The Call of the Writer's Craft by Tom Bird

Author:Tom Bird
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Adams Media, Inc.
Published: 2009-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

The extraordinary royalty rate is like the scent of blood to a hungry shark. Once the hopeful author is reeled in, the vanity or subsidy publisher simply focuses on getting the job done quickly and cheaply so as to keep as much of the fee charged to the writer as possible. The potential profit from promotion was too slight to be considered even remotely attractive—especially when the next hungry sucker with the wide-open checkbook might be waiting eagerly around the bend.

Today’s Self-Publishing: Print on Demand

Though it may only have been by the sheer quality of their works and the divine guidance associated with them, the authors mentioned on page 105 actually made it. The divine guidance for some, in today’s market, is now referred to as Print On Demand presses, or POD publishing.

With the advent of widespread computer use, much has changed in the publishing industry. The cost of typesetting a book, now commonly referred to as formatting, has dropped from tens of thousands of dollars to around the $1,500 range. The computer age has also enabled books to be stored in the memory of a computer and to be summoned at any time—the best time being when someone is ready and willing to purchase it, “on demand.” Thus evolved the name for this type of publishing alternative. Because of the computer age, a book can literally be called forward from memory and generated at the request of a buyer or potential purchaser. As a result, the author does not have to purchase a huge amount of inventory either, eliminating costly expense number two. The cost to self-publish a book dropped from $70,000 to around $2,000 to $3,000.

Most POD presses also offer you a turnaround time (from receiving your manuscript and transforming it into a fully published book) of less than thirty days. (Traditional presses take on average of between nine to thirteen months to perform the same task.)

Add to that the fact that the most influential wholesale distributor of books in the world, Ingram, through its offshoot Lightning Source, has spearheaded this jolt to the industry by opening its own POD press (see www.lightningsource.com for more information).

What a POD Publisher Does and Does Not Do As a result of accepting the reins of being your own publisher, the POD press becomes your printing house with distribution capabilities. This, of course, is what self-publishing houses (including vanity or subsidy presses) have always been. However, in the past, these cagey creatures have been able to pass themselves off as more and thus, charged more than they were worth. The POD route is fast, efficient, and inexpensive, and is probably the most honest and forthright business deal yet offered the literary author/entrepreneur.

PUBLISH YOUR BOOK

POD presses will print your book and make it available to the public.

MANAGE YOUR CASH FLOW

Many POD companies, though not all, will provide accounting support for your book.

EDITING

This is up to you—PODs will not edit your book. You can, however, hire outside editorial help if you feel your book needs it.

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