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Young Writers Society


Self Publishing Group?



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Fri Oct 02, 2009 3:19 pm
Invisible Mann says...



I was thinking about this the other day (not in length) and wanted to get opinions. I am writing several books, and I really don't want to go through the hassle of getting it published. Especially since one of the novels is written in a weird sort of way (hard to explain) and it is an either you hate it like type of style. I doubt any publisher would want to deal with that. Anyways, on to my idea.

I was thinking about Print on Demand services such as createspace just to put the book on amazon and have something to show for my work. The problem with that is they are hard to promote and so forth. What if a group of us formed a small group where we publish our books on a PoD website and sort of promoted each others work. Help edit others books, I know a few great professional graphic designers to do covers, etc. We could have a website that list all of our books and small author bios.
  





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Fri Oct 02, 2009 4:54 pm
PhoenixBishop says...



Honestly that sounds like a whole lot more work. People seem to think that self publishing is easier. It's not, as you said you have no real way to promote the book. And the users on here are simply not enough.

Off the top of my head I can only list one self published author that did well, and the was Christopher Paloni.

This is my personally opinion, but I suggest getting a agent, they know what publishers and know how to market to which publishers based off the writing. Whatever your style is I'm sure there is a publishing company out there that would take it. Self Publish costs a lot of money, and none of us our professional editors that know what sells and what doesn't at any given time.

What I mean by that is, there are always trends in book sales. Right now it's vampires. Five years ago it could be have been horror.

Like I said this is my opinion so you can disregard this if you wish, but be patient with the direct form of publishing. Would you rather be published now, and have a low selling average book or a a book published in a few years with good sales and the best it can be.

We're young, there is no need to rush.
This is one little planet in one tiny solar system in a galaxy that’s barely out of its diapers. I’m old, Dean. Very old. So I invite you to contemplate how insignificant I find you.

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Fri Oct 02, 2009 5:35 pm
.:Elf:. says...



I do like the idea of a PoD kind of support group, but you probably would need more people then the ones who would join here.
Though, in my opinion, PoD is what I would do after a few tries with a real publisher.
  





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Sat Oct 03, 2009 12:34 am
dovefeather says...



Hey!

First try with another Publisher, and also get a few people who are confident with written word to revise and go through it. Being on this site is a really good start, but It would be a really good Idea to start a group! I think it would be possible if you got some advertising HTML and advertised on boards...I noticed RPG ad boards work fairly well.
Also, give me feedback on this subject, I think it would be a great opportunity.
There's a hole in the world like a great big pit,
and It's filled with the people who are filled with shit,
and the filth and the Vermin inhabit it,
and it goes by the name of London...
  





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Sun Oct 04, 2009 10:27 am
Laina says...



Hey ^^ Can I offer my opinion as a book blogger (i.e., reviewer, the type of person you want to read your book so it'll get publicity and actually get bought and read by people)? Very few reviewers will accept self-published books for review. So right there you're limiting yourself hugely. As well, it's really hard to actually find self-published books in, say, libraries, which is where a ton of people read their books, so you're limiting yourself again. See where I'm going here?

That's just my ten cents, though.
  





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Sun Oct 11, 2009 5:46 am
empressoftheuniverse says...



I am so for self-publishing. I bought the book Person Effects because J.C. Hutchins was known well in the podcasting world (which is considered a form of self-publishing)
and Mur Lafferty got an agent because of her audio-fanasy The Heaven Series.
Agents are hard to find, especially if you're not at cons hob-nobbing with them on a regular basis. They can take your manuscript for a year, sometimes longer.
And self publishing costs NO MONEY. If you're going to a place where it costs something you're being scammed.
I would suggest Lulu.com-- they're website is fast, easy and really, really reliable. And you get 80% of the profit. You pay nothing (unless you buy some copies of course) and if you direct people to their global store, you get paid!
Yeah, it's hard to promote. But we all have friends, family, teachers or churches that could help support us, right?
And at lulus you can purchase one of those code-thingies (word not coming to me)
that allow your book to be sold at, say, the local bookstore. Though they might eschew self-published books; if you know it's good quality, you can give them a copy and ask them to decide whether it's appropriate material for their store.
Or you can podcast your book; in which case your opening yourself up to a wide audience; many people who podcast ARE published authors.
And as an end note,
Self-publishing isn't the egotistical, here-are-my-memiors-with-grammatical-errors thing it used to be. It got a bad reputation from vanity presses (where you pay five hundred dollars so you can be an author) and whatnot. But with blogs, e-books and podcasts, self-publishing is becoming something more respectable; especially if your booksold over five thousand copies.
That being said, you always start from the highest point and go down. Try some publisher's; find some weird and wacky books written in a similar style as yours and find out who published them. When you exhaust that, then try it the other way.
Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart.
*Le Bible
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Mon Oct 12, 2009 11:09 pm
Laina says...



Really good blog with stuff about finding an agent --> http://misssnark.blogspot.com/ She also address self-publishing, including when it's done with Lulu. :)

Side note, what the HECK is up with this elephant??? :elephant:
  








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