Self-publishing field continues to grow June 14, 2009

Another website has opened up, to give self-published authors more visibility:  IndieReader.com.  Read the article here in the Christian Science Monitor.  IndieReader.com describes itself as being “For self-published and print-on-demand books and the readers who love them.”  Founder Amy Holman Edelman proposes to do for self-published books what Sundance has done for independent films.  For an annual fee of $149, IndieReader.com will “promote, market and sell your book” on its website, if they deem your book to have met “certain standards of quality, both in terms of basic spelling and grammatical errors and content. All books must be well written and offer something of value to our customers.”  Be sure to always read the fine print when $$ is involved.  From the IndieReader.com Terms of Service:

2. Annual Fees and Costs. a. The fee for inclusion on the website is $149.00 per year, regardless of the number of books that each author features on the IR site. The fee for submitting the first book is included in the annual fee, however, there will be a submission fee of $25 for each book after the first. b. This fee is NON-REFUNDABLE.

IndieReader.com is a business and as such should charge fees, and it should reserve its right to reject books that don’t meet its standards.  Yes, that makes it sound more like traditional publishing with all its gatekeepers, but IndieReader.com holds the promise of access to good writing, regardless of the author’s name recognition.

A Book Is Like a Hammer . . . November 30, 2008

James Gleick has an intriguing essay in this Sunday’s NY Times, How to Publish Without Perishing.  Although I’m an aspiring author, I’ve always thought that Google’s efforts to make millions of books available online was a great thing.  Yes, copyright should be protected (published authors, please note:  if I can read excerpts of your book in a bookstore, why can’t I also do it online?).  What gets me excited about having access to so many books is:  (1) the ability to search and find information much faster than I can thumbing through indexes; and (2) the opportunity to read those books currently out of print (which also makes me wish there were more “print on demand”-type books so I wouldn’t have to succumb to slogging through Amazon’s penny pile to find a beat-up copy of what I want.)  And technology (i.e., reading online) will never take the place of the book that we’ve known and loved since Gutenberg.  Computers are not designed for close reading, which is probably the real reason most web-based content is short, easily consumed in less than a minute.  Ebook devices such as the Kindle or the now-defunct Gemstar (one of which I still own) are great if you’re on a long trip and want to have your library with you.  I haven’t tried the Kindle as yet, but I’ve done quite a bit of reading on my old Gemstar (Jarhead, no less).  But when I’m home, with the luxury of curling up on my couch for a quiet evening, there’s nothing better than a book, preferably, hard cover.

More on POD May 14, 2008

Remember my rank about self-published authors needing book reviewers in order to gain legitimacy? Well, one such reviewer just contacted me! Floyd M. Orr , a self-published author himself, offers to read and review iUniverse publications at his website, POD Book Reviews & More. He doesn’t mince words when it comes to his preference for only iUniverse books:

“My attitude toward iUniverse is unlike the horde of what I call the slap-fighters on the POD blogs and message boards. I am tiring of the snotty attitudes of those people, both the ones who have their own blogs and those who just pop up and dominate message boards created by others. I have only three negative things to say about iU: price, price, and price. They charge too much in set-up fees, book retail prices, and wholesale prices to the authors. Absolutely everything else I can say about the company is professional and positive. I have no interest in supporting competing companies, so this offer is for iU authors only.” (For the rest of this post, which explains the why and how of his service, please click here.)

From the list of reviewed books thus far, Mr. Orr has not suffered a shortage of reading material by limiting submissions to iUniverse. He also posts interviews with authors and agents, and other interesting tidbits of POD publishing. I’m looking forward to spending more time on his website and seeing what gems I can find that have never made it to The New York Times Book Review.

I’m really glad that Mr. Orr contacted me and made me aware of his website. If any one else out there has a “business” of reviewing POD books, please let me know and I’ll be happy to post a link to your website. Or you can leave a comment and provide your contact information there.