Thursday, May 29, 2008
We don't usually do this but...
Monday, May 26, 2008
Choosing a book printer.
Here are some things to look for when choosing a book printer.
- Do they care about your specific goal with the printing of your self published book? If your goal is to post the book on Amazon, and have some copies for your local bookstores, but in your head think you should print 1000 copies, a good printer should want you to print shorter runs to save on upfront costs. The quality of digital, short run, printing is at an all time high and you can get more copies printed in a very short time if needed. Don't be stuck with boxes and boxes of books in your basement. Choose your book printing quantity on your realistic need of 3 months inventory.
- Is your book printer acting like a book publisher? A book publisher does not charge you to print and market your book. Simple as that. We see more and more book printers getting into this game because they know that writers want that feeling of being "published" and it is easy to capitalize on that emotion and turn it into profit for their company. All they can really do for you is to put your book on their website bookstore, and lets me honest when I go online to buy a book I don't go to Trafford I go to Amazon, or post your book on Amazon, which you can do yourself. Come up with your own publishing name and you will have more rewards, and more fun, with publishing your book.
- Digital or Offset? If you will be printing in groups under 800-1000 you will get better pricing with digital. Anything over that it will be more economical to go offset. Unless you have some upfront demand in place we recommend doing shorter runs to gauge interest. You can then order more and/or make changes to your book based on feedback and go back to print. In terms of quality the new digital equipment is so good that it is hard to see a difference although offset still has a slight lead, but to the average reader there is minimal difference.
We hope this helps and feel free to contact us for free consultation on choosing, or dealing, with your book printer.
Burnt Sky Media
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Interesting article for self published writers.
j.
Salem author self-publishes herself into a novel $2m payday
With a draft of her novel completed, Brunonia Barry of Salem wanted to find an audience. But instead of chasing after publishers - often a discouraging task for any new author - she and her husband took a different tack. They published "The Lace Reader" on their own.
Then something amazing happened: Buzz exploded around the book, both online and in stores, and mainstream publishers came calling. In October, a literary auction was held, and Barry sold the book, and a future one, for more than $2 million.
It is one of the biggest deals ever for a previously self-published first novel and a vivid example of how old publishing norms have changed. Self-publishing was once a consolation prize for a pipe-dreamer. But today it's possible for writers such as Christopher Paolini, author of the fantasy blockbuster "Eragon," Richard Paul Evans, author of the bestseller "The Christmas Box," and Zane, whose first three novels were self-published, to bypass publishers, then score lucrative contracts with them once their books are proved.
As a novelist, Barry, 47, is a late bloomer. Raised in Marblehead, she spent years working with theater companies in Maine and Chicago. In the mid-1980s, she went to Hollywood to have a crack at screenwriting. For 10 years she worked on other writers' scripts but never sold one of her own. In 1995 she and husband, Gary Ward, moved back to Massachusetts, settling in Salem, where they started a successful game and puzzle software company called SmartGames.
Barry, called Sandy by friends, had always dreamed of writing fiction. In 2004 she wrote a pseudonymous short novel for Beacon Street Girls, a Lexington publisher of preteen fiction. Since 2000, she had also been working on a novel for adults, "The Lace Reader."
The intricate narrative centers on a young woman who has the power to read the future in the patterns of Ipswich lace. The woman returns to Salem from California when her beloved aunt dies, perhaps by foul play. As a local police officer becomes involved with her while investigating the case, a variety of characters embroider the increasingly strange mystery.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
I like this book cover.
The First Post
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