Hi Jerry, so what is your advice for POD authors who want to get their book out to public?

There seem to be a lot of different avenues to take but how do you know which way to go?

As a new author, I feel a bit disappointed and confused about the whole process.

I'm happy to see discussion about print on demand, but I'm disappointed that you don't make the distinction between POD service providers and publishers that use POD printers. There is a huge difference between the two. Literary Road, who published my novel, "Vampire Cabbie," is a legitimate book publisher that uses a POD printer, which allows them to be financially viable because they don't have to cough up the big books up front to be able to publish books. I don't believe they merely publish everything that comes along, but instead represent a huge growth in the sector of small (and very small) publishers, which these days represent the bulk of total books sales. These small publishers don't have far-off board of directors they have to answer to and thus are able to take a chance on a book that may not necessarily be the next Harry Potter.

There is a universe of difference between a publishing house like Literary Road and a POD service provider, which essentially is an updated version of the old vanity press. These businesses provide an invaluable service, especially considering that more and more writers are choosing to self publish. However, it needs to be stated clearly that POD service providers don't really vet their books, while publishers like Literary Road do. As far as the issue of getting books into the national chains, it's probably partially due to an assumption that if books are being shipped by Lightning Source, they haven't come from a real publisher, which isn't necessarily true. Probably more to the point, booksellers locally and nationally are overwhelmed by the growing number of Brand X publishers and will be apt to err on the side of caution when dealing with people they've never heard of and have no prior experience with.

I can understand your frustration, unfortunately there are no easy answers. Their are many avenues but the best way to market your book is the Internet. It's the most cost effective and best way to reach your audience. You just have to be careful of buying products and services that don't work. If you have a question about any one in particular send me an email jerry@NothingBinding.com and I'll be happy to offer an opinion.

Jerry D. Simmons

My apology, you are right, there are legit publishers that utilize the POD technology and don't publish anything that comes along. However, the marketplace that I refer to does not distinguish between the two. They label any book shipped by a POD related company as inferior. I'm not saying this is right, it's just the nature of the business. This is unfortunate but at the present time it's the only method the bookstores have of distinguishing between the number of Brand X Publishers, they label them all. Thank you for your comment and hopefully more people will join our discussion.

Jerry D. Simmons

Let's face it, the New York crowd isn't going to give any respect to a publisher that doesn't fit their model. Small presses may get some respect because they do the same thing the New York houses do, but on a smaller scale.

Unfortunately, there are a LOT more good books out there than the New York and the small pubs combined can print. They have to go for the "low hanging fruit". In other words, projects that "fit" their model of what sells or stuff from authors who already have a loyal following (a' la Stephen King).

So, what happens to the rest of the good books? They either languish beneath a pile of rejection notes or get published via some other venue.

In a perfect world:

The really good stuff will hopefully end up in the hands of a discriminating POD or eBook such as AKW Books (or both) publisher.

The other stuff will end up with a vanity press or a "will take anything" POD or eBook outfit, perhaps with a charge to the author attached.

In the real world we get a mix of publishing routes.

What we have to remember is that the goal of commercial writers is to make money by selling their work. The hobbiest doesn't count because s/he'll never do the things necessary to succeed.

If you can't get published by a mainstream publisher, your only other route is the ones mentioned above. In either case, if you're not someone with a "name", you're going to have to do a lot of work selling your creation. A good salesman can make money even with a vanity press publication. An author who won't do the marketing necessary probably won't even succeed with a big New York house.

So, if you want to be accepted by the New York publishers, your options are very limited. If you want to make sales and money, one of the other options may work out for you, but it won't get you "publishing credits" with the big houses nor is it likely to make as much money as a really successful book would with a big house.

However, with Jerry's new distribution setup, that may change. Just remember, your "advertising budget" is most likely to come out of your own pocket.

[Al steps off his podium and waits for Jerry to correct his gaffs.]