http://pmibooks.com/blog1 Promoting equal opportunity for authors whose books are self published or published by small, independent publishers Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:24:57 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en 10. You don’t have to spend months or years composing and sending out queries that you hope will interest an agent or a publisher. Instead you can focus on polishing your book. 9. You don’t have to write synopses, books proposals, and marketing plans that meet the specifications of agents and publishers. ... http://pmibooks.com/blog1/2008/07/01/top-ten-reasons-to-publish-your-own-book/ FedEx reported a worse-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter loss today, which they said is due to higher fuel prices eating into profits. They plan to do as much as they can to reduce expenses. People around the country are also doing what they can to use less fuel. The Federal Highway Administration ... http://pmibooks.com/blog1/2008/06/18/book-selling-business-wastes-energy-through-antiquated-business-practice/ Here’s an inspiring story that should encourage all of us authors published by non-traditional publishers. I recently heard from Texas author Tony Eldridge, who published his action-adventure thriller, The Samson Effect, through iUniverse in 2007, that he has sold the film rights for the book to a major Los Angeles ... http://pmibooks.com/blog1/2008/06/05/a-good-book-can-rise-above-publisher-bias/ Arrgh!! James Frey has a new book out. This time it’s a novel. Seems like a good choice on his part after the scandal a couple of years ago when it turned out that much of what he recollected in his memoir, A Million Little Pieces, never really happened. Once ... http://pmibooks.com/blog1/2008/05/14/author-breaks-all-the-rules-and-makes-millions-what-should-we-conclude-are-book-publishing-rules-outdated/ When I look at the book publishing industry today, I see fear and an inability to adapt to new technology. I see walls that have been put up by authors’ organizations, book reviewers, award panels, and bookstores to keep out the flood of self-published books print-on-demand printing technology has generated. ... http://pmibooks.com/blog1/2008/05/08/fear-restricts-self-publishing/ Even if you love to write, it’s a lot of work to write a book. It takes imagination and creativity to envisage the book you want to write. It takes energy, perseverance, and focus to organize your thoughts and set them down. It takes training and practice to hone your ... http://pmibooks.com/blog1/2008/05/01/are-authors-losing-their-special-status/ The names that come to mind tend to be famous authors whose books have been published by a traditional publisher, been favorably reviewed by major publications, won prestigious awards, and sold millions of books. A small minority of all the published authors out there. But is this the best or ... http://pmibooks.com/blog1/2008/04/24/who-is-a-successful-author/ A couple of weeks ago The Penn Group posted a blog trashing books they call self-published. It began with the statement, “Self-publishing companies are the dumpster-divers of the book world.” Of course the bloggers incorrectly used the term self-publishing when they actually meant subsidy-publishing, but either way their allegations are ... http://pmibooks.com/blog1/2008/04/17/ghostwriters-attack-self-published-authors/ Unexpected news came out this week from NYC publisher HarperCollins. The company plans to launch a new book imprint that won't accept returns from bookstores and will pay little or no advances to authors. The new HC imprint is an experiment that will try to fix everything that’s wrong with ... http://pmibooks.com/blog1/2008/04/10/mainstream-publishing-takes-a-giant-step/ This Monday, Amazon unleashed a firestorm with its announcement that it will now require that all print-on-demand (POD) books be printed inside Amazon's own fulfillment centers by its own print-on-demand subsidiary, BookSurge. Why? In a March 31, “open letter to interested parties” Amazon justifies its decision as follows: “Modern ... http://pmibooks.com/blog1/2008/04/03/amazon-power-play/ Last week Reader Views announced the 2007 winners of its annual literary awards. The Reader Views award contest is open only to writers who self-publish or have their books published by a small press or independent book publisher. Work published by major book publishers, their subsidiaries, or their imprints are ... http://pmibooks.com/blog1/2008/03/27/is-winning-a-book-award-a-big-deal/ March is small press month. Did you know that? I didn’t until this week, even though I own a small press. I found out about small press month when I went to the website of PMA—The Independent Book Publishers Association—an organization to which my publishing company, PMI Books belongs. But ... http://pmibooks.com/blog1/2008/03/20/how-are-you-celebrating-small-press-month/ POD stands for print-on-demand. It is exactly what it sounds like—a method of short-run printing that allows a publisher to print only the number of books ordered. There is no such thing as POD publishing. Some publishers use POD printing for some of their books, and offset printing for others. ... http://pmibooks.com/blog1/2008/03/13/rejection-of-digitally-printed-pod-books-a-step-backward-for-the-publishing-industry-and-the-environment/ I created a 25-question online survey that asked authors who have published with subsidy publishers about their experiences with those publishers and about how their books turned out. I posted announcements on this blog and on fifteen author discussion groups, forums and/or websites asking authors to complete the survey. Respondents: Who ... http://pmibooks.com/blog1/2008/03/06/results-of-the-survey-of-authors-who-have-used-subsidy-publishers/ My survey of authors who have had books published by a subsidy publisher—such as Trafford, iUniverse / AuthorHouse, Outskirts Press, Bookstand Publishing, Infinity Publishing, and others that charge authors a fee to publish their books—was designed to find out how these authors view that experience. But it has generated heated ... http://pmibooks.com/blog1/2008/02/28/why-ask-subsidy-published-authors-what-they-think/ Last week I wrote about how the meaning of self-publisher has drifted to include authors whose books are published by subsidy publishers. Those are companies like Trafford, iUniverse / AuthorHouse, Outskirts Press, Bookstand Publishing, Infinity Publishing, and many, many others that charge authors a fee to publish their books. Most ... http://pmibooks.com/blog1/2008/02/21/should-we-shun-subsidy-published-authors/ "Words don't mean. People mean." That was our mantra when I was a doctoral student in interpersonal communication many years ago. The point is that words themselves don't mean anything. Rather, people create meanings by the way they use words. If you want to communicate clearly with someone, it is ... http://pmibooks.com/blog1/2008/02/14/who-are-you-calling-a-self-publisher/ Some say that authors who pay for reviews not only lack integrity, they are wasting their money because a paid review is worse than no review. Purists even go so far as to say that if you get a review from a site that accepts payment for an expedited review, ... http://pmibooks.com/blog1/2008/02/07/is-paying-for-a-book-review-sinful/ CHANGE. It's the new buzzword in the 2008 presidential campaigns. All the candidates running in the primaries are telling voters that if they are elected, things will be different—meaning better. But while the idea of change tends to be popular, actual changes are often resisted, mocked, and opposed by people who ... http://pmibooks.com/blog1/2008/01/31/the-times-they-are-a-changin/ If you write a novel, you have to get it reviewed. A nonfiction book can succeed without reviews if it fills a niche and is written by someone with special expertise. But a novel—even if it's a great story, well-written, edited and professionally designed—won't get far without reviews. Few people ... http://pmibooks.com/blog1/2008/01/24/who-will-review-our-self-published-fiction/