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2005
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The
Differences Between Publishers
When I was trying
to place my first book, a friend referred me to a well known POD Publisher
who doesn't charge authors to get published. They accepted me and emailed
me a pub contract. Once I read their contract I realized they weren't
doing me any favors. Yes, I wanted to get published, but not without
an editor, typesetter, etc. I didn't want to be embarrassed in front
of my friends, coworkers, and relatives by putting out an inferior quality
book. In fact, having people call me illiterate or stupid, or laughing
behind my back was possibly my biggest draw back from having my books
published. I knew that no matter how hard I tried I would miss something.
Particularly since I didn't have an MBA in English and had forgotten
most English rules.
According to the contract the publisher sent, they would not do anything
but take the digital manuscript, create a generic book cover and send
it to the POD printer. Some of my writer friends who went with this
publisher, mailed me copies of their books, and the quality between
our books and theirs is outstanding. It's publishers such as this that
brings a bad name to the print on demand technology. And in essence
they kill a writer's reputation by putting such books on the market.
When you contact a traditional publisher and tell them you've been published
by certain firms, they're instantly not interested. You're suddenly
in snub city. Why? Because traditional publishers know what kind of
books these places put out. They also know that most writers don't have
an English degree, and therefore are bound to have multiple errors in
their books. POD publishers actually accept anyone's books, even those
who don't charge a fee. They have a one sided publishing contract that
authors are required to sign, that include, bad terms, up to 7 years
contract period, high prices to buy their own book wholesale, elevated
retail prices, etc. Still, these publishers attract a few really talented
writers that promote the heck out of their titles and go on to get traditional
publishing contracts. This is a real feat because it normally takes
1500-2000 book sales to get a traditional publishers attention. But
the larger percentage of writers who publish with them, just aren't
that fortunate.
Of course the POD
publisher takes all the credit and posts such stories to their web site.
These success stories keep people signing contracts. And yet, such publishers
have a place in the publishing industry. Competition is always good,
and choice is essential. POD publishers, whether they charge a fee or
not, have helped many good writers break into print.
Just so you know,
POD Publishers are not the same as vanity publishers, or small presses.
Publishing your book through them isn't the same as self-publishing.
The differences are as follows; When you use a vanity publisher, or
choose to self publish (meaning the same thing), the vanity publisher
produces your novel like a traditional publisher does. Meaning, they
produce a book you'll be proud of. And you don't owe them any royalties
from the sale of your books. In addition, you will be required to order
a bulk shipment of 1,000 books or more. The more you order the less
you pay per book
Just My Best, Inc., is different than all other publishers. JMBPUB invests
a lot of time in mentoring and growing authors, and thus expect them
to show their eagerness to succeed by investing in 25 of their own books
at 45% off retail price. And if they aren't willing to do that, JMBPUB
refers them to a POD publisher. JMBPUB is in fact a half-way point between
a traditional publisher and a POD publisher. They prepare their books
for publication like a traditional publisher, and expect authors to
show their commitment by investing a token amount of time and money
into their career.
JMBPUB prepares
each manuscripts by reading, critiquing, editing, setting type, designing
the perfect book cover for the subject matter, and we frequently communicating
with the author. When the manuscript files are ready to go to the printer,
they send them to a pod printer (A print on demand printer is different
than a print on demand publisher. A pod printer does not publish books,
but are only a printer with machinery that can use the pod technology).
Why? Because it keeps expenses low. By using print on demand technology
they don't have to buy in bulk, store the books or ship them. JMBPUB
would need a warehouse to store the books in, and employees to pick
the books up from the printer and unload them into the warehouse. Additional,
they seldom have an author who sells more than 500-800 books during
their contract period. Competition is fierce in the literary field.
Therefore, the remainder of such a large shipment would just sit and
gather dust.
Just My Best, Inc.
is family oriented, and once they accept an author into their publishing
program, they like to retain them. Unless, of course, the author gets
a great contract with a traditional publisher, in which case the staff
at JMBPUB will celebrate with them, while patting themselves on the
back for helping them get there.
I think that eventually distributors will begin placing a ban on books
like the ones most POD publishers put out, because of the lack of quality.
When this happens, the bookstores will be kinder to publishers, such
as Just My Best, Inc., who use print on demand technology to print their
books, but also, like traditional publishers, they turn out quality
books.
In the event your manuscript isn't accepted under our JMBPUB imprint,
they will refer you to Aarbooks. Aarbooks belongs to Just My Best, Inc.,
and the mind set for a quality product is still apparent. Although Aarbooks
is strickly like many other POD publishers, they advise their authors
to make their manuscripts the best they can be. And they support their
efforts to do this by pooling authors who wish to exchange services
such as, editing, critiquing, writing reviews, etc. with one another.
They also offer valuable resources to writers. In addition, Aarbooks
will always format the book and set the type properly. This way your
book looks professional when it hits the market. As you can see, being
referred to Aarbooks is not a bad thing. It just means you need to grow
more as a writer. And both Aarbooks and JMBPU specializes in mentoring
new writers. Either choice is a good one for authors who want to learn,
grow, and succeed.
Last but not least,
authors publishing under the Aarbooks imprint are still considered an
important part of the JMBPUB family. As such, they will be rubbing elbows
with JMBPUB veteran authors who are always happy to write book reviews
or offer advice.
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