“They Laughed When I Said My Book is Being Published”  
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What do these authors have in common?
John Grisham: A Time to Kill
Richard Bolles: What Color is Your Parachute?
and James Redfield: The Celestine Prophecy
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 All are successful Self Published authors...

Traditionally, having a book published has meant that you had to hire an agent and submit your manuscript to numerous publishers.  This usually involved an arduous search to find an agent who was willing to represent you.  To add insult to injury, you had to pay the agent to help you present your manuscript to the publishers.  This also required making many copies of your manuscript and paying postage to send the manuscript to multiple publishers.

o     This procedure also required a lot of patience with no guarantee that your book would ever be published.

o     If and when your manuscript was accepted by a publisher, the time between acceptance and publication was usually one to two years.

o       The typical contract with a publisher under this system paid the author royalties of 5 – 8%.  Royalties were paid annually or semi-annually.

Another method for publishing a book involved what is known as a “Vanity Press”.  A “Vanity Press” is a publisher that will publish your manuscript for a fee.  Typically these publishers charge upwards of $3,000 to PRINT a book.  The vanity presses offer no means of selling your book once it is printed.  After having your book PRINTED by a “Vanity Press”, an author would have 500 plus books delivered to them, which they would then have to find a way to sell. The time required to have your book produced by a vanity press is approximately the same as a traditional publisher - one to two years.

You may have heard of “Self Publishing” as a way to get your book published.  This often involves the use of a “Vanity Press” and various self promotion techniques.

o    Among the most famous self-published authors are: Walt Whitman: Leaves of Grass, Mark Twain: Huckleberry Finn, John Grisham: A Time to Kill, Richard Bolles: What Color is Your Parachute?, L. Ron Hubbard: Dianetics, Irma Rombauer: The Joy of Cooking, Richard Nixon: Real Peace, and James Redfield: The Celestine Prophecy. These are just a few of many self-published writers whose works have sold millions of copies and are still selling because people want to read what they have to say.

o    What Color is Your Parachute by Episcopal clergyman Richard Nelson Bolles. 22 editions, 5 million copies and 288 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Now published by Ten Speed Press.

o    The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield. His manuscript made the rounds of the mainstream houses and then he decided to publish himself. He started by selling copies out of the trunk of his Honda -- over 100,000 of them. He subsequently sold out to Warner Books for $800,000. The number-one bestseller in 1996, it spent 165 weeks on The New York Times Bestseller list. Over 5.5 million copies have been sold.

An alternative to these methods has emerged with the advent of significant strides in computers, the internet and high speed printing processes. This system of publishing is variously known as “Desk Top Publishing”, “Electronic Publishing” and “Print on Demand” (POD) publishing.  People in the know in the publishing business refer to this method as “Self Publishing on Steroids”. Some of the benefits of this system are as follows:

o    No need to SEARCH for an agent. (Saves you time)

o    Does not require an agent. (Saves you money)

o    No need to pay for dozens of copies and postage to mail your manuscript. (Saves you money)

o    The time to get published is usually only a few months. (Saves you time)

o    Royalty payments are typically 4 to 5 times those paid by traditional publishers. (Pays you MORE MONEY)

o    The cost to have your book published is significantly less.  Usually in the hundreds of dollars, instead of the thousands of dollars. (Saves you money)

o    “Print on Demand” publishers offer many options to market your book.  ISBN numbers are assigned, which means they are listed in “Books in Print”, the “Bookstore Bible”, for ordering books. Many POD publishers also make your book available on Amazon.com and in other online bookstores.

o    Some POD publishers offer additional marketing services including soliciting book reviews, author interviews, book signings, etc.

You can have the “last laugh” when it comes to publishing your book if you decide to select a “Print on Demand” publisher with all the benefits listed above.

·          Where can you find such a publisher?  The internet is home to all publishers today.  Search for “book publisher” and you will find traditional publishers, vanity publishers and print on demand publishers.

o       The better “print on demand” publishers do not require full payment up front,  do not take “any of your rights”, and pay higher royalties, 20-30% vs. 5-8%.  You are free to pursue agreements with major publishers or to market your book yourself.

o       The better “print on demand” publishers offer marketing packages to assist you in identifying venues for sales, provide press releases about your book, help you in securing book reviews, radio and television interviews, help arrange book signings, promote book signings and many more services that you will need.  

Art “Earnie” Banzhof, Publisher

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                      Are YOU a Published Author?  Do YOU Want to Be?
                      Become One Now! http://www.we-publish.com/
                      If you have a manuscript ready for publishing and
                      you have questions or need help, call me at 1-215-825-8408
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