| Author |
Message |
    
Dennis Collins
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
532
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 08, 2004 - 05:20 pm: |   |
Greetings...
I'm posting this on the Publishing Message Forum because it appears to be the most active category on the Mindsight Forum...
Because of the enormous amount of information that I have to share, I will be posting my my report in installments.
The first item I'd like to bring you will be the information that I was able to glean from Susan Driscoll, the President and CEO of iUniverse. We shared a panel on Saturday and then had a very intense heart-to-heart, one-on-one discussion.
Susan's relatively thorough career has been primarily spent in the mainstream publishing industry where she served as senior editor for a major New York house as well as several other areas of the publishing industry. She is a Notre Dame grad.
She was recruited by iUniverse this past summer to take over management and bring the company into the new mellinium.
Here are some of Susan's innovations...
She told me that they now offer full editorial service (as an add-on) staffed by very competent editors. They also have a "star" plan for authors who have sold a minimum of 500 copies and have a book judged to be capable of competing with mainstream products. Authors in that program will have more competitively priced book that are fully returnable and will be stocked at Barnes & Noble. (Sound familiar?)
They will be sending review copies to NYT, Publisher's Weekly, Library Journal, etc.
When they feel that an author has outgrown the services that iUniverse can provide, they will assist them in moving on to the world of traditional publishing.
Susan provided me with her personal email address and direct line to her desk. We got on very well.
BTW... I chased down every iUniverse author that I could find at the conference and found 0% dissatisfied clients. |
Claudia Turner VanLydegraf
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
837
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 08, 2004 - 05:37 pm: | |
HUMMM, so that is the reason behind PA's new mainstream strategy. The only thing different is that they charge for the editing and stuff as an add-on, rather than take it out of the sale of the book profits, like PA, but I would suppose that with iUniverse, the royalties are MUCH higher than those of PA's "traditional" set up.
The biggest difference is the assist to mainstream traditional publishing, as they will probably go the extra mile and get that author in touch, physically, with a traditional publisher, if of course, that is what the author wants for his/her book.
Thanks Dennis, keep the news up, as I surely do want to hear what you learned.
Claudia |
Gloria Marlow
Wisdom Member
Post Number:
563
Registered: 04-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 08, 2004 - 05:53 pm: | |
Dennis,
Just to clarify, this wasn't a iUniverse conference, correct?
|
Laurel Johnson
Unity Member
Post Number:
2585
Registered: 01-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 08, 2004 - 06:19 pm: | |
I review a number if iUniverse authors. Several of them have two or more books published} thru iUniverse. I know of no dissatisfied iUniverse author among those I review. What Dennis reported is what I have been told by their authors. Many authors - including me - think it is a good thing to self publish when there are many benefits to the author. I'm very satisfied with Dandelion books, but if I ever self publish again it will be with iUniverse.
The main office of iUniverse is located in Lincoln Nebraska.
Thanks for the report, Dennis. |
Dennis Collins
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
533
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 09, 2004 - 05:52 am: | |
To answer Gloria's question, the "Love is Murder" mystery writer's conference is sponsored by College of DuPage in Chicago. Most of the attending authors are highly successful writers like David Morrell with sales exceeding eighteen million copies or how about a track record like Warren B. Murphy with sales beyond forty million (172 books in ONE series). I was only able to find a half dozen or so iUniverse authors at this conference.
Laurel.. Susan laughingly told me that it was quite a truama for her to move her husband and two kids from downtown Manhattan to "the Prairie."
The concept of helping author's move on once they've got legs under them is actually a very bright marketing tool. Many writer's avoid POD because of the stigma and Susan is trying to change that image to one where they might be regarded as a step in the process, not unlike the farm system of major league baseball.
She did however, state that iUniverse WILL accept any writer willing to pay the $490 required for publication. Although there may be some who just refuse to admit that they don't have any talent, the bulk of them simply have a story to tell and see this as an avenue. She says that the company makes no promises of success in the literary world. |
Dennis Collins
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
534
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 09, 2004 - 07:05 am: | |
Treble Heart Books...
One of the publisher's with whom I interviewed was a lady named Lee Emory, founder and CEO of Treble Heart Books, a rapidly growing small press in Sierra Vista, AZ.
Lee began her career as a moderately successful sci-fi author but soon found that her scientific type books were often competing with stories written by physicists who outstripped her credentials by a wide gap. She left that genre and went on to write romance novels even though it was a field that held little interest for her.
She now owns her own small press that offers books in an extremely wide variety of categories from horror to romance to fantasy to westerns and finally to her latest addition to the line; mysteries.
She does not use POD technology and distributes through Baker & Taylor. Author's copies are available at cost plus 20% and her royalties are higher than the industry average. (can't remember the exact percentage)
Her company is quite busy, producing 10-12 titles per month and she is actively seeking direct submissions from authors. Her most recent pressing need is in the mystery/suspense/thriller category, both cozy and hard boiled.
No matter where your wrting happens to be pigeonholed (unless it's poetry), she would welcome your query.
You can get a lot more information from her site at: http://www.trebleheartbooks.com
|
sophie simonet
Wisdom Member
Post Number:
762
Registered: 03-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 09, 2004 - 11:50 am: | |
Thanks, Dennis. |
Dennis Collins
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
536
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 09, 2004 - 01:19 pm: | |
POD publishers were discussed at length and it seems that most of the complaints that I heard were the same ones you hear about PA.
#1. My book is non-returnable and no brick and mortar stores will carry it.
#2. It's priced too high
#3. Everybody seems to have trouble getting my book.
Some even complained that their publishers kept lousy records and were concerned about the honesty of their royalty statements. (Imagine that)
When I mentioned PA, I merely stated that they seemed to suffer from the same shortcomings as the others but added the information about Independence Books. I said that IB was still too new to have a track record. I also mentioned that they do not charge a fee.
If anyone was under the impression that I was going to bash PA, sorry to disappoint you but please keep in mind that the whole reason that I invested close to five hundred bucks to attend this conference, was to promote myself and my work. The last thing I wanted any agent or publisher to see was a man with a heart full of venom knocking on their door and asking them to help him with his career.
One author offered this website which features a comparison between POD houses.
http://www.booksandtales.com |
Dennis Collins
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
537
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 09, 2004 - 04:57 pm: | |
About my personal adventures... (aside from spending far too many hours at the bar being plied with alcohol by NYT and USA Today best selling author PJ Parrish)
I already mentioned Lee Emory from Treble Heart Books so I'll move on to Melissa Singer senior editor of Tor/Forge books. - Melissa was receptive of my verbal pitch and invited me to submit three sample chapters for consideration.
Now... Miriam Goderich of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management in New York...
First of all, agents are not supposed to be young, shapely, and movie star gorgeous but Miriam blows that myth away.
She listened patiently to my speil as I stuttered through it. after my short presentation, I told her that one of her star clients was supposed to have recommended my work. She said she'd speak with him about it. She also said that the story sounded intriguing and requested the full manuscript. I talked to a lot of other people who pitched to her and none of them had been invited to send their work.
Later in the day, when I attended her presentation, I discovered that the book that I'm currently reading for review was also written by one of her clients.
That night at a cocktail party, I ran into Joe Konrath, Miriams client. I asked him if he thought I had a chance. He said, "Oh yeah, we talked. She liked you. She thinks you're cool. I think you have a very good chance." He even told me that he thought I was a great writer (He's read my stuff)
I've learned not to get too pumped about compliments because they don't necessarily translate into contracts. But I guess it's a lot better than him saying, "Don't quit your day job." |
Violet Towe
Wandering Member
Post Number:
223
Registered: 03-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 09, 2004 - 05:10 pm: | |
Dennis, I have met PJ Parrish many times in the AOL chat rooms. Yes, she is a wonderful person and always give encouraging words (to writers such as I am) and helpful suggestions. I'll tell her when I see her this week in the Writers Den that I know you from this message board.
|
John Laurence Robinson
Hsympothai Member
Post Number:
490
Registered: 01-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - 04:38 am: | |
Say Dennis, that's great news, bro! Looks like things are finally starting to break your way, and it couldn't happen to a nicer guy. From all your posts, you gotta be one of the hardest workers in the business! A quick question regarding Treble Heart: do you know if they are e-book only, or do they do trade paper as well? Thanks!
John |
Todd Hunter
Unity Member
Post Number:
1118
Registered: 02-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - 05:44 am: | |
I was checking out the sample contract at THB...
"Publisher will pay author a royalty, in US dollars, of 35% per Print copy sold, after printing expenses, with the exception of copies sold directly to the author."
Can someone decipher this for me? To me, it sounds like you only get 35% of the profit, versus 35% of the book price...anyone know what that would translate into?
(On a related note, royalties on electronic copies are 40% of retail price...and print copies through distributors, royalties are 15% (although not specified directly, I infer that to still be 'after printing expenses'))
The contract made it sound like the primary push of the company is e-books...considering the author can "opt out" of having a paperback made, and thus the contract only covers electronic rights... |
Dennis Collins
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
538
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - 07:20 am: | |
Treble Heart claims to produce very high quality printed books that are the main thrust of their business. She echoed the assessment of CE, saying that ebooks would not flourish until better ebook readers were available. They use offset printing exclusively. I don't know if they do hardcovers.
The royalty thing is sort of vague but I remember Lee Emory saying that their royalties were among the highest in the industry. Authors copies are available at cost plus 20% I remember her saying that the cost was directly related to the size of the press run.
I think that her formula might go something like this: Your book sells for $10.00, Printing cost is $3.00, Your royalty is 35% of $7.00 |
Dennis Collins
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
539
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - 07:36 am: | |
Hodgepodge...
A couple more publishers that were mentioned in a positive light
www.virtualbookworm.com POD
Quiet Storm Books - Small (but growing) press with a few recognizable titles.
More rambling
Todd Stone reported on ebook readers available in the Asian market.
In a society that has so many people that there's no room for trees, paper is at a premium. It seems that everybody in the Pacific Rim reads anything they can in e-format. Consequently their ebook readers are light years ahead of ours. He described one that looked a lot like a paperback book that you opened like a book and read like a book. He said that the graphics were superior to anything he'd seen on the American market.
Why are they not available to us in the good ol' US of A???
I $$$$ would $$$$ guess $$$$ that $$$$ some $$$$ of $$$$ our $$$$ American $$$$ companies $$$$ are $$$$ just $$$$ waiting $$$$ for $$$$ the $$$$ public $$$$ to $$$$ be $$$$ ready. |
sophie simonet
Wisdom Member
Post Number:
763
Registered: 03-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - 09:14 am: | |
We get every other sort of electronic gadget from over there, so why not ebook readers? Sounds like an opportunity for someone to become a US distributor. |
Perry Comer
Unity Member
Post Number:
1150
Registered: 04-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - 10:08 am: | |
sssshhhh - CE is thinking
http://www.pacwriter.netfirms.com/ |
C. E. Winterland
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
1351
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - 11:08 am: | |
Dennis,
The E-book reader that you are thinking of is probably the Hiebook, made in Korea, I believe, and is available here in the US for about $289.00.
You can check it out at http://www.hiebook.com
It's a pretty cool device, but it will never go over well here (or maybe most places, as a matter of fact) because of it's proprietary Operating System and no plans to make Microsoft Reader format or Adobe Ebook formats (or Palm or any other) available for use on it.
That very thing was the end of the other ALMOST perfect e-book reading device that was out there until about 6 months ago... They required you to join their club and buy a certain amount of books per month, and had proprietary software as well... That is DEATH in a market where standardization is key to usefulness.
No... what the world needs is a PocketPC device with a screen the size of a paperback (at least) that can use ANY e-book reader format and is priced reasonably.
I read e-books all the time myself... on my PDA with it's 2.5 x 3" screen. My eyes can take it at the moment, but it does make a 500 page book a 1500 page book, and the word count per page is probably around 60 or 70... can be pretty annoying.
I actually like the Hiebook... almost bought one... but a little research of their website will show you that they aren't gonna play with the big boys as far as standard software goes (MS Reader, Adobe PDF, and PALM OS are the 3 big boys right now).
CEW
PS - thanks Perry  |
Dennis Collins
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
540
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - 11:38 am: | |
CE is absolutely correct as usual. The big slam on the Asian readers is the narrow (and may I add, arrogant?) thinking of their manufacturers. Bill Gates pretty much has the "Do it my way or not at all" market sewed up. I just figured you could pop a chip in it and fly.... Shows how much I know...
Ready for more?
Please keep in mind that this was a mystery writer's conference and so most, but not all, information is aimed at that genre.
Short stories...
There is a bigger market than I knew for short stories in the mystery/thriller/suspense/police-procedural/PI/hardboiled/cozy market. For those factions of the field there is:
Shortmystery-subscribe@yahoogroups.com -
I picked up a list of over thirty publications that accept short stories related to mysteries. It may be too long to post here. I can send it to anyone imterested or, if you'd rather, I'll post it.
The litany of sub-genres that I posted above is a sad testimony to things the way they really are... but don't need to be.
I was informed this weekend that my first book is a "mystery" but the next two are "suspense." Oh, really? I sez. What is the difference and why does it matter? The difference is that I didn't reveal the identity of the killer until very near the end of The Unreal McCoy but didn't hide him at all in the next two McCoy episodes.
Readers don't care but bookstores insist on cataloging things in very narrow divisions. It's a classic example of overeducated fools attempting to make rocket science out of... Look, said Jane. See Spot run. |
Tulla
Awareness Member
Post Number:
20
Registered: 12-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - 11:52 am: | |
CE - I hear the opportunity callin ya.....Go for it!!!!
This is something you have been talkin about and researchin. I couldn't think of another person to be able to do this and pull it off...With your background and organizational skills.....YEAH!!!!!
|
Todd Hunter
Unity Member
Post Number:
1119
Registered: 02-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - 04:03 pm: | |
I do like the idea of author's copies for cost + 20%...
Considering my current one costs approximately $2.00 per copy to print, that would cost me $2.40 in theory...I could definitely get into that...
Does THB not lump in the other costs involved, or is it simply cost to print each book? If they use offset printing, I would think there would be setup charges and such to take into consideration...
Sorry for all the questions and concerns...considering past experience, I imagine folks can understand my skepticism... |
Closed: New threads not accepted on this page