lulu | Self-Publishing Review

How Much Does it Cost to Self-Publish?

This recent opinion post about writers who can “get away with” not hiring an editor if the book is interesting enough brings up an important topic: how much should self-publishers look to spend on releasing a book. That post may make it seem like it’s justifying poor editing. This is not the case at all. It’s more to suggest to readers that they should perhaps be more lenient of self-published titles given the enormous expense of getting a book properly edited.

The problem with this stance is that it will cause people take self-publishing less seriously. If people are reading […]

Henry Baum2011-10-08T20:28:45+02:00May 5th, 2009|Categories: Resources|

The Changing Face of Publication

Cross-Posted from Christopher Meeks’ blog on Red Room.

Last night I attended a panel at USC entitled “The Changing Face of Publication,” hosted by one of my favorite novelists, Gina Nahai (Cry of the Peacock). The five panelists, with five different jobs and all deeply involved in publishing, offered a view on how publishing is done now and where the industry is and is not going.

The latter was the most important, which, to authors reading this, may change your view of what you can expect in 2009. It certainly sobered my expectations in publishing. From my own […]

Henry Baum2011-10-08T19:57:51+02:00May 4th, 2009|Categories: Features|

Mick Rooney's Self-Publisher Reviews

You would do very well to visit Mick Rooney‘s comprehensive list of self-publisher reviews at his site:

Self-publishing services are archived here.[…]

Henry Baum2011-10-08T19:17:01+02:00April 18th, 2009|Categories: Publisher Reviews|

Lightning Source Teams Up with the Espresso Book Machine

Via Dear Author comes the news that the Espresso Book Machine is teaming up with Lightning Source to provide access to 85,000 titles from 13 publishers, beginning in May. Simply, the Espresso Book Machine is an in-store print on demand machine that can a high-quality book in under five minutes. News comes that:

The participating publishers, which include Hachette, S&S, Wiley, Macmillan and Norton, already work with Lightning Source. After the pilot, other publishers that print and distribute with Lightning Source will have the option of participating in the Espresso Book Machine program. That should occur in the second half

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Henry Baum2011-10-08T19:17:22+02:00April 18th, 2009|Categories: News|

New Conferences for Self-Publishers

This week brings news of the first Self-Publishing Book Expo to take place in New York City in November 2009. Tickets are $275 if bought before July 15, 09 and $325 after July 15. Features include,

Sales – Unlike other industry-only book fairs, the SPBE will be open to the public, offering authors a unique opportunity to sell their books to the broadest possible audience.

Meet the Media – Producers of television and radio programs, and editors of newspapers, magazines, and online media outlets, will attend the event, all looking for great stories that may otherwise be under their radar.

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Henry Baum2011-10-08T19:18:24+02:00April 16th, 2009|Categories: News|

The Grueling Critique Process

An invaluable post about online critique groups, reprinted from Robin Mizell’s blog, Treated and Released. Robin Mizell is a self-publishing friendly literary agent (!) She says, “It sometimes confuses aspiring authors when I refer to DIY resources….I try to give people the information they need to make good decisions, even when it seems counterproductive for my enterprise.”

To all poseurs, Marsha Durham announced yesterday on her blog, Writing Companion, “Don’t Even Think About Joining My Writing Group.” With glib humor, she then described the traits exhibited by annoying critique group members.

I can’t imagine how a legitimate […]

Henry Baum2011-10-08T19:18:44+02:00April 15th, 2009|Categories: Resources|

This is Why Self-Publishing isn’t Taken Seriously

Via Pod Peep comes news of Lulu buying out Poetry.com and replacing it with their own brand and self-publishing service. Here’s a screenshot.

Let me count the ways this is problematic. I can understand if Lulu.com central is more of a generic, corporate brand, as they want to attract more business-minded people who are interested in creating brochures and other promotional materials, or non-fiction manuals. But this is Poetry.com – something that is only an expression of a person’s artistic vision, so having such a cold and sterile environment just seems antithetical to a place where people are going to […]

Henry Baum2011-10-08T19:59:07+02:00April 15th, 2009|Categories: Features, Lead Story|

Grosvenor House Publishing Review

Amazon.co.uk Titles – 293

Amazon.com Titles – 298

Grosvenor House Publishing is based in Surrey, England and one of its directors is successful self-published author Graham P. Taylor. The English vicar self-published Shadowmancer in 2002, a children’s novel, and in less than a year, Taylor had signed deals with Faber UK and Penguin Putnam USA. In many ways, Taylor followed the blueprint that all self-published authors should follow. He started selling his work to his local church-goers and after doing public signings and appearances locally, the success of his book slowly grew into a national story itself. His own life […]

Mick Rooney2017-02-12T09:11:07+02:00April 15th, 2009|Categories: Publisher Reviews|Tags: Subsidy Publishing Articles|

Author Solutions Buys Trafford Publishing

In an age where the collapse of one financial giant can bring down the entire financial system, it may seem odd that one self-publishing conglomerate is able to buy up the competition. This is what is happening with Author Solutions, which has bought Trafford Publishing on the heels of buying Xlibris a few months earlier. Author Solutions is now in control of some of the major self-publishing players: iUniverse, AuthorHouse, Xlibris, Wordclay, and now Trafford.

The main subsidy publishers that offer competition to Author Solutions remain Lulu and the Amazon services: CreateSpace and BookSurge. The trouble with one company owning […]

Henry Baum2011-10-08T20:00:49+02:00April 6th, 2009|Categories: News|

Poddy Mouth Speaks! An Interview with the Original POD Reviewer

Poddy Mouth was an anonymous author who began reviewing print on demand books in 2005, back when self-publishing was more frowned upon than it is today. She still remains the most prominent and successful POD reviewer – in part because she came from the world of traditional publishing. As she says on her blog:

I am an author and instructor, in that order (for now.) My debut novel (which debuted in the midlist) was released by Penguin Putnam in 2004 and my second novel was released early 2006. As for this blog, it has been profiled in many online magazines,

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Henry Baum2011-10-08T20:29:00+02:00April 3rd, 2009|Categories: Interviews, Lead Story|