[donaldscrankshaw] Donald: Publishing news

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Posted by Donald:
Publishing news
http://www.donaldscrankshaw.com/posts/1212544130.shtml


   Well, "The Office of Second Chances" is, according to an e-mail I
   received today, on the short list. My guess as to what this means is
   that they looked at it, saw that it was in English, had most words
   spelled correctly, and wasn't written in crayon, so they didn't
   peremptorily discard it with a contempt laugh.
   In other news, I've been offered a book deal for The Eyes of the
   Shadow. It is not, however, a really good book deal. It's a
   co-publishing arrangement.

     We use the term âco-publishingâ to describe a hybrid between
     conventional royalty publishing and self-publishing (or subsidy
     publishing), utilizing the best of both worlds. ... We print the
     book for our own inventory, market it, distribute it, and pay the
     author a royalty on every copy we sell...
     Our company has an outstanding team of editors, graphic designers
     and production personnel to produce books with the highest quality.
     Also, our companyâs system of marketing would help to position the
     book to be widely distributed both in the Christian marketplace and
     general book trade. That system includes trade catalogs and fliers,
     sales presentations to independent retailers, chain stores, and
     distributors, representation at the Christian Booksellers
     Association (CBA), press releases, Internet listings and
     advertising in Christian Retailing, our premier trade magazine.

   So where's the catch, you ask? What does the author provide to make
   this a 'co' process?

     [I]t is made possible by the authorâs willingness to purchase--at a
     deep discount--at least [a very large number] copies of the book
     from the first press run. For authors who have a means of selling
     copies of their own books, co-publishing works very well.

   To be honest, it sounds like I'd probably lose money on this, unless
   my book is a runaway success and/or I'm willing to put in a lot of
   effort doing my own publicity, selling off the copies I've purchased
   via book signings, talking to bookstores, selling over the Internet,
   and all sorts of unusual distribution schemes. Probably both. I'm not
   even sure where I would put that many books.
   I'm at least going to figure out what the actual sum would be, and do
   some research on the process. I'd certainly appreciate input. Does
   anyone know anything about co-publishing? Any experience with it?