Self Publishing
Taliesin2
(free) kit from Morris Publishing. I was also looking at Xlibris, which is
part of Random House books. But what are the pros and cons of self
publishing? Which " self publishing publishers " are reputable? Which
publisher would you recommend? Thanks.
msb...@comcast.net
I thought I'd focus on whether you should self-publish, but am afraid I
can't help much on who's good and who isn't. You're interest just
triggered some of my on thoughts on the topic. It's hard not to think
about it if one is trying to get a book published but frustrated at the
market that's out there.
First, your interest may simply be to have a book with your poetry to be
able to share with friends and family. If that is the case, I think
self-publishing may be ideal. Yes, it may cost something, but the market
outside of that is so horrific, that the likelihood of getting something
is maybe like winning the lottery. Your focus here then should be whether
the proposed boock (that would involve self-publishing) would be of
reasonable quality. I mean will the self publisher review closely
yearbook for typographical errors, or is the burden entirely on you?
You mentioned two publishers, who do this. There are no doubt others. No
doubt a web search via a search engine, google, yahoo, would come up with
alternatives there.
Here's a link on this new fad (print on demand presses).
http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203~21482~3026671,00.html
You may find it interesting,as it addresses a critical problem -- which is
getting your book attention. If you are ambitious about your book,
self-publishing publishing can be fine, as long as you have a plan of
attack.
And check this link out, as it is a pretty good analysis of vanity presses
and self-publishing (finds the latter to be a better approach), that sees
plenty of problems with both.
http://www.sfwa.org/beware/subsidypublishers.html
Obviously, if you are published by a known publisher, that tends to get
the book a more respectful reading. On the other hand, if you are known
and respected within your community you could still have your book
self-published, and get the book attention. The self-published author may
well have to be more aggressive to get his/her book attention (if books
sales and recognition is what you want). Some people are that way
naturally--more aggressive, that is. :)
You mentioned Morris Publishing and also Xlibris, which, you inidcated, is
part of Random House books. The latter point seems to make it more
prestigious, although I don't know if it is or isn't. I think an issue is
the quality of the book that will actually be published -- does it look
professional? Or does it look cheap? If it looks professional, people
may like it (even want to buy), though they know it was self published,
particularly if they respect you as a poet. If it looks cheap, they won't
(unless, maybe they're your parents).
Have you looked into getting samples of the books of these publishing
houses that support self-publishing? To assess the quality of the
publication. Is there a place on the net where you can get reviews of
these self-publishers. Or is the word to use here, "vanity presses."
I wish I had a few more names to toss around in my head for you. That is
the names of publishing houses that specialize in what you call
self-publishing. Do a web search on it! I mean some of them may be more
respectable than others!
Then there is a question about somehow getting a Web presence, which I
think could be very helpful. I mean, maybe you already have your own page
on the Web. If not, it may be something to look into, particularly if you
are going to be publishing a book, and want to promote it. There are a
lot of people who have web pages, and some of them are quite well done.
It is a way to advertise your book. Also, an issue may be whether it is
possible to get on the major online bookstores if you self publish it may
be harder; but is it impossible? A lot of good advertising can come from
just those online bookstores.
I think you need a plan if you want to self-publish,involving support in
your community. Also, it would, as I mentioned, help to have web presence.
Like John Faucett's.
http://www.expage.com/PoetryOfJohnFaucett posted in this forum recently.
Or Kay Day
http://kayday.com/Directory.htm
Jimmy Baca
http://www.jimmysantiagobaca.com/booksmerchandise.html
Charles Bernstein
http://wings.buffalo.edu/epc/authors/bernstein/
Kim Thomas,
http://www.shs.starkville.k12.ms.us/mswm/MSWritersAndMusicians/writers/KimThomas/KimThomas.html
Wendy Videlock
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0815608136/qid=1127095200/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-7976170-9740110?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
Though the quality of the above vary, these are just a few examples. Maybe
do your own web page, and then get others to link up with you. You could
have some sample poems from your book, and put it on the web page, and
help sell the book from there (with Pay Pal or some other mechanism).
Also, it's good to be on Amazon, B & N, or other such free venues (will
self-publishing stand in the way of that?) (You need to be warned that it
may!), and get reviews of the book, such as, the following poets did:
Eric Ormsby
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=CX0g4yCCHs&isbn=0802116078&itm=2
PK Page
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=CX0g4yCCHs&isbn=0889842523&itm=7
DH Mellhem--New York Poems
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0815608136/qid=1127095200/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-7976170-9740110?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
Kathryn Stripling Byer
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0807117714/qid=1127096168/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-7976170-9740110?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
Gladys Cardiff
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0932826679/qid=1127092814/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-7976170-9740110?v=glance&s=books
Joy Haryo
http://www.shs.starkville.k12.ms.us/mswm/MSWritersAndMusicians/writers/KimThomas/KimThomas.html
Ad infinitim, (not sure how they did it: some of it no doubt relates to
who the publishers were) but just examples to give you an idea of how
reviews can advertise for you. And you may want to look into whether the
entity whom you have in mind for self publishing would preclude this
avenure for you.
Actually, though, you don't have to be in an online bookstore to get
reviews of your work. When your book comes out though, you have to
consider where you can send it to get the book reviewed (or at least to
try to get review). That is what I meant when I asked whether you had
thought about how you're going to go about it. You need to possibly come
up with a list of places you can send the book to for reviews. And if you
get a positive review, what then is your plan of attack: how will you
take advantage of it. Also for the back jacket of the book, it might be
good to have some respectful comments about your book by recognized
poets. I think that is called a "blurb."
Another question to ask is whether you do readings of your work, or intend
to. A best way to sell your rbooks will probably be through friends,
people who know your work, and people who may be exposed to your work if
you do readings. Perhaps you already are doing readings of your work. If
not, a question is, will evoke, if it is self published, be able to get
you the readings that you need to sell your work.
Anyway the above is probably somewhat muddled, but may be of some help to
you. I had been looking at examples of web pages, as ultimately I might
like to do one, so had names available. Then there's the question of how
to get in online bookstores -- if one can. Perhaps, with XLibris it might
be more possible. You need to check with them.
Still, I come back to what I said at the beginning. If your interest is
simply to have a book with your poetry and to be able to share with
friends and family, then you can forget about a lot of what I wrote. For
you self-publishing may be ideal. Your whole concern then would simply be
cost and the quality of the publication. Will it look nice, enhance your
art, make you feel proud?
On Tue, 06 Sep 2005 21:25:41 -0400, Taliesin2 <taliesin...@yahoo.com>
wrote:
msb...@comcast.net
Here's something more I thought might interest you. "
About Xlibris Xlibris is a publishing company based in Philadelphia
and a strategic
partner of Random House Ventures, LLC, a subsidiary of Random House, Inc.
Xlibris books can be purchased in any major bookstore, or online at Amazon,
Barnes & Noble, Borders or Xlibris. For more information, contact Xlibris
at (888) 795-4274 or on the web at www.Xlibris.com."
http://www.libertarian.to/NewsDta/templates/news1.php?art=art206
It sounds like (from the link and quote above, if you publish with
XLibris, you can get on-line bookstores to carry your work. That would be
good. I guess you could confirm how it works by calling that 888 number.
I mean, yes, you may have more of a burden self-publishing, but even
publishing with a publisher, they often leave it to the writer to do the
bulk of the work anyway. I hope I didn't send you too much yesteday. I
think with an on-line presence through one of these bookstores, and maybe
even a web page, you're in a better position to advertise your book.
msb...@comcast.net
bookstores includes "poetry." That would sound too good to be true. I
mean how do you get carried? Are they asking you to get that to happen,
or does Xlibris do something to make it happen? Does this happen to all
the books they carry, or just a few?
On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 12:19:42 -0400, msb...@comcast.net
Taliesin2
(in article <op.sxbv9...@vaiocomputer.hsd1.va.comcast.net>):
Sorry for the late responses. I thank you for your input. Much appreciated.
www.superaffiliate7.com
You will find on our site good Affiiliates for health products, such as
EDTA-Oral Chelation, Apricot kernels for cancer treament, Other affiliates
are for Computer, household products, Satellite TV (You may watch
International Channel on your Computer), Download Commmercial Movies, Email,
Free Horoscope.
"Taliesin2" <taliesin...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:pkrTe.8095$9i4....@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...