PRINT-ON-DEMAND PUBLISHING IS PARTNERSHIP PUBLISHING

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I became a self-publisher in 1974, when I started the WordDoctor Publications.
In 2001, I turned to Print-on-Demand (POD)Publishing, better named POD Partnership Publishing.I have now published four b... I became a self-publisher in 1974, when I started the WordDoctor Publications.
In 2001, I turned to Print-on-Demand (POD)Publishing, better named POD Partnership Publishing.I have now published four books this way, throughiUniverse.com. I am glad I did so and pleased with the results.
These books include my new biblical novel, "Abraham, TheDreamer - An Erotic and Sacred Love Story," new editions of twoself-published books, the retitled, "A Jewish Novel AboutJesus," a spiritual self-help book, "Sparks of Spirit - How toFind Love and Meaning in Your Life 24 Hours a Day," and acontemporary comedy-drama (screenplay), "The Messiah of MidtownPark."Why did I switch from independent- or self-publishing topartnership publishing? I have three reasons: occupationalpreference, economics, and longevity (book survival).After 40 years of working for a living, I was free finally tochoose what I wanted to do full-time and how I wanted to do it.OCCUPATIONAL PREFERENCE: While I find everything about booksfascinating, I realized that I truly prefer writing topublishing. I'm a writer.
That's my passion. I decided toconcentrate on writing.
ECONOMICS: The best thing about self-publishing is that itgives the author total control. But the economics of self-publishing are something else again.
They are not as glowing asthey often sound or as rosy as they are often painted. There isa great economic squeeze play that cuts deeply into profits.
Take a book that sells for $14.95, for instance. A distributoror wholesaler requires a 50 percent discount, and more.
Thatleaves you with $7.50 (rounded off). The printing cost can beanywhere from $2 to $3 a book.
That leaves you with $4.50 abook. Out of this you may have to pay shipping costs (mediarate is $1.42, for one pound or less, USPS).
Then there arepublicity, promotion and marketing expenses. You may even haveto accept returns of books that didn't sell, for credit orrefund.
It takes skill to operate a profitable business. Ipreferred the challenges of writing to the challenges ofbusiness.
LONGEVITY: This is a very personal, subjective matter, an"author-thing." Writing, at its deepest level, has to do withmaking a statement about life, asserting one's identity, seekingimmortality. Commercial publishing is about the bottom line: Can the book make money, preferably big money? If not, it doesnot get published.
If it does get published, it is given threeto nine months to succeed. If the book does not make it withinthat time period, its life is over.
Self-publishing, on the other hand, allows for a book'snurturing and longer lifespan . But when a company changeshands or goes out of business, a book's life may end.
That is where Print-on-Demand Partnership Publishing providesan ideal answer. The new digital technology eliminates the needfor costly inventory.
A 300-page book can be printed, cover andall, in less than 30 seconds. POD printing/publishing allows books to be kept alivevirtually "forever." -It allows books to be discovered and rediscovered.
-It allows one or many copies to be printed instantly, ondemand. -It allows ongoing profits to be made, by all concerned.
-It allows authors to take control of the writing andmarketing of their books, while the publisher provides thetechnical support and services -including printing, onlinebookstores, author websites, listings, order fulfillment, sales-and royalty- reports, and various forms of author support. Years ago, vanity publishers existed to publish the works ofamateur writers at a high cost, paid for by the writer.
Few oftheir books were actually printed and even fewer sold. Thesebooks had little if any value and were generally shunned.Some refer to today's POD publishing as vanity publishing, or,more politely, as subsidy publishing.
True, the decision topublish lies with the author, not the publisher. It involves anominal fee, which means that anyone can get a book published,including amateur writers.
However, POD publishing attracts a great many professionalwriters, with excellent track records. POD-published books getpicked up by commercial publishers.
POD books also generatesignificant media attention. When the self-publishing movement began in the 1960s and 1970s,self-publishers were often stigmatized as vanity publishers.
Today, self-publishing is a major, economic force. Estimatesvary as to the actual number of independent publishers, from25,000 and up, and from one-title firms to firms with 2,500titles in print.Why would professional writers go the route of Print-on-DemandPartnership Publishing? There are several reasons: their bookmay have been turned down by their own commercial publisher;they may not have been able to find an agent or commercialpublisher; or they may not have wanted to wait the nearly twoyears it takes to get a book published by a commercialpublisher, when they could get it published within two or threemonths through a POD publisher.
(My third POD book was in printwithin three weeks, from the time of submission!)Here are some examples, for instance, of professional writerswho have been published through iUniverse:RIANE EISLER - whose non-fiction book, "The Chalice and theBlade" sold 600,000 copies world-wide - published "The Gate"through iUniverse, a fictionalized, dramatic new memoir of heryears growing up in pre-Castro Cuba after a narrow escape fromthe Holocaust in Nazi Europe.COLLIN KELLEY's poetry book, "Better to Travel," is currently anominee for the Georgia Author of the Year Award.LAWRENCE BLOCK, author of the iUniverse book, "Random Walk," isan award-winning crime fiction writer, whose published worksinclude 50 novels.RON CUTLER is an award-winning filmmaker and author of ninenovels, including iUniverse's "The Firstborn."JOYCE MANARD'S iUniverse book, "To Die For," was originallypublished in 1991 and made into an acclaimed film, starringNicole Kidman.Some iUniverse authors, who have had their books picked up bycommercial publishers, include:LAURIE NOTARO, author of "The Idiot Girl's Action AdventureClub" (2000), which was picked up within a year by Random Houseand hit the Top Ten on the New York Times Best-Seller List.MIKE HAWLEY's first book, "The Double Bluff" (2001), was pickedup by Penguin-Putnam as a mass market paperback under the Oniximprint. Hawley was given a contract for two more books.BILL PURCELL's book, "The Dark One," was picked up by Wizardsof the Coast, after they had turned it down originally.
Purcellwas signed to a four-book deal, with a terrific advance.POD publishing is here to stay. iUniverse, for instance,currently has 11,367 authors and 15,515 book titles.
Itpublishes 400 new titles a month. It received the Editors'Choice Award from PC Magazine, with a five out of five-starrating.There are other POD publishers, so you need to check them outand evaluate their various services carefully.There are pros and cons to any of the three publishing models:1) commercial publishing; 2) independent, self-publishing; and3) POD partnership publishing.
Some I have already mentioned. Following are others:With POD partnership publishing, authors are totallyresponsible for publicizing, promoting and marketing theirbooks.
That's a lot of work, if you do it yourself. It takesknow-how, time and money.
Or you must hire a book publicist todo this for you. That costs money.
Yet you're not much better off with commercial publishers, who will only do a certain amount of publicity, promotion andmarketing for your book. If you're not one of their superstars,your book will just get some basic publicity, promotion andmarketing.
You need to supplement what they do, or your bookwill fall through the cracks - and disappear quickly.That's what almost happened to ANITA DIAMANT, author of "TheRed Tent," published by St. Martin's Press.
When Picador USAdecided to bring it out as a trade paperback, St. Martin'sannounced it would remainder the hardbacks.
Diamant pleaded with them not to do so but use them forpromotion. She suggested that they be sent out to clergy.Diamant got the lists and the publisher paid the postage,provided the books, and mailed them to female rabbis in ReformJudaism, followed by a mailing to male and female rabbis ofReconstructionist Judaism.
Diamant also had the publisher send around 200 copies toChristian women ministers in New England. That made thedifference.
The book went on to sell 1 ½ million copies in theUS. and was published in 18 countries.The other serious problem is media bias against POD partnershippublishing.
Some trade and consumer publications actually have apolicy against POD published books - they will not review them. There are now 150,000 new titles and editions published everyyear.Yet commercial publishing does not guarantee that your bookwill get reviewed.The Library Journal, a major trade publication, receives 40,000new books published every year.
It reviews 6000 of these,representing only four percent of the 150,000 new bookspublished every year!Consumer publications review even fewer books. The LosAngeles Times, a major metropolitan newspaper, only reviews 1500books a year, representing one percent of the 150,000 new bookspublished every year!What, then, are the chances of getting published commercially? HarperCollins Publishers, one of the major publishing companiesin the US, reportedly receives 10,000 submissions a year.
Ofthese, only 75 books, less than one percent submitted, getpublished. Even then, the chances of success are slim.
Whilethe figures vary, they indicate that only 1 out of 7 or 1 out of10 books published commercially make a profit. These are amongthe reasons why other publishing models came into being.Once authors were at the mercy of agents and commercialpublishers.
No more. That changed when the independent self-publishing movement came into being.
Today, thanks to digitaltechnology, POD partnership publishing provides a legitimate,additional choice.Authors can now get published. Then, through effort andresourcefulness, they can find ways to connect with their readers.In the final analysis, there are only two kinds of books andwriters: bad books and good books, bad writers and good writers.WORD COUNTHeadline/byline: 8Words (body): 1678Resource box: 74TOTAL 1760 Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com .