Lingua Translations

The Down-and-Dirty on Publishingâ??s Over-Promoted Technology

(Adapted from The Well-Fed Self-Publisher: How to Turn One Book into a Full-Time Living, by Peter Bowerman. Fanove, 2007. www.wellfedsp.com).

In a recent year, Xlibris, one of the big names in POD (Print-on-Demand), celebrated paying out their one-millionth dollar in royalties. The prior year, they helped authors publish more than 7,000 titles and sell over 300,000 books. Impressive, huh? Well, letâ??s do the math. $1 million for 7000 titles comes out to an average royalty of $149 each. Not exactly worth bragging aboutâ?¦

How POD Works

In the past few years, POD has generated a huge buzz in the industry, promising to â??provide the keys to the serious publishing kingdom for all those authors heretofore locked out of the gameâ? and other lofty claims. Not really. Remember, POD isnâ??t some â??miracleâ? or a â??publishing revolutionâ?; itâ??s just a printing technology, nothing more. Letâ??s try to separate the reality from the hype…

With POD, you submit your book to a POD publisher (AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Trafford, Xlibris and PublishAmerica are big players) in an electronic format, pay a fee (typically $400-1500 depending on the company and the marketing options selected; see below), theyâ??ll â??produceâ? your book and load it onto their system. No physical books are printed until someone orders one (i.e., through a bookstore).

POD â?? THE UPSIDES

POD makes sense for three particular scenarios:

Self publishing offers writers specially not very famous ones; such as myself a chance to get their work published by using their own money, which in essence comes down to somebody paying a publisher to publish his or her book. This creating a situation in which the publisher is left with little if any choice weather or not to publish the books they are paid to do so regardless of their quality of perhaps lack of which. All of this being in sharp contrast to before where, it was the publisher who decided which books got published or not and not always based on any real criteria, other then personal taste or just a premonition of which books would or perhaps would not sell.

Of course publishing a book, is for the most part very expensive, as it requires or at least it used to; typesetting and for several thousands of copies of the book in question to be printed with absolutely no guarantee that any were going to sell. This because the cost of printing was so high that it really did not pay to print any less then a certain number, as the cost of printing for instance one hundred copies was almost the same as printing 2000.

The age-old vision of the artist or writer toiling away at his craft, alone and hungry and living in compromised conditions, is certainly an enduring one, and it is also one that most artists and writers readily reject if given the opportunity. Unfortunately, most developing artists must endure at least a period of abject poverty as they hone their craft and struggle for recognition. The public, rather than support society’s creative brain trust, customarily engages in mocking those who have not yet achieved notoriety, while often lavishing ridiculous rewards on those who are fortunate enough to be underwritten by large publishing and promotion interests. The late (and beloved) writer Kurt Vonnegut often reiterated the sentiment that he considered himself incredibly lucky, because he personally knew at least a dozen writers who were every bit as talented, or perhaps more so, than he was and had achieved no recognition whatsoever (not to mention no financial rewards).

Without a doubt, a certain amount of luck is involved when a writer signs a contract with a major publisher. Many aspire to such recognition (worthy or not), because what artist does not wish his work to be exhibited to a large audience? In this age of high budget promotion, mass media, and instant gratification, it is easy to forget that such works as Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence and Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen were originally private publications for the benefit of the authors and their friends and families. In fact, the list of self-published titles, and writers who acted as their own publisher, is quite longer than one might expect:

Most writers claim that ‘writing’ is the painless part of being a writer- the real challenge begins when you attempt to publish your masterpiece. The book industry can be a really hard one to crack, especially if you’re a newbie. No need to panic though – if you’re reading this, all your publishing problems are nearly over!

This guide explores; Publishing thorough an Agency, Mainstream Publication, Self Publishing, Local Publishing Companies and eBook Publication. It furthers to explore life after your book has been published. So whether your interests lie in large international exposure for you book, or self publishing, simply read on for a detailed tour of the publishing industry.

Option 1) Publishing through an Agency

The Process

The first step to saving time whilst publishing is making sure that you avoid writing something that will never be read! My advice to anyone who aspires to publish something is to find a literary agent . This is a great time saver as, when you have an agent, you will never again waste time writing something that may be defined as ‘unmarketable’. To further explain – the literary network is very closely knit i.e. in order to have your book published; you would need to go through specific channels. A strict system has been designed to maintain a sense of order in the realm of literature.