Author: Adam Decker
Date:   06-29-06 11:33

Has anyone had any dealings with Author House out of Bloomington IN? They are a POD but seem to be reputable. I'm considering publishing through them. Any input would be appreciated.

Author: Michael Hill
Date:   06-29-06 12:19

I have not had any books published through AuthorHouse but I did recieve a publishing package kit. For I too was interested in having them publish my book. However, as expensive as they were, they wouldn't be able to do anymore or less than what LuLu could do. Have you checked with LuLu? Here's there website www.LuLu.com

Author: Michael Hill
Date:   06-29-06 12:23

And before I forget, there are no set up fees! Of course they have a charge for Global Distribution which is $99.99. That includes your ISBN as well as your book being posted on there site as well as amazon,Barnes & Nobles, etc...

Author: barbara english
Date:   06-29-06 14:37

Two of my friends published with Authorhouse and they're pleased with the finished product. I'd recommend Authorhouse.

Barb-e

Author: Anthony Ravenscroft
Date:   06-29-06 16:43

Allow me to be the first to ask,

ARE YOU HALFWITTED FOOLS ENTIRELY OUT OF YOUR TINY LITTLE MINDS????

Look it up.

Pretend to have a grain of the acumen that defines "author" -- run "author house" through Google or whatever. Try adding either fraud or scam or, if you're already enjoying the light, clean feeling of a freshly Hoovered wallet, complaints.

Search the company on this site, or AbsoluteWrite.

Stop being brain-damaged sheep who'll throw cash at any flatterer who staggers past.

Or, if you'd rather be one of the aforementioned, at least have the good graces to NEVER NEVER EVER flog yourself off as a "writer," much less an "author."

Criminies....

Author: Adam Decker
Date:   06-29-06 23:59

My half witted mind did search this site as well as a google search. Neither turned up anything negative. Tell me oh enlightened one what I'm missing. I guess you are published? Please tell my tiny little mind how it is done.

Author: Anthony Ravenscroft
Date:   06-30-06 02:37

"Here's a scam that only the most gullible aspiring author would fall for..."
http://leegoldberg.typepad.com/a_writers_life/2005/08/scam_of_the_mon.html

"AuthorHouse (formerly 1st Books): Not recommended. A vanity publisher."
http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/peba.htm

"The most recent online Fact Sheet for AuthorHouse, one of the largest and oldest of the POD services, reported 27,000 titles in print as of 2004, with total book sales of over 3 million. It sounds like a lot, but averages out to around 111 sales per title."
(Meaning that, for every client who sells 10,000 copies, there's like a hundred who only sell to themselves.)
http://sfwa.org/beware/printondemand.html

By either name, more than half of their "always available" titles are out of print, per Amazon.com.

And, once more: they are not a "publisher" -- they are a vendor. Worse than a printer, though, because if you withdraw your book, you own nothing but the original manuscript, & could be readily sued for trying to copy their layout, cover, etc.

Are there worse? Oh, yes. But I don't see where (to give them some credit) "twentieth worst" is particularly good. If you absolutely must fling your hopeful thousand dollars at something, at least go after BookSurge (Amazon.com connection), Xlibris (Random House connection) or Lulu (cheap).

Duh.

Author: barbara english
Date:   06-30-06 03:14

Sir Ravencroft,

I don't see any reason why you have to insult a person for asking a question and others giving a response.

Authorhouse charges $698.00 to publish your book. Granted, you do all the advertising, marketing, etc. No one is putting a gun to the author's head to pay Authorhouse to publish their book. It's the author's choice. Being rejected 1,000 times is no fun. A writer believes in his/her work and uses POD publishers.

Author: Anthony Ravenscroft
Date:   06-30-06 03:54

A fairly balanced comparison, useful for the easily-led:
http://booksandtales.com/pod/index.php
More specifically:
http://booksandtales.com/pod/publisherviewer.php?publisher_id=5
"Break-even point: Fairly expensive. Between 400 and 500 copies"
"Their contract is one of the most convoluted to be found within the context of POD."

$698.00 to publish your book

You mean print. That's print your book. I am by no means working to insult your literacy, eyesight, sanity, or intelligence when I say THEY & THEIR ILK DO NOT EXCEPT BY THE MOST CONVOLUTED TWISTING OF THE ENGLISH LANUAGE PUBLISH YOUR BOOK.

No one is putting a gun to the author's head.... It's the author's choice.

An author is someone who's been published (see previous) or is being terribly pretentious. Playing to the idle fantasies of the gullible is enough of a "gun" -- the clueless quickly start to defend their cluelessness, then months later come wailing onto AW & WNet & such about "never sold a single copy!" & "say I don't have rights!" & such.

Being rejected 1,000 times is no fun.

A thousand, eh? Happens all the time, does it? My impression is that the su... I mean clients of most such companies (however shady or not) mostly have less than a dozen rejections.

Any writer who gets rejected 1,000 times without a sale either sucks vastly at being a writer & should get a different & more satisfying hobby, or is churning out vast amounts of garbage that can only with great kindness be called "writing."

A dozen rejections forces deep self-examination among those who actually have the mettle to be writers. They look at their style, their targeted market, their query letter. Quite often, they start writing other stuff as well. They work, they refine, they practice, they read.

There's a handful of POD & vanity vendors that get the flow of customers they do because they're actively selling the dream of "being an author."

I'd recommend Authorhouse.

You'd recommend AH on the entire basis of "two friends"? That's how the typical pyramid scheme flourishes, too. You haven't even said you've seen physical copies of those books -- assuming such (the books or the friends) actually exist.

POD services have their place, for highly specialised nonfiction books that will be actively pushed onto the public, or for people who want a dozen copies of the family history to pass around at Gramma Tilly's birthday party. Anyone who's expecting other outcomes is mistaken.

I don't give a serious darn about people that are so desperate for "publication" yet so necessarily lazy that they leap as a first resort to these services, & delude themselves into believing that spending themselves into poverty will lead to success. After all, it's not much different from poor folks who spend the rent money on Powerball, or an alcoholic who "just has one or two for courage" before going to a critical job interview.

Rather, it's the non-posting browsers I wish to dissuade from picking up the notion that there's any "easy way" to being a writer.

Author: Bertram Hatfield
Date:   06-30-06 07:29

Anthony,

I agree with you totally.

In any case the reward of writing (for me at any rate) is finishing a piece to my own satisfaction. If at any subsequent stage I get some professional feedback from an editor (who may have actually knocked back my work but says it was well written and so forth - and this has happened a few times) I feel almost as satisfied with that as I might have been with a sale.


That kind of positve response enables me to carry on with my writing.

So for me self publishing would be a cop out. An admission that I had stopped trying to break into the "real" market.



Bert

Author: barbara english
Date:   06-30-06 07:51

Sir Ravencroft,

I certainly didn't mean that an auth..I mean a writer received 1,000 rejection letters. Anyway, John Grisham was rejected countless times for his first book and now he's a best-selling author. So it's a good thing he didn't put his typewriter or computer in the closet to collect dust. You are saying that writers should look into another hobby because they can't write or they're writing garbage. I wouldn't advice any writer to throw in the towel because he/she's been rejected 1,000 times. I'd tell them to keep on writing.

Barb-e

Author: Bertram Hatfield
Date:   06-30-06 10:41

I've told you a million times not to exaggerate!

Author: barbara english
Date:   06-30-06 11:20

???????

Author: Anthony Ravenscroft
Date:   06-30-06 19:43

As I recall, Grisham was widely rejected -- as are most untried authors. He got picked up by a publisher, but they decided he wasn't likely to be "flavour of the week" after all, & so cut his title. He scraped together cash, & bought the rest of the run, which was otherwise likely to be pulped. He then spent a couple of years flogging this from the trunk of his car... while he continued writing & sending his proposals out to publishers. He was in no way "self-published."

On the other hand, let's consider a guy in his early 20s, who's teaching impoverished kids in Appalachia. To work off his frustrations with the kids, the schools, the local system, the federal system, & the politics of it all, he comes home at night & takes up obsessive writing. His wife bats ideas around with him, reads through his stuff & offers suggestions. Faced with a mounting stack of manuscripts "I'm just done dealing with," they start sending them out.

By the time he's 29, the 40th novel is published. He's written them under seven or eight names, & freely admits that most of them are embarrassingly bad, but he can probably tell you what each one taught hi, & besides he averaged a couple thousand bucks each.

That would be about 1973, & that would be Dean Koontz.

Who, to my understanding, has never paid to have anything bigger than a Christmas card published.

Author: Robert Raven
Date:   06-30-06 20:12

You're preaching at the wind, Anthony. Let 'em that wants pay to get their stuff in print, and don't say they wasn't warned as to how it works out. In fact, I'd even recommend they sign up with Bobby Fletcher to help 'em out.

RR

Author: janet weikel
Date:   07-01-06 04:13

Dear Adam,
I submitted a ms to AurthorHouse when they called themselves 1stBooks (in 1999). I gave them my money and they did everything they said they'd do except when they printed the book they only printed half of the story (the first 6 chapters). When I called them to fix it they said it was my fault (said I only sent half of the story on disk)and wanted another $500.00! I explained to them it wasn't my fault. I knew for a fact I sent the entire story because they printed the last page of the book on the end of chapter 6! I mean it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out! Anyway, I canceled my contract with them.

About 8 months ago I happen to find this same book being sold on the internet through online bookstores (B&N, Amazon, ect.) I contacted the online bookstores and they told me that they often buy books from publishers who have books that didn't sell. Well, this couldn't be right because 1stBooks was POD.

I contacted AuthorHouse and told them to remove my book from the internet and to stop selling it. Jeepers only half of the book was there! I didn\\\'t get a response.

I then found my book on ebay being sold as a new copy. I bought the auction and about 2 weeks later I received the book. I then asked the seller where did they get the book because it was an illegal sale. They said they ordered it from AuthorHouse.

To make a longer story short, I ended up hiring a literary attorney to finally get my book removed from the internet (all except one sight and the on there it's listed as out-of-print and being sold as used.

I'd stay away from AuthorHouse. I know of another person who gave a lot of money to them and never sold a book.

I hope I've helped you some. It wasn't cheap hiring a literary attorney and it was a whole lot of stress!

Janet

Author: barbara english
Date:   07-01-06 04:52

I did not say that John Grisham self-published. I was only pointing out to the fact that he received many rejection slips.

So Janet, what you are saying is that Authorhouse can sell your book even thought you've asked them to take it off the internet and bookshelves?

Barb-e

Author: barbara english
Date:   07-01-06 05:27

So how is a person supposed to get published? I mean, you've written a good story. You know that it has best seller potential, you keep getting rejected by publishing houses and literary agents, you want to see your book in print, so what other way but to POD publlishers.

Barb-e

Author: Anthony Ravenscroft
Date:   07-01-06 19:39

When zombies from PA or AH flog their Messiahs, John Grisham is one of the "Top Ten" of most-mentioned "self-published authors." Though not your intent, Barbara, you've clearly been tainted by exposure to the propaganda.

And you're still actively participating in conflating "printed" with "published." Why is that?

If it "has best-seller potential," then self-publishing will almost assuredly -- 9,998 instances out of 10,000, anyway, to be ridiculously optimistic -- completely kill it. Doesn't matter whether s/he does it via Xlibris or Kinkos.

If the writer has never before submitted a piece for publication -- even a "Letter to the Editor" in the East Armpit Weekly Blatt -- then s/he's giving up before even making a credible attempt.

Let me put it in a fantasy form. Let's say that I could toss some fairy-dust around, & promise that all you have to do to get a six-figure contract with a major house is to get 1,000 thousand-word (or longer) pieces published, for someone you'd never previously met. Doesn't matter that you make a dollar per appearance. Even with the guarantee signed in blood & guaranteed by PriceWaterhouse, I'd probably never have to make good. Most people who "want to be published" don't have the ideas, the skill, or the drive.

I encourage anyone who "wants to get into print" to go ahead & do that. It's a great experience, & one that few human beings have ever been capable of achieving -- not one person in a thousand will die having finished a book-length manuscript.

Most, though, then get all weepy-waily because they can't get into bookstores, can't get credible published reviews, aren't making a living from writing, etc. They're led at every turn to believe "it's all the same," when nothing in reality concurs -- except for the "professionals" ready to Hoover as many wallets as possible before the cops catch up.

Author: janet weikel
Date:   07-02-06 01:53

Dear Barb-e,

This is the 3rd time I've tried to post. If it doesn't work, I give up! LOL

First of all I'm new to this site, so please don't think I'm a know-it-all, because I certainly don't have all of the answers. :)

To answer your first question...Legally AH doesn't have the right to sell my book, especially since the original contract expired several years ago, and they are still advertising it on the internet. So, I cancelled the contract, but if I hadn't, the original would have expired by now anyway. But to PROVE they sold any copies is the kicker. They told my attorney that they only printed 5 copies. Who knows for sure. I mean we're dealing with a company who changed their name only to continue to take writers under their new name. Can they be trusted? I don't think so.

BTW, PA doesn't stock thier books in book and mortar stores, unfortunately. In fact, the only way you'll sell books is if family, friends and other PA writers buy. Sure you'll be listed on online bookstores, but how is a total stranger going to find you among a kagillion books listed?

You asked, "How are we to get published then?" First of all, write a good book. If you are receiving a lot of rejections and you can't find an agent to represent you, then you must ask yourself why. Yes, a lot of writers are being published by AH and PA, but that doesn't make them good writers. Go to the AH and PA website and read a few excerpts from their books. Then you'll ask yourself, "How in the world did they become published?"

I'm not saying all of AH and PA writers are lousy writers. What I am saying is that if you sign with either, your name/book will be tainted by association. No one in the reputable publishing world will take you seriously. I know from experience.

Take the advice of posters on this site (and other writng sites), make your book the best it can be. You may think you have written a best seller, but that's not what's really important. The agents and publishers and future readers have to think it's a best seller.

Join a good cp group, or even two. Get honest feedback from them. Don't just get your ego stroked. You want people who care enough about your writing to tell you what's working and what's not.

Join an online writing class. I was so surprised what I learned about POV, Show VS Tell, Action Before Reaction, ect... I know I'm a better writer by listening to other writers.

If you want to write a little book to share with family and friends, then join PA or AH. But if you want to be a good writer and make money doing something you love, then don't sell out like I did. Wait for the right publisher to come along and if you're good, they will publish your work.

Just a couple of days after I signed with PA a very good Christian publisher emailed me for a full. I could have kicked myself! Don't make the mistake I made.

Listen to Anthony and others on this site. They have nothing to gain by offering you advise. They only want you to succeed. I had fairy dust in my eyes, as Anthony said, and signed with a rotten publishing house. Don't be in a hurry to just be published, wait for the right house to go with.

I hope I haven't hurt your feelings. I'm just trying to save you the grief I've went through. I wish you all the luck in the world.

Janet

BTW, what genre do you write? maybe I can stir you to a couple of good sites. :)

Author: barbara english
Date:   07-02-06 03:29

Janet, Sir Ravenscroft,

Thank you.

Janet, I know that POD books are not stocked on bookshelves in brick and mortar stores. I know that writers do their own publishing, marketing, ads, etc. Okay, I write. I have a very, very good editor. People read my work and tell me it's good. Not just friends and family. I would never send out work that's not properly edited. (any spelling errors here, forgive). I'm very passionate about my writing. I love to write. I've been writing from....a long, long time. I've had my writing published in local newspapers, my plays produced to soldout audiences. So, because some blankety-blank agents keep rejecting me, does that mean that I should stop doing what I enjoy doing? That I should throw in the towel and find some other hobby?

You haven't hurt my feelings, Janet.

Oh, My genre romance/suspense - liable to change any time.

Barb-e

Author: janet weikel
Date:   07-02-06 04:16

Barb-e
Yikes, I meant "steer" you to a couple of sites. LOL

It sounds like you're doing all of the right things.

You mentioned an editor. Is that a publishing editor or a friend who edits? It doesn't matter, I was just wondering mabe he/she could get your work in front of some publishers.

I write historical romances, mostly Christian. Have you ever went to www.romantictimes.com? They have a message board where a lot of readers and writers post. They may be able to help you also.

How about Harlequin? They have a huge line of books. I know they are starting a new line to their Love Inspired. It's historical Love Inspired. They have a (many) message board also.

Have you joined Romance Writers of America? I don't have a chapter close by, but you may. That may be a place to start.

I wish I could be more help to you. Of course you make the final decision as to what's best for you. I just hated to see you make the same mistakes I've made, but maybe going with POD is what you want to do.

Janet

Author: barbara english
Date:   07-02-06 05:05

I know that's what you meant, Janet - to steer me to a couple of sights.

No, my editor is not a publishing editor. She's an English teacher and very good at editing. I've been checking out various message boards. I do not like this POD thingamagoo. I want to make money, not spend money. Anyway, thanks for trying to help. I know that we are all on this board seeking a shoulder to cry on.

Barb-e

Author: Cathy C
Date:   07-02-06 08:37

You really need to join Romance Writers of America, barb-e. They have one of the finest support networks for romance writers in the world. It's one of the very few writer's organizations that doesn't require members to already be published to join. There are any number of chapters that could help you get your book/query/synopsis in shape to submit to houses. The "Kiss of Death" chapter specifically deals with romantic suspense. You should drop by and see all they have to offer (yes, I'm a member--no, I'm not on the membership committee. LOL!):

http://www.rwanational.org

Author: barbara english
Date:   07-02-06 10:08

Thanks,Cathy. I'm going there right now.

Barb-e

Author: Ann Crispin
Date:   07-02-06 13:28

Judging strictly by the number of compliants we receive at Writer Beware, and a comparision of the AuthorHouse and iUniverse contracts, a writer already determined to go POD would be better off with iUniverse than with AH.

iUniverse's "basic" package is also cheaper than the AH "basic" package.

Of course, Lulu is the most inexpensive at all, but it's a very bare bones service. Not all POD authors want something that bare bones.

Good luck.

-Ann C. Crispin

Author: barbara english
Date:   07-02-06 13:39

Boo hooo...sob...cry...weep...bawl...sniff...I do not want to go POD.

Barb-e

Author: Robert Orn
Date:   07-03-06 16:05

Hey Adam,

My name is Mark and I recently printed (I’m rarely pretentious A.R., so we won’t use the word published) a book with authorhouse. The decision to do this was a snap decision, and one whose influences could no doubt be attributed to alcohol and the terror and self-doubt that sometimes settles upon those who talents don’t always measure up to their own demands.

They did everything they said they would do, and they generally performed these tasks before they had promised to do so. I was truly amazed when I saw the cover for the first time. It far exceeded my expectations. The grammatical errors, the misspellings, and the spacing irregularities (and I must admit, there is an embarrassing plethora of them) are all my fault. That would be the product of sloppy editing. I know better next time.

Although I do not regret my decision – nor do I regret the party that engendered the state of mind that allowed me to make that decision – I understood, then as now, that it might not have been my best option. As Anthony Ravenscroft so eloquently stated, one must make a credible effort to find a good manuscript a home. I did not do that.

I am proud of the book. It is called Dancing with Ghosts, and it is a 200,000 word homage to all of my favorite suspense and action films (part of the prologue is presented on my website www.erobertorn.com). However, I knew that if I printed it with authorhouse, I would be dooming it to obscurity. I knew that the only copies of it I would be able to see would be to friends and family, and then I would have to count on word of mouth. Because I am a Sales Manager for a hotel in Florida, however, I meet a lot of people and have made a couple of decent contacts. I also understand that it will take me years to make my money back on this project, if I am lucky enough to do so at all. That’s okay. I just wanted to print something, see if I could get my name out there. My plan was that perhaps I would be able to use it to generate interest from a literary agent. I created a website, and I have a site on myspace. It was fun, and I feel like I’m running a little business.

What I didn’t foresee was the undeniable stigma that is attached to self-published books. I actually don’t mind the fact that I can’t call myself a published writer (even at the time I knew I was cheating), but I don’t think it’s fair to assume that I’m not a real writer simply because I paid to have something of mine printed (if a man goes to a prostitute and pays for sex, he’s still a real man, even if some would consider that a bit pathetic).

The truth of the matter is you have to go your own way. I enjoyed the process of having my first book printed, and I will continue to work on getting it out there, even though the fruits of these labors will probably yield a result no different than the one old Sisyphus experienced with his rock.

Anyway, I’m glad I found this website, and I look forward to the opportunity to speak with other writers concerning the demons, problems & challenges that lie down our respective paths.

I wish you all the best of luck.

Mark

Author: Adam Decker
Date:   07-03-06 16:53

I just want to thank you all for the posts. They have been enlightening at the very least. Even Ravenscroft managed to bring something worthwhile to the discussion, after he got the name calling out of the way of course. Thanks to everyone.

Author: Anthony Ravenscroft
Date:   07-03-06 18:18

Mr Orn: nothing at all wrong with pretense... but it must be grasped bravely & firmly!!

In the Real World (so-called), every writer must at some point stand up, scowl imperiously, & bellow, "I am A Writer -- bow down before me, mere mortals!!" (The ringing insane laugh works really good at this point, & people will buy your book just so you don't smite them or something.)

But such things as being An Author cannot simply be picked up casually.

A suggestion, from someone who grew up on mystery & detective short fiction. Go mine your book for ideas. Take a section, rewrite it in the 8K-10K range, then send it off to Alfred Hitchcock or Ellery Queen. Then do another one. And another.

Sure, the "calling card" idea of your book isn't bad... but it's only a first step on the journey, & puts you in danger of walking in little circles rather than making the trip.

Author: Robert Orn
Date:   07-04-06 09:09

Mr. Ravenscroft,

My real name is Mark Johns. I use a pseudonym, and I created this log in from my author website and thought it would be less confusing in the long run to use that name. I'm beginning ot question that decision in much the same way I wonder why I ever thought I looked good with a mullet and parachute pants. Live and learn, I suppose. Anyway, I'm not trying to misguide anyone, and you can feel free to call me Mark, or Rob, or if the Paul Simon muse moves you, you can call me Al.

Thank you for your advice.

Although I am new to this site, and have not quite found the time to peruse each post to my satisfaction, I must admit that I have read many of your missives with a certain admiration. I find them insightful, thought-provoking, and helpful. You can be a bit supercilious at times, but you speak with passion, and you write from the heart. I'm no simpering sycophant, but the artful craft of writing has a long, upstanding tradition of established authors guiding the labors of writers less experience than themselves. I believe you fill that role quite nobly. Your logic is usually infallible, and your advice is always sound.

I have a first draft collection of short stories, and although they are not all suitable for the publications you mentioned, a few of them fit the criteria. I will cut, polish and refurbish as you suggest, and kick them out into the world as soon as I believe they are ready. There is simply no reason not to do so.

Thanks again.

Have a safe and happy fourth.

Author: Anthony Ravenscroft
Date:   07-04-06 17:51

My logic is rarely infallible -- I aspire only to "sound." In a forum such as this, everyone has the chance to run off & Google the heck out of everything, a research tool I woulda given various bodily parts to have back in the 1970s.

I'm fortunate in that it's easy for me to write. Then again, I've been a voracious & omnivorous reader for more than 40 years, sporadically working very hard at writing for more than 30.

And I sweat blood, and I lose sleep, & my social life is irregular at best, & one of the most common phrases among my friends is "I really don't see why you think that matters." Even as a steady job, creative writing is easy only for a fortunate few.

And I've seen too many potentially great writers take the easy way out, including some who published a handful of great stories in paying magazines, then bought the "next big thing" hype, wrote utter garbage, & sunk into bitterness & self-pity because garbage has a limited window as a novelty.

It used to be that, to get fleeced by Vantage & their ilk, you'd have to be able to pony up thousands of dollars. Nowadays, anyone with a few hundred can be a sucker -- & more than a few keep going back for more abuse.

Even that wouldn't be so bad, except they almost always buy into the propaganda of "self-publish your book & the bucks will automatically roll in forever!" Therefore, I do feel somewhat relieved about the ones who grasp that this just ain't so.

Author: Prince Louis Richard de la Pau
Date:   07-07-06 05:55

Authorhouse charges $698.00 to publish your book. Granted, you do all the advertising, marketing, etc. No one is putting a gun to the author's head to pay Authorhouse to publish their book. It's the author's choice. Being rejected 1,000 times is no fun. A writer believes in his/her work and uses POD publishers.

Just to add in my $0.02 of opinion: I'm sorry to butt in here, but if you've had a 1000 [sic] rejections, have you considered that maybe there is something wrong with either your writing, the subject matter or the way you go about querying?

If you still consider that you have something that you want published at the end of a frank personal assessment of your work, then you should consider asking yourself this question: Who is my audience going to be?

Because, after all, nearly $700 is not small amount of change that has just appeared from under the sofa cushions. And it also seems to be rather a lot of money to spend just for the pleasure of seeing your own name on the binding of a book.

So, what are your goals as a writer? To be published, reviewed, have your books sold? Or merely to have a garage full of lumps of paper with a real value roughly equivalent to that of kindling?

I'm not trying to be nasty, really I'm not. But there has to come a point when one has to be honest with oneself and I think you're approaching this point very fast.

Louis Richard

Author: Nadine Laman
Date:   07-12-06 14:59

This space is titled "Other Ways Into Print" however, just dare mention considering any other way into print than the usual way, and be ready for rude comments. This is one place that one must think as the masses or be massacred.

To answer your question, yes AuthorHouse is considered a reputable pod company. It is usually on the short list along with iUniverse and Lulu. I use Infinity and have been pleased with the product and service. I have friends who have used AH, iU, and Lulu and are pleased enough to take a second book to them.

The main thing about pod is to be realistic about what it is and is not. With pod your publisher will not buy (coop) you great slots in bookstore, reviews by all the right people, or maneuver your book to a best selling list. There are no sugardaddys in the pod world. Any success you get with pod you will earn and it can be very difficult.

Whether you go the commercial route or pod, you will have to pay a pound of flesh one way or another. Pick your poison.

Nadine

Author: Anthony Ravenscroft
Date:   07-12-06 16:13

Nonsense, Nadine, & nobody who's actually read the threads instead of seeking insult could possibly believe that. For instance, you had to go & kick through a rapidly cooling thread in order to find one pitiable ember!

Once again: AH is far from the worst, but it's hardly the best. Got it this time? Okay.

And to also repeat:
A fairly balanced comparison, useful for the easily-led:
http://booksandtales.com/pod/index.php
More specifically:
http://booksandtales.com/pod/publisherviewer.php?publisher_id=5
"Break-even point: Fairly expensive. Between 400 and 500 copies"
"Their contract is one of the most convoluted to be found within the context of POD."

Note that AH is not on their four-name "short list." In fact, because it's got a "2+2=5" flag -- meaning "something doesn't add up" -- due to their long, confusing contract, it's at least one step away from that short list.

I know, I know -- you saw all that, you just chose to ignore it so you could show how "unfair" "everyone" is (are?) to the Righteous, the Faithful, the POD People...

;)

Now, come on. You & I do agree that POD has its place, & that -- used well, eyes wide open -- it can be a valuable tool. And if I'm one of the worst of the mostly imaginary "anti-POD masses" on WNet, then you're jumping at shadows.

Author: Nadine Laman
Date:   07-12-06 21:03

Anthony,

I agree that "AH is far from the worst, but it's hardly the best." I have specific personal preference reasons for not using them. Not that those reasons would stop someone else from using them. They simply aren't on MY short list.

Looking back at the original posted question on this thread, I don't think there was any reason for it to heat up in the first place. It was a legitimate question. Your response, "Are you halfwitted fools entirely out of your tiny little minds????" was not warranted. Not that you care for my defense, but when you aren't belittling people you post very insightful and informative posts. For example, your post regarding the components of a book jacket. If my memory is failing and that wasn't you, well, eh, never mind.

As far as this thread, Barbara and I pointed out that we know people who used AH and were pleased. Janet and Mark gave personal experiences, which should serve as a warning to pay close attention with any pod company and to be realistic about what POD is and isn't. Ann and Michael pointed out that AH is more expensive than specific other POD companies. Amazingly, none of us had to call anyone half witted in our posts.

Nadine

Author: June Austin
Date:   07-28-06 12:01

While I admit that I have not read this entire thread, having just skimmed through, I have to disagree with some of the comments above. I do not see self publishing in any shape or form as a failure, in fact I see it as the opposite - the mark of an enterpreneur and someone who is prepared to put their money where their mouth is, so to speak. Yes, it can be costly, and it does involve a certain element of risk, but so does any business venture - and like it or not, publishing, including self publishing is a business like any other.

I know there are also some who do not regard POD as self publishing either, since you are in effect paying someone else to do a lot of the work for you, but when you think about it, the same is also true of short print run -unless you happen to own your own printing company. The main difference is that you are paying them a percentage of your royalties to manage the sales and distribution for you - which imo is money well spent, seeing as most of us, especially if we have jobs and families do not have the time or the space to do.

I have not personally had dealings with Authorhouse in the US, but have here in the UK, where I live. I found them to be very difficult to deal with and extremely annoying - not least because they kept sending me emails addreesed to Dear Austin, instead of Dear June ! They are of course an American company, but they need to realise that here in the UK we do business differently and do not see endless emails as helpful, but as a nuisance that we can do without, if I wanted to get in touch with them for more information, then I would do so, and sending endless, chatty style emails, is more likely to turn me off the idea of turn me on ...... No offence, as I know that mnost of the members here live in the US, it is just that what works in one country does not necessarily work in another one .....

I found though that getting basic information out of them with regard to print costs, author royalties etc was like getting blood out of a stone. I emailed and telephoned countless times asking for this information and even went to one of their conferences in a posh hotel in London, which was really little more than another sales tactic anyway..... Fortunately having worked in sales, I saw through a lot of the patter, but others did not.....

Eventually after about a month they did send me the information, but by then it was too late, I had taken my business elsewhere, to a man who works from a cabin in the bottom of his garden rather than a large company who employ endless staff working from a glossy office. I beleive I made the right choice for me, but personally I do not see why I should pay the prices Authorhouse charge when I get it for less elsewhere.

No matter which POD publisher you choose, the bottom line
is that when it comes to marketing you are on your own. The most important questions ytou need to ask are therefore what is the distribution, what are the print costs and what are the author royalties. With most POD puiblishers the distribution is exactly the same so no difference there. With print costs, my publisher charges 1p per page, plus 70 pence for the cover. Authorhouse use the same printer, but charge twice as much - obviously adding a bit on top for themselves then to pay for their glossy offices and 'publishing advisors'. With Author royatlies, the most Authorhouse pay you is 50 percent, depending on the price that you set, my publisher pays a flat 60 percent. No competition then.

June