BOOK BIZ

Vol. XVII No. 2

There’s Still No Free Lunch!

Recently an author advised that he was considering our publishing services, but a friend told him about the newest Net Vanity flavor-of-the-month – which was “free”… or so he thought. We checked it out and, sure enough, it was the same ol’, same ol’: yes, they’ll dump the contents of your disk into their hopper free, then wysiwyg – what-you-see-is-what-you-get – prints out. And the resulting copies cost you big-time – the way they all make the bulk of their money: selling individual copies to authors at outrageous prices. Then they’ll offer “royalties” on bookstores sales – because, of course, they’ve registered your book in their ISBN name and own it. That’s the only way anybody can offer “royalties” – if they own the book. And that’s some kind of “free”!

Despite the rather obvious tactics these Net “publishers” use, they do a good job of glossing over that ISBN ownership by assuring authors that they (the authors) own the copyright – which virtually all authors do, but that doesn’t control the revenue. Even when what’s really happening is explained to them, many authors have trouble understanding the differences – and consequences. So here’s a handy comparison:

What WE do:

1. Edit, format, design, typeset & proof the material you submit, resulting in customized book pages.
2. Provide 1^st galleys for changes, then final proofs for last minute corrections.
3. Register the book’s ISBN in your name, so you own it 100%. You can’t successfully market the book otherwise.
4. Prepare a customized cover, your input invited, with proofs subject to your approval.
5. Professionally print, bind and ship ALL books to you.
6. Charge you only for the production services provided, which include all books printed.
7. We retain no books, so if you choose to sell in our Small & Self-Publishers’ bookshop, we take a 40% commission per order received, then send you payment plus order info for drop shipping (since you have all the books).

What THEY do:

1. Dump your material from disk into a hopper that produces form-fit pages.
2. Provide one set of proofs.
3. Register the book’s ISBN in their name, so they own your book. Again, you can’t successfully market the book this way.
4. Offer you a limited, cookie-cutter choice of stock art covers.
5. Fast-print an initial amount of books for their sale – mostly to you!
6. Charge you varied production fees, depending on the “package” they can talk you into – then charge you an inflated amount for each book you’re required to purchase from them.
7. They control the quantity of books printed, offering a “royalty” on any outside (bookstore) sales. Good luck there!

That comparison, incidentally, isn’t limited to PPC Books. It should hold with any true Self-Publishing production provider. The key is the ISBN: Net Vanity and POD companies invariably register it in their name. Don’t be suckered into giving your precious book away that freely – which may be the only kind of “free” involved here!

BOOK BIZ

Vol. XVI No. 4

The Great Print-on-Demand & Net-Vanity Scam:
Garbage In – Garbage Out!

Back in the early 80’s, when computers were first appearing on desktops, a particularly apt aphorism was created in answer to mysteriously mangled text that all-too-often appeared on the monitor screen and/or printout: “Garbage in – garbage out!”

In other words, simple text entry wasn’t good enough, since that invariably required further attention, like editing, possibly re-writing, and proofreading. The same thing, in spades, is true in book production – especially since there’s so much more involved.

That applies all too well to the slam-bam approach to “publishing” that’s so popular on the Net today. Real, professionally-produced books don’t fly out of typewriters – or computers – onto marketable pages. They require editing, design & formatting, typesetting, proofreading, original cover art and, yes, even tender loving care. Not being run through cookie-cutter hoppers that just set them up for printing, with all their warts and blemishes still exposed.

An offer to take whatever’s on your disk and print it fast and cheap will

obviously result in a cheaply produced book, in every way.

A miniscule number of writers may be adept at preparing their work for print, but most need help after they’ve completed the main job of writing. As simple a task as setting proper margins depends on a variety of specifications, including trim size, page count and binding. And items like drop caps, folio & header placement, leading & kerning, insets, graphic frames and more require professional expertise to assure an end product that’s indistinguishable from mainstream bestsellers.

An offer to take whatever’s on your disk and print it fast and cheap will obviously result in a cheaply produced book, in every way. But that doesn’t mean the production necessarily has to be slow or costly, either. It just means that professional quality books, similar to the ones mainstream publishers spend years and big bucks producing, can’t be done overnight at ridiculously cheap cost. But they can be done reasonably fast and at reasonable cost. After all the time and effort you’ve put into composing your book, you don’t want to risk that investment with a shoddy product. The irony there is also that a seemingly cheap deal will, in fact, become more costly per-book when you need enough copies for marketing.

And, of course, you can’t effectively market the book if the “publisher” isn’t you – because the ISBN is registered to that Net “publisher,” not to you. Only when the ISBN is registered in your name are you truly Self-Publishing – and controlling that all-important revenue.

Everybody loves a bargain, but nobody wants to end up with a book that clearly looks like it was a bargain product – especially when you try to market it as quality. That’s why “SUCKER” T-shirts are made. Don’t set yourself up for one. Consider your book for the investment it is, and treat it accordingly.