Wishing you a joyous holiday season and outstanding New Year from Self-publishing Advice!
Category: Uncategorized
Author Solutions very recently announced its sponsorship of their inaugural “indie publishing” contest. The announcement reads…
“Since when can a writing contest turn the winner into an author with a published book…and provide a staff of book marketing professionals to help get the book into bookstores and publicized? This is the new reality of combining a traditional writing contest with the myriad advantages of indie publishing.”
According to the guidelines, aspiring authors can enter up to 5,000 words of their novel, nonfiction book, story, or even poem. Winners and runners up will then be selected from among the 4 categories, along with a grand prize winner. The entry fee is $35 ($25 for poems).
The news stirred up a long standing semantically charged debate among those in the book publishing and self-publishing industry, with a fight over what exactly “indie publishing” is.
Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware writes, “By “indie publishing,” they don’t mean true self-publishing, or publishing with an independent publisher, but the kind of publishing provided by print-on-demand [POD] publishing services.”
And Sue Collier of Self-Publishing Resources emphatically calls out the ASI with this remark, “Say what? Authors Solutions is NOT — I repeat, NOT — an indie book publishing anything, let alone “leader.’”
Much of the controversy over the competition surrounds content ownership and ISBN assignments in particular.
Collier goes on to write, “Authors Solutions is a vanity press (aka subsidy press). It is a pay-to-publish service wherein authors pay to publish their book under the Author Solutions name.”
I think it is safe to say that the type of publishing this contest aims to produce is a form of self-publishing – authors still retain 100% of their rights in most cases, even using a publisher supplied ISBN.
What about the term “full-service self-publishing” though? There are publishing solutions where you can effectively select from among a collection of services from writing all the way to book marketing, and even offer private imprint options. Very few authors are also designers, marketers, editors, SEO experts, etc., all of which combine toward the goal of effective book publishing.
In many cases authors can benefit greatly by a full-service firm. Sure, you could contract all those services ala cart, but unless you have massive leverage, that’s likely to be an expensive endeavor. It’s a matter of scale. And yes, books are primarily available POD. Some are carried in brick-and-mortar stores, but primarily sold online. Readers buy books online.
This is not an Author Solutions promotion or plug for the contest however. Not all publishing services providers are equal, and like Collier, I have worked with many dissatisfied Author Solutions authors across all of their brands. Research is key. Sure, you may learn a few things from other’s AuthorHouse complaints, Xlibris scams, or iUniverse reviews. Take that information in part with a grain of salt – those unhappy authors are infinitely more likely to complain that happy ones.
In the end, successful book publishing is successful book publishing, and each author’s goal in that endeavor unique.
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Scholars and sources claim that William Shakespeare invented as many 1700 in his published and performed writing career. Language is dynamic and words are invented all of the time. Or, in cases like “Google” reinvented through accidentally misspelling the word for the number, googol. When words, specific combinations of words, are used often they can become powerful. They can also become cliché.
An interesting definition of the word cliché from Wikipedia:
“a saying, expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect rendering it a stereotype, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. The term is frequently used in modern culture for an action or idea which is expected or predictable, based on a prior event. It is likely to be used pejoratively.”
How many of us where taught to avoid cliché in our writing at all cost? One popular creative writing professor focuses an entire week on the subject.
In print, the French derived word, cliché, came to denote a printing plate used as a cast in moveable type. Commonly used words and phrases were cast into a single mold. The idea was to take a novelty and replicate it easily and inexpensively. The overuse of such came to take on a negative connotation.
But cliché can work for the self-publishing author in marketing your book.
What do words and phrases like these bring to mind?
Change we can believe in
All for one…
Don’t leave home without it…
Google
Even if these are terms you don’t personally buy into, or even agree with, they are indelible. Think of them as the cast plate of the new digital work that come in the form of keywords, tags, Twitter handles, and the list goes on. The can become the brand for your book. And the best part is they are free.
Whether you’re published or just finishing the 1st chapter of your book, start thinking about what makes your work unique, and how cliché may become a key component in your book marketing campaign.
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Perhaps you worked off those Thanksgiving day calories among the crowds this Black Friday. Maybe though you noticed the crowds not quite as thick as they once were. Or, maybe you are one of us who shopped Black Friday sales online from the comfort of the couch during movie or football commercials.
Online commerce is changing the way we interact and do business. Groupon, for instance, is currently advertising a $40 for $20 bookstore sale. Or one full-service self-publishing option offering staggering 25% off illustrations services. But like all Black Friday sales – these offers will end soon. So if you’re thinking book buying for the holidays or heading toward the new year with getting that self-publishing book project off the ground, today is the day.
Cheers.
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Blogger and bestselling author, Seth Godin, to hold a one day publishing conference…
“Book publishing is in the throes of serious change, from format to content to marketing. Since my first book in 1986, I’ve been thinking about this–as a writer, a self-publisher, an ebook creator and as a marketer. I’ve probably had my hands on 200 books or booklike projects over the last twenty-five years, and I’ve learned a lot.
“For the first time, I’m running a seminar to talk about it.”
To learn more and register check out Seth’s blog here.
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