While the Googles Book Search program has raised some objections from publishers and authors for various reasons, this program promises to be a compelling opportunity for authors.
A simplified version of the way the programs works is this:
Once a book has been scanned and placed into digital format by Googles, a portion of the book containing the word the searcher request is summoned upon doing a Google Book Search. The amount of the book reveled is determined based upon authorization by the owner of the copyright and by whether the book is in the public domain. Links to bookstores and libraries are provided in case browsers wishes to obtain a copy of the book.
The most fascinating aspect of this program is the online access portion, currently being developed, of the Googles Book Partner Program. Not only will this program help visitors find and preview books, but the publisher or owner of the copyright will be given the choice of including the entire contents of the book for sale in immediate online access format. Online access will be available to users only through their browser, and only when they have signed in with their personal account. Users will not be able to save a copy to their computer or copy pages; however, they will be able to purchase and read the whole book online.
Now, this in itself is not a novel concept. Except when you are an author and a company is willing to take your book, transpose it into digital format, publish it online, market it, give you profits based on sales and not charge you a dime, you just have to say wow!!!
As an author/self-publisher, I was more than happy to include my book.
When I went to my better half, who is a total computer moron, and described the access online program to him, my question was, "how much should I charge for online access of my book?"
"How much are they making you pay them to put your book in?" he wanted to know.
Patiently, I explained, again, that inclusion of the book into the program was free. He sort-of squinted at me. "Free. You mean they're not charging you anything."
From my trials of trying to get a book into print, even he understood that nobody in the writing/publishing world gives a writer anything for free.
"Yep. Totally free."
"Huh." He was dumbfounded. "And who can read it again?"
I shrugged. "Anyone in the world who has access to a computer and wishes to purchase the book."
"Anybody in the world?"
I nodded.
"Well then, I'd just charge a couple of bucks."
"What, five or six?"
"No. Two. If anyone in the whole world can buy it, than just charge two."
I went away thinking, "oh, ye simple man."
Yet, after reflection, I knew he was right. Being a writer is more than having a book on the bestseller's list or on the shelves of Barnes & Noble. It is being able to reach people through your writing. A book, once read, cannot be unread; it becomes a part of an individuals collective thoughts and memories. I would like to think that a person in India could go to a library and sit down to read a copy of my book. I like the idea that I have the power to set the price so reasonable that libraries all over the world can include my book as part of their collection. We in America have become so numb to exorbitant prices we hardly flinch anymore. Yet in other parts of the world a couple of bucks for a book is a great deal of money. Libraries with limited resources, when faced with the American publisher's prices, may not be able to include many of the books they would desire to carry.
For a writer, the chance to have your book accessible across the globe is a golden opportunity. I would think that every author would urge his or her copyright holder to include his or her book in the online access program at a reasonable price. An opportunity to take advanage of a program such as this one provided by Googles may never rise again.
Another factor my commonsensical better half pointed out to me: if you sell a couple of book to a couple of people for a couple of bucks in every town in every city in every country in the world, that's still a whole lot of money.
Showing posts with label Publishing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Publishing. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Publishing- accepting returns
Whether to accept returns is a huge decision each publisher must make. This single choice can and will affect the direction of a business by influencing sales and thus net profits. A run of returns can be the difference between bankruptcy and taking the family vacationing in Hawaii.
For those of you unfamiliar with the publishing process, let me explain. Publishing companies solicit manuscripts from the author, process them into book format and handle sales and marketing. Wholesale companies and distributors purchase books from the publishing companies and distribute these books out into libraries, bookstores, etc. This is a rather simplistic explanation for a complicated process, but you get the idea.
Publishing companies are given the choice whether to accept returns from the wholesalers, distributors and bookstores. Returns are the unsold books purchased by the wholesaler, distributed out to the bookstores and which did not sale. This means that if the wholesaler or distributor orders xxx amount of books and the publisher has xxx amount of books printed up and shipped to the wholesaler who distributes them out to the stores, but only x amount actually sales, than the remaining xx amount is going to, you guessed it, come back to the publisher.
If the returned books total is relatively small, the publishing company can absorb the loss of the cost of the print run, but a large number of returns on one book, or a smaller number of returns on several books, can quickly put a company in the red. This would be a controllable situation if books were printed up in small amounts based on sales. However, traditionally book printing has relied on use of the offset printer, a method that involves an expensive, time-consuming set-up, but a low cost-per-book print run. Using this approach, the publisher prints the maximum possible, saturates the market and waits with fingers crossed for the onslaught of returns.
In today's world of rising cost, where a company is judged by its stock merit and stocks seem to rise and fall with the blow of the wind, even the big boys shudder at the thoughts of large returns, decreased profits and irate stockholders. This leads to a new business model, the "play it safe, go with the tried and true, don't rock the boat, and definitely don't gamble on anything new, radical, or different." In a field based on creativity and diversity, this is a sure approach to shrivel and die.
For small or self-publishers, the decision of accepting returns is a ludicrous choice. As a method of doing business, it just doesn't make good common sense, yet stores and wholesalers often refuse to carry a book from a publisher who will not accept returns. This places the publisher in the position of accepting returns and potentially increasing sales and hoping the returns don't bankrupt the company, or refusing returns and be blacklisted. It is a dilemma.
The logical solution to this problem is to refuse or limit returns (if enough publishers employ this practice, it will become standard); utilize the offset printing method for large, guaranteed orders; and for all other situations choose the print-on-demand demand printing system (I recommend Lightening Source www.lightningsource.com/index.htm) where books are printed per order. This is a cost-effective method ensuring control of the flow of orders, distribution and returns. Only by controlling and reducing returns will a company be able to grow and be competitive in a global market.
For those of you unfamiliar with the publishing process, let me explain. Publishing companies solicit manuscripts from the author, process them into book format and handle sales and marketing. Wholesale companies and distributors purchase books from the publishing companies and distribute these books out into libraries, bookstores, etc. This is a rather simplistic explanation for a complicated process, but you get the idea.
Publishing companies are given the choice whether to accept returns from the wholesalers, distributors and bookstores. Returns are the unsold books purchased by the wholesaler, distributed out to the bookstores and which did not sale. This means that if the wholesaler or distributor orders xxx amount of books and the publisher has xxx amount of books printed up and shipped to the wholesaler who distributes them out to the stores, but only x amount actually sales, than the remaining xx amount is going to, you guessed it, come back to the publisher.
If the returned books total is relatively small, the publishing company can absorb the loss of the cost of the print run, but a large number of returns on one book, or a smaller number of returns on several books, can quickly put a company in the red. This would be a controllable situation if books were printed up in small amounts based on sales. However, traditionally book printing has relied on use of the offset printer, a method that involves an expensive, time-consuming set-up, but a low cost-per-book print run. Using this approach, the publisher prints the maximum possible, saturates the market and waits with fingers crossed for the onslaught of returns.
In today's world of rising cost, where a company is judged by its stock merit and stocks seem to rise and fall with the blow of the wind, even the big boys shudder at the thoughts of large returns, decreased profits and irate stockholders. This leads to a new business model, the "play it safe, go with the tried and true, don't rock the boat, and definitely don't gamble on anything new, radical, or different." In a field based on creativity and diversity, this is a sure approach to shrivel and die.
For small or self-publishers, the decision of accepting returns is a ludicrous choice. As a method of doing business, it just doesn't make good common sense, yet stores and wholesalers often refuse to carry a book from a publisher who will not accept returns. This places the publisher in the position of accepting returns and potentially increasing sales and hoping the returns don't bankrupt the company, or refusing returns and be blacklisted. It is a dilemma.
The logical solution to this problem is to refuse or limit returns (if enough publishers employ this practice, it will become standard); utilize the offset printing method for large, guaranteed orders; and for all other situations choose the print-on-demand demand printing system (I recommend Lightening Source www.lightningsource.com/index.htm) where books are printed per order. This is a cost-effective method ensuring control of the flow of orders, distribution and returns. Only by controlling and reducing returns will a company be able to grow and be competitive in a global market.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Publishing- print on demand, the way of the future
The introduction of electronic, digital printing into the publishing world has created a wave of excitement, skepticism, confusion, and often negativity. This new technology has given rise to a new form of printing never available before: POD or print-on-demand. Using the print-on-demand method, it is possible to print as many copies as needed, per order, from one to indefinite. It is a new, handy tool used by publishing companies to get books transformed from raw material into book format.
Somehow, the term POD has become synonymous with the way certain publishing companies operate their business. Publishing companies who solicit manuscripts from authors, have those manuscripts processed into book format, pay the author for the work, market the book, etc., etc., etc., (i.e. Authorhouse, Random House etc. ) should not be confused with printing methods. POD is a printing technique, a system of getting the manuscript from the word processor into a physical book.
For those of you out there who are not familiar with the way printing works, let me give you a brief overview. Traditionally, there was one way of printing books: by use of the offset printer. These are the big printing presses seen in the old movies and magazines. Offset printers are tedious and time consuming to set up, but once rolling, an extreme number of books can be spit out in record numbers at economical prices. The biggest flaw to this method is that it is expensive to set-up, thus it is only cost-effective to print a large number of books. Over the years, printing presses have undergone many changes and improvements and are still around and utilized routinely. It is still the most cheapest way of printing large quantities of books.
POD printing involves taking the book from digital format to print using an laser or inkjet printer. I am not an expert on the subject, but there are several methods of doing this. The initial set-up is very little compared with offset printing, but the cost-per-book is greater.
Now let us consider a scenario. Two publishing companies acquire a manuscript from a writer, polish it up and are now ready to send it to the printer. Let's say that both have done an analysis, gathered pre-orders and determined that each will sale about 3,000 copies of their book in the next year. Using the traditional, offset printing method, a publisher will pay more for the initial set-up, but less per book and all 3,000 copies will need to be printed at one time. With the print-on-demand procedure the publisher will pay less initially, yet more per book and can print copies per order.
Let's say publisher #1 goes with the offset printing. He places the order for the 3,000 books (remember, it cost a great deal to set-up, but once it's rolling, the cost per book is cheap, so he will want to print as many copies as possible or necessary) and when the order is ready, has it shipped to his warehouse. Here it is unloaded and shelved for storage. When orders come in from wholesalers, distributors, bookstores, etc., the books are reboxed and shipped to the customer.
Publisher #2 chooses the POD printing system. He will order a few books to have on hand and wait until orders arrive from the wholesalers, distributors, bookstores, etc. As the customer's orders flow in, he places the orders to the POD company and has the POD company ship the orders directly to the customer.
In the first scenario the publisher may get a cheaper print run per the 3,000 books, yet consider all the cost he will have that publisher #2 will never have to face:
Somehow, the term POD has become synonymous with the way certain publishing companies operate their business. Publishing companies who solicit manuscripts from authors, have those manuscripts processed into book format, pay the author for the work, market the book, etc., etc., etc., (i.e. Authorhouse, Random House etc. ) should not be confused with printing methods. POD is a printing technique, a system of getting the manuscript from the word processor into a physical book.
For those of you out there who are not familiar with the way printing works, let me give you a brief overview. Traditionally, there was one way of printing books: by use of the offset printer. These are the big printing presses seen in the old movies and magazines. Offset printers are tedious and time consuming to set up, but once rolling, an extreme number of books can be spit out in record numbers at economical prices. The biggest flaw to this method is that it is expensive to set-up, thus it is only cost-effective to print a large number of books. Over the years, printing presses have undergone many changes and improvements and are still around and utilized routinely. It is still the most cheapest way of printing large quantities of books.
POD printing involves taking the book from digital format to print using an laser or inkjet printer. I am not an expert on the subject, but there are several methods of doing this. The initial set-up is very little compared with offset printing, but the cost-per-book is greater.
Now let us consider a scenario. Two publishing companies acquire a manuscript from a writer, polish it up and are now ready to send it to the printer. Let's say that both have done an analysis, gathered pre-orders and determined that each will sale about 3,000 copies of their book in the next year. Using the traditional, offset printing method, a publisher will pay more for the initial set-up, but less per book and all 3,000 copies will need to be printed at one time. With the print-on-demand procedure the publisher will pay less initially, yet more per book and can print copies per order.
Let's say publisher #1 goes with the offset printing. He places the order for the 3,000 books (remember, it cost a great deal to set-up, but once it's rolling, the cost per book is cheap, so he will want to print as many copies as possible or necessary) and when the order is ready, has it shipped to his warehouse. Here it is unloaded and shelved for storage. When orders come in from wholesalers, distributors, bookstores, etc., the books are reboxed and shipped to the customer.
Publisher #2 chooses the POD printing system. He will order a few books to have on hand and wait until orders arrive from the wholesalers, distributors, bookstores, etc. As the customer's orders flow in, he places the orders to the POD company and has the POD company ship the orders directly to the customer.
In the first scenario the publisher may get a cheaper print run per the 3,000 books, yet consider all the cost he will have that publisher #2 will never have to face:
- shipping cost for transporting the 3,000 books to his warehouse for storage
- labor cost for unloading the 3,000 books
- labor cost for shelving the 3,000 books
- cost to rent or purchase the land
- cost for building or renting the warehouse
- cost of utilities for maintaining the warehouse
- cost of insurance;
- the list goes on and on.
Now, let's figure in the worry factor:
- worry that the 3,000 books will get damaged in transit (the books will be moved from the printer, off the truck, onto the shelves, back off the shelves, back into boxes and either through the mail or back onto a truck)
- worry about damage due to mold, mildew, mice and rot
- worry about hiring and maintaining labor
- worry about fire
- the list goes on and on
Even if publisher #1 has the printing company ship the books directly to the wholesaler, distributor, etc., someone will be storing those 3,000 books. Now, let's multiply the cost and worry factors by the number of books a big publisher or distributing company will handle.
In today's world of rising cost, the print-on-demand method of printing is most feasible. By utilizing smaller orders based on sales, eliminating or reducing the need for storage, decreasing the opportunity for damage, and cutting unnecessary transportation and handling, the overall system is more cost-effective and efficient. While offset printing will have a place in the publishing system for years to come with large orders, publishers, distributors and wholesalers need to take a hard, accessing look at the benefits of the print-on-demand system.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Publishing- choosing the best publishing method
Unless you have a couple of blockbuster books under your belt; a great, wise and experienced agent working on your behalf; and are being wooed by Random House, most writer out there seem to be fumbling around in confusion determining the best publishing method. Traditional publishing is, of course, everyone's dream where an agent negotiates a deal for you, an editor holds your hand, a big publishing house throws money your way and you bask in the bliss of seeing your bestseller on the shelves of Barnes and Noble while you peck away at the next hit. This is, however, not a reality for most of us.
So what do we do? We search around to find the best publishing solution possible. However, there seems to be much confusion about what, exactly, is the difference between publishing, self-publishing, vanity presses, POD, small press and book packaging companies.
According to Wikipedia, publishing includes the stages of development, acquisition, marketing, production-printing (and its electronic equivalents), and distribution of newspapers, magazines, books, literary works, musical works, software and other works dealing with information, including the electronic media. (Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publishing)
This means that the word "publishing" includes everyone involved in the process from start to finish. This could be confusing.
Now let's take the word self-publishing. A self-publisher is someone who owns his or her own stock of ISBN numbers, is responsible for all aspects of the publishing process from start to finish including getting the book written, set in book format, picking a cover, choosing a printing option, and is in control of marketing, advertising and distribution. The self-publisher shoulders the cost and gets the profits. In order to obtain ISBN numbers the self-publisher must form a company, yet as long as that company is publishing only the writer's own book, this is self-publishing.
Any other publishing arrangement is not self-publishing whether the company the writer works with is a small publisher, vanity publisher, big publishing company, little publishing company, trade publishing company, huge publishing company, mega publishing company, imprint of a publishing company, subsidy press publishing company, or book packaging company. In short, if any company buys and owns the ISBN number and then assigns that ISBN number to one of your books, at that point they own the book as the publisher and you are the author who gets advances, royalties, pay, dividends, or whatever compensational arrangement you have worked out with that publishing company. Regardless of how much money, time, energy, advertising, book signing or input in any form that you, the author, have supplied, they are the publishing company, they own your book to do with per the contract you signed with them, and you are the author.
POD, presses and/or printers, and offset printers are means of getting the book/media into print. POD stands for Print On Demand: a digital, electronic form of printing the book. Small and big presses and printers are just that: companies that take the manuscript in raw form and transform it into a book format. Offset printers are the traditional printing presses used for years to churn out large volumes of books. All the guys above (the self-publisher, the small publisher, the big, mega, trade, huge, vanity, and subsidy publishers) use all three formats: POD, printing presses and offset printers to get the book in print. POD, presses/printers, and offset printers are not good or bad; they are merely tools used to get the material into published format.
This is not to say that a company cannot wear two hats and offer the services of publishing and printing, yet most companies stick with one or the other.
Which publishing method an author chooses to go with, whether it be self-publishing; a subsidy, vanity or book packaging company; small publisher; or large/trade publisher, is an individual choice. The most important aspect of this whole author/publisher arrangement is that the author understand what he or she can expect to get at the end (money, respect, esteem, fame, more time to write) and what he or she will need to put into the mix to get there (money, time, energy, more money, more time, more energy). When the author has done all the research, read all the fine print and thoroughly, totally understands what is ahead and what can be expected to be reaped, that is the time to choose a publishing approach.
So what do we do? We search around to find the best publishing solution possible. However, there seems to be much confusion about what, exactly, is the difference between publishing, self-publishing, vanity presses, POD, small press and book packaging companies.
According to Wikipedia, publishing includes the stages of development, acquisition, marketing, production-printing (and its electronic equivalents), and distribution of newspapers, magazines, books, literary works, musical works, software and other works dealing with information, including the electronic media. (Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publishing)
This means that the word "publishing" includes everyone involved in the process from start to finish. This could be confusing.
Now let's take the word self-publishing. A self-publisher is someone who owns his or her own stock of ISBN numbers, is responsible for all aspects of the publishing process from start to finish including getting the book written, set in book format, picking a cover, choosing a printing option, and is in control of marketing, advertising and distribution. The self-publisher shoulders the cost and gets the profits. In order to obtain ISBN numbers the self-publisher must form a company, yet as long as that company is publishing only the writer's own book, this is self-publishing.
Any other publishing arrangement is not self-publishing whether the company the writer works with is a small publisher, vanity publisher, big publishing company, little publishing company, trade publishing company, huge publishing company, mega publishing company, imprint of a publishing company, subsidy press publishing company, or book packaging company. In short, if any company buys and owns the ISBN number and then assigns that ISBN number to one of your books, at that point they own the book as the publisher and you are the author who gets advances, royalties, pay, dividends, or whatever compensational arrangement you have worked out with that publishing company. Regardless of how much money, time, energy, advertising, book signing or input in any form that you, the author, have supplied, they are the publishing company, they own your book to do with per the contract you signed with them, and you are the author.
POD, presses and/or printers, and offset printers are means of getting the book/media into print. POD stands for Print On Demand: a digital, electronic form of printing the book. Small and big presses and printers are just that: companies that take the manuscript in raw form and transform it into a book format. Offset printers are the traditional printing presses used for years to churn out large volumes of books. All the guys above (the self-publisher, the small publisher, the big, mega, trade, huge, vanity, and subsidy publishers) use all three formats: POD, printing presses and offset printers to get the book in print. POD, presses/printers, and offset printers are not good or bad; they are merely tools used to get the material into published format.
This is not to say that a company cannot wear two hats and offer the services of publishing and printing, yet most companies stick with one or the other.
Which publishing method an author chooses to go with, whether it be self-publishing; a subsidy, vanity or book packaging company; small publisher; or large/trade publisher, is an individual choice. The most important aspect of this whole author/publisher arrangement is that the author understand what he or she can expect to get at the end (money, respect, esteem, fame, more time to write) and what he or she will need to put into the mix to get there (money, time, energy, more money, more time, more energy). When the author has done all the research, read all the fine print and thoroughly, totally understands what is ahead and what can be expected to be reaped, that is the time to choose a publishing approach.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Publishing- the crapshoot
I am less than an expert on the subject of publishing. Quite frankly, I feel out of my league even putting in my two cents. However, here goes my thoughts on the subject.
I was poking around a writing forum the other day, just snooping on all the conversations, when I can upon a discussion concerning the merits of utilizing a small press versus submissions to a large publisher with hopes of gaining a substantial book contract. This got me thinking.
All of us writers, at some point, go through the same or similar process. We write for a variety of reasons, but the bottom line is, we write. Also, we are all trying to figure out how to get our stuff published. We read all the books and articles, ask the same questions and search the Internet gathering information on getting an agent, on publishing, on self-publishing, on trade publishing, on POD, on small presses, on agent scams and publishing scams. We research and calculate the odds of being published, and all the while, we send our writing out to agents, editors and publishers hoping for a bite.
We do all the same homework and research, yet each writer is a uniquely dissimilar individual with distinctly different work and diverse approaches to life and life's situations. A publishing method that may be ideal for one person may not be appropriate for another. Some writers may not have the patience or fortitude to send their work out time and time again only to be denied, while another writer may not have the skill, determination and resources to self-publish his or her work. In short, after all the information is gathered, dissected and mulled over, no one person can assure a writer of which publishing approach is guaranteed to garner success. A sound strategy and hope is the best that can be done, yet each individual will formulate a plan based on personality, resources and skills.
Perhaps the worst publishing plan to go with is the gut-feeling approach. The experts advise never to let gut feelings replace building a platform and developing a strategic, logical business plan, yet sending material out over and over based on hope does not seem all that logical.
My advice, for what it's worth, is this: do the research, access your personality type, skills, resources and last, but most importantly, go with your gut feelings. A manuscript, article or short story stashed in the box in your closet is of no service to yourself or others. Get the material out there in the method you deem best for you. This may, in the long run, involve an assortment of methods given the variety of avenues now available with the introduction of the Internet. If you make an error in judgement, so be it. Let's face it; it's all a crapshoot anyway.
Never give up hope that your material will be read, re-read, loved, talked about and made into a movie. Some of the best books I've read took ten years to become common household conversation and movies, and I picked up a now infamous diet book for a couple of bucks years before it became well-known. The main thing is to keep writing and never stop putting it out there.
I was poking around a writing forum the other day, just snooping on all the conversations, when I can upon a discussion concerning the merits of utilizing a small press versus submissions to a large publisher with hopes of gaining a substantial book contract. This got me thinking.
All of us writers, at some point, go through the same or similar process. We write for a variety of reasons, but the bottom line is, we write. Also, we are all trying to figure out how to get our stuff published. We read all the books and articles, ask the same questions and search the Internet gathering information on getting an agent, on publishing, on self-publishing, on trade publishing, on POD, on small presses, on agent scams and publishing scams. We research and calculate the odds of being published, and all the while, we send our writing out to agents, editors and publishers hoping for a bite.
We do all the same homework and research, yet each writer is a uniquely dissimilar individual with distinctly different work and diverse approaches to life and life's situations. A publishing method that may be ideal for one person may not be appropriate for another. Some writers may not have the patience or fortitude to send their work out time and time again only to be denied, while another writer may not have the skill, determination and resources to self-publish his or her work. In short, after all the information is gathered, dissected and mulled over, no one person can assure a writer of which publishing approach is guaranteed to garner success. A sound strategy and hope is the best that can be done, yet each individual will formulate a plan based on personality, resources and skills.
Perhaps the worst publishing plan to go with is the gut-feeling approach. The experts advise never to let gut feelings replace building a platform and developing a strategic, logical business plan, yet sending material out over and over based on hope does not seem all that logical.
My advice, for what it's worth, is this: do the research, access your personality type, skills, resources and last, but most importantly, go with your gut feelings. A manuscript, article or short story stashed in the box in your closet is of no service to yourself or others. Get the material out there in the method you deem best for you. This may, in the long run, involve an assortment of methods given the variety of avenues now available with the introduction of the Internet. If you make an error in judgement, so be it. Let's face it; it's all a crapshoot anyway.
Never give up hope that your material will be read, re-read, loved, talked about and made into a movie. Some of the best books I've read took ten years to become common household conversation and movies, and I picked up a now infamous diet book for a couple of bucks years before it became well-known. The main thing is to keep writing and never stop putting it out there.
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