Seeking Publisher - Here we go again

This is a great thread! I self published my book last year but only after trying the traditional route and getting rejected. What a humbling experience! I was still hoping for a publisher to fall in love with it, but also wanted my grandmother to see it, and she turned 85 last year. So I self published it, and I am just getting started with promoting my book across the country via several methods. Although it is a long way from being a best seller, I know that I would have to do the same amount of work if I had published it through a publisher, and so I am quite OK with it. I will do my next book in the same manner, although not sure if I will use the same company or not.
Pam
Writing as Maggie Bendar
Marching Across the Heart

Another point I have not seen here: Save a tree, publish POD. It really is more eco-friendly when you consider, as George mentioned, that there will not be warehouses filled with unordered books, which will probably just go up in smoke after a certain period of time.

In our current time of ecolological awareness, this is a good selling point I think.

I cringe every time I think of 'book burnings'.

I think the book clubs thrive on unsold stock; that's where they get their cheap books from which keeps them in business. Not sure how that works but I think it's something like that.

But, don't they have to be reprinted with "Book Club Edition" on the inside?

No idea, someone else maybe knows.

George and Zada, Does this answer your questions?

Book Clubs

Not entirely. Does the book have to have "Book Club Edition" imprinted on the flyleaf?

Hi Zada,

This page explains how to identify first editions and book club editions. You will need to scroll down the page to:

Identifying Book Club Editions

This is the web address:

http://www.emptymirrorbooks.com/collecting/firstedition.html

Most books bought from Book Clubs aren't Book Club editions. At least not here anyways

It is so refreshing reading all the different opinions here, and to see everyone still "playing nice in the sandbox".

My first two books were published by a small, traditional press. I learned a lot about what was expected of me in terms of promotion. Plus, I learned a great deal about the business end of things.

Now, I am fortunate to have an agent I dearly love, and I hope she can place my next novels with a larger house.

I agree with Don, in that everyone must follow his or her own version of a dream. We don't all take off in the same kind of car, or with the same routes. I don't have a Mercedes with a GPS, so I keep unfolding my maps and piecing my vehicle together with bailing wire. Still, I will eventually limp into town...

I am such a sucker for analogy.

Shelagh, it took me a while to get back here, but that link to the 'Empty Mirror' told me what I wanted to know. So thank you bunches.

I agree, George, POD looks like a strong part of our future. We even heard that bookstores would get POD printers so people could walk in, key in a title, and a book would appear.

POD seems like such a sensible route for novels and nonfiction books the publishers expect to have modest sales. If sales pick up, they can switch to offset and get the cost per copy down.

So far, the negative in POD is retail price. It just not competitive yet when POD trade paperbacks are price higher than mainstream hardbacks, especially with the heavy discounting going on.

With a lower price, we might have a printing process that saves money--no inventory, fewer returns, etc.

Malcolm

Yes, Malcolm, that is a downside right now, but the price differences are creeping more in line month by month. I've also heard about book shops having PoD facilities in shop and printing books off there and then to order. I believe it's the future. Heck, PoD books might wind up cheaper than mainstream printed books!

... but will you be buying PoD books?

Good question Shelagh - is it the potential for convenience with POD and having access to zillions of books, or meandering around the bookstore making sure that your friends' books are all facing forward while you look for something to catch your eye...

Of course I'd buy PoD books. The hardcover PoD version of One World is superb, superior to most of the hardbacks on my shelf, and the dust jacket is also superb.

I don't have a POD printer in any of the bookstores around here, although have ordered a couple online. It generally takes about 2-4 weeks so by the time it arrives I have forgotten that I ordered it and it's like a birthday surprise. I actually do a lot of ordering on-line. And no, it's not just because the UPS guy is cute...although he is.

I don't think they will be selling hardback PoD books in bookstores.

I'm more likely to buy e-books than POD books due to the price, and those are mostly non-fiction.

The only fiction or poetry POD books I've purchased were those written by authors I met on line.

Like most non-writer readers, I don't generally expect most POD books to be any good since they can be published with absolutely no editorial control or standards. (I say that even though my book is a POD book.) sigh.

Malcolm

adds sigh. *sigh*

Where is a good place to publish ebooks? Any recommendations?

As a person who has read a lot, I have never purchased or not purchased a book because of the publisher. I may have noticed certain logos (penguin and bantum for instance), but it has never been a selling point. I think the main problem is getting the books in the public eye. That is where the author comes in. If a book is good, it will sell as long as it is put in front of the target audience. Marketing is key.

George Maciver wrote:

Where is a good place to publish ebooks? Any recommendations?

Try Lulu.com George -- then I can add you as a friend. You'd like that wouldn't you?

Lulu publish ebooks? I'll check them out! Thanks.

You can sell audio books on Lulu too!