The Book Blog

The Kindly, Caring Literary Agent is probably extinct.Today’s agents are more likely to treat you like a paychecks than like the sensitive creative person you are. You won’t get your hand held when you’re blue. You won’t have your manuscript lovingly edited. Even worse than this cold, business-like treatment, you’re unlikely to get your works placed with a publisher by an agent today if you are a budding author. Today: 40% wont read manuscripts by unpublished authors (those who do usually charge) 80% won’t handle professional books over 90% won’t handle regional books, satire, reference or technical works only 2% have a special interest in literature or quality fiction Agents have changed, along with the publishing industry. They can no longer do the wonderful things they used to for their clients. As publishing houses have been absorbed by big conglomerates, decision-making has moved from editors who love words to accountants who love healthy bottom lines. Their criteria: will it sell? They tend to stick to writers with track records, so the same authors appear year after year on best seller lists. Few new voices are emerging from the big publishing houses which once brought us Faulkner and Hemingway.

Ironically, the best way to get their attention is to turn your back on both agents

1. what you want to write (and what will sell)

2. the most appropriate writing style for your targeted audience

3. your best publishing option

4. how to get your book out before the book-buying public

Armed with up-to-date information on buying trends and publishing options, you can save yourself a lot of time and grief. The information is readily available in such publications as

Writer’s Digest, Publishers Weekly, The Library Journal, The New York Times’ and the Los Angeles Times’ Book Review. For self-publishers there is The Small Press Review  and membership in the Publishers Marketing Association. The information is out there for anyone willing to do the research. Add to this a clear understanding of your audience and what you want to say to this audience and you’re launched on writing a book that will sell. Writers today have to be able to think like editors and publishers and book distributors.

Publishing today is market-driven, and the reality is that a big publishing house may not be your best choice.

I’ve put the ground rules of this new approach to publishing success in my new book, Everything You Need to Know to WRITE PUBLISH & MARKET YOUR BOOK. It’s available at www.acappela.comand big publishers.  The large publishing houses now rely on their sales reps to scout out self-published and small-imprint books that are selling well. They then approach the authors about printing a second edition of their self-published books. This often results a lucrative book contract if an author decides to go for the deal. But many authors are saying no to the Big Boys. Why settle for 6-15% royalties when you can keep up to 80% of the profits from your book sales and retain the rights to TV and video productions, foreign rights, book clubs, etc?. Especially since you’re going to have to do most of the marketing work yourself anyhow. No,  authors have too many other options today to accept whatever big publishing houses offer. And you don’t need an agent to pursue them.  There are niche publishers and coop publishers (they will work directly with an author) ; there is self-publishing and/or electronic publishing (you become your own publisher). There are also lots of traditional ways to get out the word about a book without spending a dime, and the Internet has added a whole new dimension to cost-free marketing.

The problem is that 

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Does amazon provide bargain books? What is link ?

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I would like to sell books to inmates and i need information on where to purchase them at.

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I publish comic books and I am looking to get my books in front of more than the people who go to comic shops, or who don’t have a local comic shop… bookstores, newsstands, etc.

Does anyone know of book distributors that do deal with saddle-stitched (stapled) books? Most don’t because of the lack of a title appearing on the spine, but there must be some businesses out there that do.

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I am an online bookseller. At this point, I sell almost all of my inventory on Amazon through the Fulfillment by Amazon program. I have yet to begin buying books from wholesalers and am contemplating doing so.

I understand that book wholesalers generally provide at most a 45% discount off the suggested retail price. With many books, that may be enough to compete with Amazon’s deeply discounted prices and turn a profit, if only a modest one.

However, Amazon discounts bestselling books even more drastically. As one example, Amazon is currently selling “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett for $9.50 but the suggested retail price is $24.95 — a discount of 62%. Knowing this and how great an effect on the book market Amazon can have, do wholesalers increase their discounts even more on a bestselling book to entice more retailers to purchase? Or do they refrain from doing that to avoid costing Amazon any sales?

I realize that other factors such as Amazon’s purchasing power will affect the price that it pays wholesalers. Amazon buys so many books that it can negotiate a lower price. But does a book’s bestselling status in itself drive up the discounts that wholesalers will offer?

Thank you for your time.

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After the writers’ strike, the CW drama series One Tree Hill is sure to come back with a splash. When the series came to an abrupt end right after its 100th episode, some things were left hanging and almost all the main characters were in precarious situations. As One Tree Hill returns on April 14, fans can expect even more drama as events become even more exciting.

For the first episode, “Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace,” Lucas, played by Chad Michael Murray, picks up the pieces after his book editor Lindsey, played by Michaela McManus, left him at the altar in the previous episode, “Hundred.” This thrilled One Tree Hill fans who want Lucas to end up with either Peyton, played by Hilarie Burton, or Brooke, played by Sophia Bush. Meanwhile, the other pair, Nathan and Haley, played by James Laferty and Bethany Joy Galeotti respectively, is still mulling over the abduction of their son, Jamie.

On the next episode, “What Do You Go Home To?” Nathan and Haley are more discerning in picking a nanny for their son with Jamie’s abduction still fresh on their minds. Also on this episode, Brooke decides that she still wants to adopt a baby despite being rebuffed by an adoption agent on the previous episode for her age.

In “Life is Short,” now happy parents Nathan and Haley throws a party for Jamie. Deb was so into the idea that she even hired a clown, whom Haley thinks is a creepy one. When Dan arrives, however, fresh from jail, Deb’s mood turned from festive to gloomy and the situation becomes all awkward.

In “Cryin’ Won’t Help You Now,” Brooke discovers that baby Angie has a hole in her heart that requires risky surgery to fix. The doctor says that if nothing is done, Angie only has one to two years left to live. Also, Quentin encourages Nathan to play basketball again, offering to practice with him for a couple of hours everyday. Nathan doesn’t say anything but he smiles and asks Quentin not to call it a comeback if ever.

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If you are a traveler who has a little extra time, you would like appreciate taking that extra day or two and view the other sightseeing attractions as you make your way to the destination.

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When I was five years old, my parents bought me a manual typewriter for a Christmas present. I practiced every day until I was able to type letters to my grandparents and other relatives. Although it is safe to say that I have been a writer since 1963, I didn’t start making money from my writing until I started Graphic Publishing in 1988.

Back in those days, Adobe Acrobat Reader (PDF) had never been thought of. In fact, the word “internet” was unknown to the majority of the general public. Therefore, I had only three options available to me if I was going to sell my articles and books:

1. Submit them to publishers, hoping they would be published “someday”;

2. Typeset my own books, print them on a copier and mail copies to customers ordering directly from me (this also meant that I had to market the books myself); or

3. Pay a printer to typeset and print my books, which meant I had to buy a minimum amount and pay for them upfront (which could cost $10,000 or more).

I chose to employ option Number 2. I figured that I would not have to spend any money using that option because as books were ordered, I could print them on my copy machine. Besides, my books were not full-length paperbacks. They were 20-page booklets that I could print on letter-size paper, fold in half and saddle stitch. Only until I started selling 100s of books would I invest into purchasing a minimum amount from a printer. Besides, the idea of not having to stock a product was of great importance to me since I was living in a small one-bedroom apartment at the time.

However, while choosing the Number 2 method above would save me a lot of money, I was going to have to learn how to market and typeset my books. Learning to typeset was pretty easy. I went to a printer’s supply store and picked up books showing me different styles of fonts and I looked at every display advertisement I could find. I purchased Roger Parker’s Book, “The Aldus Guide to Basic Design” (http://www.newentrepreneur.com/) and was soon able to start designing my own ads, using combinations of examples I learned from the professional designers. The entire learning experience was great fun and I acquired a skill that I now use on a daily basis.

Learning to market though, took longer compared to learning how to typeset. That is because there are so many variations to marketing. What works for one person may not work for another. However, with the vast amount of technology available at your fingertips today, learning to market your products and services is as simple as filling out forms and posting messages to bulletin boards utilized by your target market.

Little did I realize at the time that the procedure I utilized to sell my books by printing copies only when an order was received is the same thing as print-on-demand publishing. The only difference is that today, most of the marketing and typesetting is included in the publisher’s price. Since I already know how to typeset my books, the publisher normally gives me a discount of $100 to $150 for saving them time and expense.

I was first introduced to print-on-demand publishing when I wrote my book, “How to Start, Operate and Market a Freelance Notary Signing Agent Business” available online at . Not knowing that print-on-demand publishing existed I sent my manuscript to several publishers for acceptance. To my surprise, two publishers accepted the book and one offered me an advance of $2,800.

At first I was elated. I called all my friends and we all yelled and screamed together in excitement. The excitement was short lived when I received an email from the publisher the next day with a list of demands they required before my book could be published. One of the demands was the name of my book needed to be changed and secondly, I was not permitted to publish my testimonial to Jesus Christ in the back of the book. I immediately said “no” and began seeking other alternatives for publishing.

To make a long story short, I found Gom Publishing (http://www.gompublishing.com) through my local Christian Blue Pages directory. It just so happened that their office was located within 10 miles of my house. I called them up, asked if I could come for a visit and received a personal tour of their operation. It was a great learning experience and I was sold on the idea of print-on-demand publishing.

Here are just some of the advantages to a writer who uses print-on-demand publishing:

1. You have total control over your book. No one is going to edit your work and take out your personal “style” or omit sections you know to be important. Gom Publishing includes copyediting with virtually all of their publishing plans, which is something I did not find with most other print-on-demand companies.

2. Your book is available for sale within 90 days or less if you assist with the design. Compared to the “old time” methods of publishing, even if a publisher accepts your book, it normally is not available for sale for almost a year or later. The whole world could change in that length of time and you would still have to wait a year or more before you got paid for your hard work.

3. You can make up to 50% for every book you sell. Compare this to a publisher who only pays the writer an 8% to 10% commission. This means that you can set up a web page to sell your book, take orders and purchase the amount of books your need to fill the orders at a 50% discount from the print-on-demand publisher. Gom Publishing offers a 55% discount, which increases your profits even more. This option is not possible with standard publishers who purchase the exclusive rights from a writer, thus not allowing the writer to sell their books on their own.

4. Print-on-demand publishers also build excellent marketing benefits into their basic prices. These marketing benefits include: (a) assignment of an ISBN number; (b) ISBN bar code printed on book cover; (c) Library of Congress cataloging and registration; and (d) automatic listing on the world’s largest bookstores: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waldenbooks and Borders. I found with Gom Publishing that they even have programs to distribute your book through third party distributors, sales reps, and even offer publicist services. All you have to do is help in the promotion by directing people to you book on these websites. The credit card orders are processed for you, the books are shipped to your customers and you receive a monthly commission check.

Of course there are many more benefits to print-on-demand publishing than the four I listed above, but I am sure you can begin to see the benefits for yourself. However, even though print-on-demand publishing has many “pros,” there are some “cons” that you might want to consider. One of those “cons” is how the established publishing community views print-on-demand books. They view them as “vanity” publications and booksellers may be reluctant to deal with them. Trade journals like Publishers

Weekly and Kirks also do not like to deal with print-on-demand published books and magazines and newspapers shy away from them also.

Why are publishers who are located in the high-traffic media biased against print-on-demand publishing? Because they know the author had total control over the book and it did not go through the standard editing process. So what? In my opinion, the media makes a great deal of money from writers and since print-on-demand technology does not provide them with this extra revenue print-on-demand publishing leaves a “bad taste” in their mouths. They tell their employees that print-on-demand publishing is not professional behavior, when the truth of the matter is that print-on-demand publishing is taking money out of their pockets. The “biggies” cannot reveal their true motive, so they do the “human” thing and create as much bad publicity for the print-on-demand industry that they can then use the leverage of other “biggies” like themselves to keep everyone’s pockets padded with the green stuff.

Or, go to any search engine and type in the search words “print-on-demand publishing” and start shopping. I chose Gom Publishing to publish my book. The total cost was less than $600 and I made this money back almost immediately.

If area first time writer or even published, you need to check out the benefits for your work by utilizing print-on-demand publishing. At least you now have more options available to you and perhaps one day, writers will be less dependent on publishers and can take the control over their own products.

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