside of Hachette Book Group – if not now – then most probably shared at some future industry or public forum. In fact, bluntly, this is about as leaked a document as Monica Lewinsky walking into her local launderette, dumping her blue dress on the counter, and announcing, ‘Bill Clinton did that!’

For now, let’s just deal with the content of the document rather than any supposed greater context.

“Self-publishing” is a misnomer.

I’ve honestly no real idea what the above statement means. I’m assuming the author of the document is alluding to the constant misuse of the terminology of the phrase ‘self-publishing’ and I would have no argument with that. The phrase itself is used in ways it was never indented to mean. I think the author or publishing mogul of the Hachette document is inferring the phrase used in the context of ‘self-publishing companies’.

Publishing requires a complex series of engagements, both behind the scenes and public facing. Digital distribution (which is what most people mean when they say self-publishing) is just one of the components of bringing a book to market and helping the public take notice of it.

We get a further insight to ‘self-publishing misnomer’ with the above paragraph. The direct suggestion is that ‘self’ cannot be used in the same sentence as ‘publishing’ because publishing is a ‘complex’ business operating behind the scenes. The inference once again is that the ‘self’ should be obliterated from the business and the corporate ‘engagements’ of publishing. Publishing can be a complex business if an author does not understand how it works but I don’t see why an individual author with business acumen cannot navigate this supposed bizarre and alien world that only publishers should know about or dare to engage in. Day in day out I refer authors investigating self-publishing to freelance professionals offering their services – many having had years working within the established industry.

This argument, which is often used by commercial publishers to tarnish all self-published book projects, is what I call the ‘Mummy knows best’ argument. Take this to its extreme and we would have no cottage industries, small esoteric and dedicated presses, freelance professionals who lost their jobs within the publishing industry, or for that matter, any kind of foresight, innovation and entrepreneurship in the world. The attitude embodied in this document is exactly why the industry changed little for hundreds of years since Guttenberg and has clearly only now realised it has been asleep at the wheel since the 1980’s when large retailers and media corporations moved in on it’s perceived turf.

But most importantly Hachette throws out the deliberate spanner in the works when they say, Digital distribution (which is what most people mean when they say self-publishing. What a load of utter bollox! Who is ‘most people’? Despite the digital publishing march, most authors new to publishing, and self-publishing, understand it solely in terms of physical books printed and stocked in high street stores. I accept, many self-publishers can be naive, but here is the reality. Live with it and move on. It was primarily academic presses, self-publishing services, and authors, who quickly embraced digital publishing/technology and the merits of the Internet and social media before most publishing goliaths turned off the alarm clock and got out of bed.

As a full service publisher, Hachette Book Group offers a wide array of services to authors:

I’m fascinated how this commercial publisher now refers to the nature of its business as ‘a service to authors’, as if it were serving king and country, without fee (in this case royalties and advance against an 85% take on their part), out of civil and moral duty. I applaud Hachette if this is a suggestion of a moral stance not to monetise the dreams and enthusiasm of many authors to see their books in print, either by way of offering self-publishing services to the ever-growing slush piles of manuscripts or offering paid writing workshops and manuscript evaluations. Perhaps I have it all wrong and, in fact, Hachette is just laying the foundations to become a ‘full service publisher’ – a phrase used by so many of those so-called dirty little vanity houses.

1. Curator: We find and nurture talent:

By definition:

A curator (from Latin: cura meaning "care") is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution.

Let it go Hachette. You are not a curator. The modern publishing industry faced with all the changes and challenges is not the place to preserve heritage (celebrate the works of art, perhaps), but you are not running a museum – so drop the pseudo pretentions. Hachette may very well care and want to manage, but you do not FIND talent. Give some respect to the many literary agents who work tirelessly with authors to identify and nurture talent. They are the ones now who now deal with all that ‘shit’ you used to get and have to tell the author to get lost. Hachette, like many publishers, gave the identify and nurture gig up many years ago. So, please, don’t pretend you get your hands dirty when you (for the most part) don’t! It’s like throwing a house party, saying you are cooking, and ordering from the best top-notch restaurant in town as a take-away.

• We identify authors and books that are going to stand out in the marketplace. HBG discovers new voices, and separates the remarkable from the rest.

As I said, you don’t FIND nor DISCOVER. You just decide to agree or disagree with a literary agent’s recommendation on what will suit and sell for your list and the readership market. Even Al Gore doesn’t pretend he discovered the hole in the ozone layer!

• We act as content collaborator, focused on nurturing writing talent, fostering rich relationships with our authors, providing them with expert editorial advice on their writing, and tackling a huge variety of issues on their behalf.

Yes, you do collaborate on content with partners, professionally edit books, and deal with a variety of issues arising for an author in conjunction with their agent. And you focus on nurturing talent only when an author is on your lists. But the above paragraph is probably the most spurious and flower-worded piece in the entire document. Anyone who deals with anything which has content, by whatever method, once it is disseminated, has to collaborate. When I read the piece I was just waiting for the killer word ‘disintermediation’.

2. Venture Capitalist: We fund the author’s writing process:

You do fund the author’s writing process by way of advance, but don’t push it with the venture capitalist nonsense. A venture capitalist takes a high-end risk at a very early stage. All business involves risk on new products. A publisher like Hachette takes a limited risk on every book taken on after it has gone through at least one serious gatekeeping post. If it is any reflection and solace on publishing – I accept – most true venture capitalist wouldn’t touch any form of publishing with a bargepole!

• At HBG we invest in ideas. In the form of advances, we allow authors the time and resources to research and write. In addition we invest continuously in infrastructure, tools, and partnerships that make HBG a great publisher partner.

No, for the most part, you invest in books and the sale of them through retail partners. Remember, a venture capitalist is clever enough not to invest in just an idea. You’re dreaming of the way publishing used to be a hundred years ago. That is not the business now, so stop pretending that’s how it still works. Your partners in this business are way ahead of you in the game, and have been for several years. Your partnerships are about turning the boat in choppy waters as quickly as possible and trying to learn what your partners already know as you go along.

3. Sales and Distribution Specialist: We ensure widest possible audience:

You do and your prowess and knowhow and partnerships beats the pants off what 95% of self-publishers can ever do for their books. That – in a nutshell – is also where most of your future lies. I’m just not sure that role will be as publisher, content manager, or facilitator. Only Hachette can decide that. And right now, I’m not convinced Hachette or any other large publisher knows where it is going to be in the industry in five years time.

• We get our books to the right place, in the right numbers, and at the right time (this applies equally to print and digital editions). We work with retailers and distribution partners to ensure that every book has the opportunity to reach the widest possible readership.

You do, but don’t be complacent and believe you always know where the right place is – not just now, but in five years time. You, or a self-published author, cannot guarantee that your books will get shelf-space no matter how good or professional the product. The seller and reader will always decide. But then, you dropped the ball on booksellers and their influence on your industry a long time ago. Developing sales partnerships now digitally may be a case of entering the game after the horse has bolted.

• We ensure broad distribution and master supply chain complexity, in both digital and physical formats.

Again, you don’t any longer. That’s why you have partners. Remember them? Have you ever questioned why you now need those partners to function in this industry?

Stop using that phrase – complexity. You are deliberately and knowingly using it to make some distribution (certainly digital) more difficult and inaccessible to authors than it is. I’m actually looking forward to the day when large publishers acknowledge that they have learned a great deal from the work dedicated self-publishers (authors and publishing services) have done in this area. They took some of the risk and ate the king’s food before you dined on oysters.

• We function as a new market pioneer, exploring and experimenting with new ideas in every area of our business and investing in those new ideas – even if, in some cases, a positive outcome is not guaranteed (as with apps and enhanced ebooks).

• We act as a price and promotion specialist (coordinating 250+ monthly, weekly and daily deals on ebooks at all accounts).

Nope, you are struggling to come up with ideas, methods and agreements to deal with the industry you took your eye off over many years. Like an absent landlord, you’ve only just returned to try and take control at the helm.

Remember, after all that ‘nurturing’ you claim to do you have got to sell the damn books. What you are not telling us is how much retailers now control the retail market you are trying to sell into, and the control you have lost over it.

4. Brand Builder and Copyright Watchdog: We build author brands and protect their intellectual property:

• Publishers generate and spread excitement, always looking for new ways make our authors and their books stand out. We’re able to connect books with readers in a meaningful way.

• We offer marketing and publicity expertise, presenting a book to the marketplace in exactly the right way, and ensuring that intelligence, creativity, and business acumen inform our strategy.

• We protect authors’ intellectual property through strict anti-piracy measures and territorial controls.

You need to talk a lot more to readers. Remember them. They buy your books – they are the little guys at the end of the consumer line. If you don’t have a phone number or email, I’ll be happy to put you back in touch with a few of them. Your ‘brand’ doesn’t exist in the world of the people who buy your books. Go talk to Penguin, and even then, I don’t think they could sell you or give away the secret or strategy to selling a publisher brand. It can be done – over many years – if you invest in authors and start from there, working backwards. For a large publisher, I’m not sure it is possible. I suspect your sales team, distributors and wholesalers even see Hachette as a brand. Maybe a few of your big authors could share with you how they built their brand. But then, maybe you already take all the success for that.

Agents protect their authors, for the most part. You protect the rights you paid good money for. I can’t argue with that. I agree piracy is a big challenge for publishers in the digital world, but believe me, it’s not your biggest challenge by far.

CONCLUSION

This was a poorly conceived document by a publisher who should know better. I stick by my initial statement that this was always intended to be seen externally. Frankly, if this was an honest internal document, then I think Hachette need to ask why they need to explain to their publishing professionals the nature of their business today. I believe it was intended as an outward rebuke rather than a serious inward reflection of where publishing is now. It offers nothing on how Hachette is going to change or embrace the industry as it is now.

We can talk all about what Hachette or any other publisher is doing to contend with the challenges in the book industry as a whole, but the greater question is not are publishers as we know them relevant; the question is;

Publishing - what does it now mean in a world where everyone has the tools to publish and connect?

ADDENDUM

Last night, Joe Konrath reflected on this memo document originally disclosed on DBW. Konrath also published an online discussion withBarry Eisler on the subject, and he rightly pointed out that it the document tried to say a lot, but offered little to inspire or make us believe publishers actually get it. For Konrath, publishers need to review royalties offered to authors and be more transparent and speedy, speed up the process of publishing a book, be more smart about marketing, give up the piracy crusade, and lower ebook pricing.

UPDATE - December 12th, 2012
While being interviewed by DBW, Hachette's, Senior VP of Hachette Digital, Maja Thomas, did reveal what I suspected in the above article - that the 'memo' was in fact 'just a slide from a presentation presentation.'

JG: Last week on Digital Book World, we published a leaked document from your company about what publishers do and why they’re relevant. Can you tell me more about it?

MT: The manifesto is just a slide from a presentation that we started doing more than a year ago with agents because agents were saying they felt that they didn’t know about the digital world, they didn’t understand the nuances around rights and royalties in digital books. We put together this presentation for them discussing our strategies. It’s been an evolving document. We’ve presented it to several hundred agents.

As it progressed, it became clear that we needed to have a slide that said, ‘this is the value proposition that publishers bring.’ It’s part of the overall, ‘let’s explain ourselves, let’s show why we’re a great partner for agents and authors.’

I would say that it had some great success with certain authors and agents and a more limited success with others in terms of what they took away from it or how persuaded they were by it.

Interesting, publishers teaching/educating agents about digital publishing. That's a big no-no and red flag for me from the perspective of an author. It's honorable that Hachette felt the need more than a year ago for such a presentation to agents and authors, but perhaps the real question should be; are agents relevant? After all, agents need to be in the know about the industry they are pitching their authors to. Maybe the agency run by Andrew Wylie had a point this year when he put it up to the industry and attempted to launch a digital imprint for some of his authors.

Ultimately, DBW badly dropped the ball here on a fundamental issue and did not probe and flesh out the issue further with Maja Thomas. After all, DBW had leaked the Hachette document last week, built it up, had considerable feedback on their site, and when they had Thomas in their sights, produced a whimsical and meandering piece almost at the behest of Hachette. This isn't good journalism, and the whole 'Hachette Affair' makes me wonder if this 'debate' wasn't just a prescribed and contrived leak as a run up to yesterday's piece.

PUBLISHING SERVICE INDEX - December 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Rooney) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:52:00 +0000

The PUBLISHING SERVICE INDEX for author solutions services is something we have been working on since June 2010. Here is the final index for 2011.

(Click image to enlarge)

(KEY)

DIY - Do-it-yourself bespoke sevices

ASS - Author Solutions Services (Packages)

PUB - Also offers Mainstream Contracts

PRT - Printer

FULL - Fulfillment Services provided

The most asked question we get at The Independent Publishing Magazine is often along the lines of; 'What self-publishing service should I go with?'; 'Is so and so a good service to go with?'; or 'Is so and so a scam?'

In some cases, that is an easy question to answer, cut and dry, but in other circumstances, the answer is entirely arbitrary. We are not here to review and run down a company's name, nor are we here to endorse a company's services. If we were only to review author solutions services according to every point in our ideal list of what an author should get from a company offering publishing services; we would have very few reviews to share with you. In truth, no company has ever attained a 10/10, and only a few have recorded more than 08/10. In the autumn of 2010 we will be posting all our reviews with a rating, and any new reviews since February 2010 have automatically had a posted rating at the bottom of the review.

The reality is that some author solutions services begin in a blaze of glory and we might rate them favourably at the time; others, frankly, are just poor, and yet, they improve (sometimes in response to our reviews) to offer reasonable services for authors. We are constantly updating our reviews, but this takes considerable time, and so do the initial reviews.

We get a vast amount of information from authors and the companies selling author solutions services every day - good and bad. We get a great deal of information from monitoring services week by week against the experiences of what authors report back to us. Simply put, and truthfully, we cannot reflect all of this information through the reviews. That is why the comments section under each company we review is so important. It is your recording and dealings with that specific company, and a positive or negative flag to subsequent authors considering using the same company.

So, how do we reflect the changing ups and downs with services?

We believe the PUBLISHING SERVICE INDEX will help to guide authors to services on the up, and those, gradually on the down. If you like, what we are proposing is effectively, a kind of stock exchange for author solutions services.

The SELF-PUBLISHING INDEX was first launched in June 2010.

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