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Publishing of ANY kind..the newer market


  • CookieZeal
    Feb 28 9:28 PM 2006
    Reply
    Hi there! I've held back on sharing, but here it is!:)

    Apparently, due to the media and its understandable news hold on society's and suspicious end-times tragedies and interests, publishing is not as easy for unsolicited writers. (Unsolicited simply means that the companies that want manuscripts are NOT asking for material you've got to offer.)  The last 7 years, I've been submitting manuscripts and the acceptance ratio is about 1000 to 1.:O
    Check out every detail as they are so much like the theatre..and like women!:)
    They know what they want, but have an original dream in mind, thus criteria.

    ~ Consider "POD"(published on Demand)venues, such as "Borders". Or you can find some of the best self-publishing veins online. One that my pastor (Stephen Schwambach) has recommended is iuniverse.com. Many times, other bookstores will buy or pick up the self-published pieces and ask for marketing rights.

    Poetry isn't lucrative, but there are SOME markets that pay in copies and sell to others.
    (I've been published by The Poet's Pen.) They accepted 2 out of 5 I sent them when I sent them through the mail. ( Beware of vanity publications like poetry.com that offer unbelievable exposure to your work. If it's worth it to you to submit for the sake of seeing it in print....then go for it. But,  many of us have done many anthology (collections of poems) volumes, and there is always money involved. If it's a small amount/fee to enter for the idea of getting more or having it shown in a large public circulation, it is viable. If it is just to own what you're included in, then you're enlisting in a less than mediocre venue. It's nearly embarrassing.:p

    Suggestions:

    Buy a current "Writer's Market" from a book store for whatever field you're in. ( There are sooo many now!)  It is chock full of information, testimonials, suggestions,  and other information that will help new writers. I've got the "Children's Book for Writers and Illustrators" and the 2002 POET'S Market. This will facilitate you with a digest of possible markets, contests, and organizations that even offer scholarships upon entries. They are also posted with all types of requirement symbol codes that might cut corners for you.It has helped me go aboard to become involved in tri-state meetings, seminars, and many wonderful author's book-signing sessions. Schedule them and GO.

    ~Make a 4 hour work schedule for yourself that allows you to:
    *Read several kinds of publications for about 30 minutes minimum. Read what the top-sellers are and what makes them that.

    *Write for an hour with special thoughts non-stop; proof-read it for a half hour, making minimal edits so as not to stop the progress of the piece you're working on.

    ~ Writing and trying to get published is a lonely occupation. Make sure your distractions are kept to a minimum, while making others know that you're under the pen and can't be disturbed. I have had to hold up on many of my goals due to other domestic and serious things that I felt the Lord has in mind for me to do for now. But..I must admit. I'm so ANTSY! lol. I am anxious for it to be over.

    ~ Check out any Barnes & Noble bookstores, coffee shops, or libraries where authors share their bookwriting experiences, or any other venues of published author's exposures. Talk to them and buy their works. It will help in the long run.

    ~ There is more, but I have shared much of what published authors will say helped them.
    Do it....and don't stop. Warmly, CookieZeal/M. Dianne Berry

  • Barbara
    January 1, 2006
    Reply
    I wish I could promote this :) ...and applaud it. :)

  • -BlackKnight-
    January 2, 2006
    Reply
    Don't forget PublishAmerica; apparently, they're even worse than poetry.com.

    • CookieZeal
      January 2, 2006
      Reply
      Awhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...Barbara. Really? Thank you. I hope it helps, in spite of my short list of national publications. The work is the part I know to a great degree.
      Knock knock-
      *Who's there?*-

      Ima

      *Ima who?*

      Ima Tryinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn'!!!;):)

      You have an interesting point, BlackKnight.
      *sigh*. Yes. I've looked into that too.:O
      Although PublishAmerica is not asking for any fees, the selling price brings no royalties to speak of until the first thousand are sold.:O Gosh. That leaves the writer with all the marketing. (Which I wouldn't mind, really, but it's lots of traveling and more unrealistic pigeon-holing) And they DO have a staff writer who interviews and gives a prologue if you don't have one written. (Nice, but I'd rather have another published writer front that for me;) And they WILL give a writer interview with press release. (Also nice, but I'm not sure that they would place it in valuable resources.) I have a friend who was signed on and she is getting more reluctant the more she knows about it. I think I saved the material she sent me if anyone would like to see it.

        They also say it's NOT a POD, but really, it is. Only thing is that a POD is in the control of the author on copies, and the other isn't. PublishAmerica is wanting to publish a thousand pieces of something that may not promise homes to everyone. I'm not sure about the selling price, but I think it's dear. Expensive. Not that I don't think anyone's work is worth it, but it might end up at a bulk book island where only a few copies are accepted by the bookstore.

      It could be worth a try, but I would still be willing to go with Iuniverse. It will do minimal marketing for you and the printing fees are absorbed by the selling prices. *shrugs*. I'm game for that so far.

      • -BlackKnight-
        January 2, 2006
        Reply
        Someone posted a thread a bit below this about how they're publishing a book with PublishAmerica.  A user here named Unbridled1 suggested the person who posted the thread to be careful, and pasted this link into their message:  http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10211

  • Barbara
    January 3, 2006
    Reply
    I went through lulu.com(a print on demand site), and have three books already published.  They aren't in print though ;)  until someone orders them.  If I want, I can pay @ $32 per title to get a bar code on the back so it can be sold in bookstores.  But, for now, having it so others can order my books online suits me fine.

    (I posted this on another topic here, but it fits this one too :) )

    • -BlackKnight-
      January 3, 2006
      Reply
      I take it lulu.com is a legitimate publisher?

    • Catressa
      January 7, 2006
      Reply
      What was the experience like Barbara? I was gonna post a topic here to ask how many have dealt with LuLu and was it favorable?

      • Barbara
        January 7, 2006
        Reply
        I first heard of the site from the boards here.

        I haven't had the books printed yet, but once I get Paypal up and running, I am going to order a copy of each.  The book itself was easy to upload...once I changed the page layout size, etc.  It's free and all....except for the bar code and ISBN(?) number.  You can decide whether you want to allow people to download the book for free.  If you want to make money from your book, then the download will cost.

        I haven't heard anything bad about lulu.com, and heard quite a few good things, so I'm hoping I'll have good experiences.  I just find the site hard to navigate at times.

        • CookieZeal
          January 9, 2006
          Reply
          Excellent, Barbara-- thank you.
          You offered us a completed idea. I hope you decide to charge a price that you find fair to your labor. I found that it would be worth it to get a *Front Page* editor and start a separate website of your works.  I have the software, and not sure it's compatible with my new computer, but even if you have to get someone to do it for you, they also know that web publishing a site includes using 'meta' tags to the browsers-- unique ones that when someone's asking for , say , 'cats without tails', it'll show up in the search.

          Is anyone familiar with "Invisible Man" on this site? He's got one published and although I'm not sure who the POD publisher was, he's had it offered to Amazon, which means there's some extra in the selling price for the author.

          Amazon is a familiar and popular online source that will offer the availability of the book.

          Let's go raid him..wanna? lol.

          • Scott Adelmann
            January 11, 2006
            Reply
            InvisibleMan is published through PublishAmerica.

            I have two titles through Lulu, and I paid the fee to get an ISBN number and marketing package.  My titles are available on Amazon as part of the basic package from Lulu (around $35 per title).

            The book quality is not reliable - especially in the reproduction of the covers - but, they seem to be really good about accepting the blame and issuing new copies.  i am satisfied, overall.

            Again, it is really up to the writer to handle promotion, although they have some packages available for a fee to assist. i know people who have used Lulu and sold quite a few copies of their work.

  • Kilrah
    January 7, 2006
    Reply
    I'd also like getting some decent critiques, I'll try to return them, but i'm not always of much help

    • CookieZeal
      January 9, 2006
      Reply
      I will be happy to do so. I give in-depth critiques that others have also helped me with on other nitty forums. :)

  • amayhem
    January 19, 2006
    Reply
    My first book "A Poet's Last Stand" is still available POD from VirtualBookworm but really would not reccomend them.
    Went a different route with second book "I'm Still Stand"
    Offer it on CD in Abobe Acrobat Reader format from my web site.
    Have sold/shipped around 1,000 copies to date, released the second book December of 2003.
    On the disk along with the book there is a poem titled "A night with the Feedback Section" after which I posted comments that have been left on my site after different poems. (I took out all names and e-mail addresses.)
    Have a book signing scheduled for this Saturday to mark the release of my third book "Everything Must Have a Beginning, a Middle, and an End" at a small store here in OKC that has started carrying all my books on the shelf.
    Plan on making it available on CD as well from my site later this month.
    I have prepared a special edition for this event that will have over 700 pictures I took while in Jordan at the Odyssey Poetry Festival on the disk with the book.
    The disk will also have a poem titled "Voices in the Dark" which has over 450 comments after it as well. (We actually started with around 1,300.)
    This is something that would not be possible with a book in print.
    If either the second or third book does make it to a publisher, I will probably have a CD go along with the book.
    The commenrs that people leave tell a story, something greater than I could ever hope to write.

    • CookieZeal
      February 28, 2006
      Reply
      Thank you sooooooooooooooo much for your in-depth instruction. I am so glad that you've had this experience to share and relate. Many of us don't have that kind of time, in spite of our ambitions.

      I take our granddaughter to many of the Saturday's book-reads, and there's usually a local author for signing and selling. congrats! That's so cool! I thought about wearing a Grenich-village beret JUST for the separativeness. LOL
      Glory!:)

      Make lots of money for us ,..now will you;???;)
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