Have you heard of Borders Personal Publishing? Two resourceful, imaginative major players in the “self-publishing†industry have managed to partner with Borders Books to form, yet, another self-publishing service for authors.
You pay and, together, Lulu and Borders will provide editorial support as well as design and print your book. In some cases, your book will be produced while you wait; through an interactive kiosk. And here’s the really exciting part—well, for some: Publishing with Borders makes your book ELIGIBLE to be carried in Borders stores. Come on guys, this is like the “self-publishing†contracts that say (in so many words), “Pay us to produce your book and we will make it available to bookstores nationwide.â€
The price seems right. I know Dan Poynter (he’s a good guy), and his partner, Danny O. Snow, seems to have a good reputation. Mark Levine, in his book, The Fine Print of Self-Publishing, ranks their company, Lulu, among the outstanding self-publishing companies, along with BookLocker, Infinity, RJ Communications, Xulon Press, Virtual Bookworm, Outskirts Press, Cold Tree Press and a few others, but I still have my reservations about the world of fee-based “self-publishing.†It’s simply not the knight on a white horse for everyone.
It’s becoming more difficult for me to bash this community as a whole, now that reputable people (Poynter, Ron Pramschufer, Angela and Richard Hoy) and organizations (Borders) are jumping on the bandwagon. My reservations have more to do with the unaware author. While some “self-publishing†companies are on the up and up, many authors approach “self-publishing†companies with way too many unreasonable expectations and way too little knowledge. In fact, I wrote my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book in order to educate and inform hopeful authors about the publishing industry, their options, the possible consequences of their choices and, of course, their responsibilities as published authors.
What is the best way to approach the world of publishing? I say that you should be armed with knowledge. And your education should begin BEFORE you sit down to write a book. Read The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. Read Poynter’s Self-Publishing Manual. Read Mark Levine’s, The Fine Print of Self-Publishing and other books related to the industry. Use my Author’s Workbook to determine IF publishing is for you, what is the best publishing option for you and your project, whether or not you have a platform and what it would take to build one, whether your book idea would compute into a viable product or not, your promotional plan, etc.
Before getting involved in any publishing option or a particular company, as Levine’s book insinuates, “Read the fine print.†Research the industry and compare several individual companies. Read between the lines. Scrutinize their contracts and ALWAYS have an intellectual properties attorney or literary attorney look at a contract before you sign it.
Examine your expectations—is it likely that this company can meet them? Are your expectations realistic? You probably won’t know that unless you know something about the publishing industry.
What is the worst case scenario that could occur as a result of you working with this company? Is this acceptable to you? Are you willing to gamble that, for example, your book will be among those chosen for sale at bookstores? Will you be satisfied to have your book in one major bookstore nationwide—one store, not one chain—as is part of one company’s contract?
Not every “self-publishing†company is the same. If you don’t know this, you’re definitely not ready to sign a contract. If you want to go the “self-publishing†company route with your amazing, professionally edited book, please do your research. Study the contracts, references, websites, samples of their published books, etc. for several companies before entering into an agreement with one. Seriously consider other options.
As I point out in my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book, not every option is for every author and every project. Use the Author’s Workbook to determine which option is best for you and your book.
If you’ve heard me say this before: “Publishing is not an extension of your writing. It is a business and it must be approached as such.â€
Order The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book and The Author’s Workbook:
http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html