It's addictive.

And you can check out, but you can never leave . . . . . . . . .

Congratulations on your success, Sue, and welcome to WW. I also didn't mean to suggest any slur on Domtom - I was just saying that with any new publisher, as an author I would have some questions to ask about their experience, strategy and plans. Sounds like I would have received highly satisfactory answers in this case!!

Rosy

I am lucky - I made a lot of publicity for myself locally so when I was looking for a publisher, a publisher came to me instead and I did not need to go down that route of self publishing.

In any case, I have always been very suspicious of some self publishing outlets and what they charge. Whatever the standard of the work submitted the charges always seem to be the same - and high.

At least my publishers look at work submitted very carefully and then decide wether it is worth publishing and how much that would entail, based upon how much work was needed on the MS.

An aquaintance of mine recently submitted his MS to Domtom for self publishing. I had read it and thought it quite good. However,it was rejected. Domtom had decided that it was simply not going to be commercially viable and gently put that to the author.

He was extremely cross and immediately submitted it to one of the leading American self- publishing houses and came gloating back to me that he had now got 'a deal' and that his book was going to print.

He had missed the point and now six months on has a bedroom full of unsold boxes of books and a substancial dent in his savings.

Publish America?

Half of the internet is taken up with stories about them

Sue, I think it's very useful for people on this site to learn more about publishers like Domtom. I've had a look at their site and--if I've not got it wrong--they appear to be a POD publisher, a little like BeWrite Books (which quite a few people here have heard of), i.e. they publish books which they edit and promote at no cost to the author (so, not self-publishing, although Domtom offer this too). At least I assume this is what they mean by 'direct marketing' but please correct me if I'm wrong.

BeWrite believes that there is a large gap which needs filling, between traditional publishers--whose main advantage to authors is distribution and attendant promotion--and self-publishing/vanity. POD gets round the distribution problem because books don't have to be printed in large print runs that then must be distributed otherwise they're a cost burden on all concerned. The problem for POD publishers is getting publicity for their books, and convincing readers to pay for POD/ebooks.

Interestingly, there is currently a debate taking place in the science fiction community, around traditional means of providing stories--the print magazines and books--and the new, more direct, methods like podcasting and blogging. There have been some outstanding individual successes with podcasting--Steve Sigler probably the biggest; and podcast magazines such as Escape Pod have circulations (if that's the right word) that are over-taking traditional magazines such as Asimov's and Analog.

However, someone like Steve Sigler has self-marketing gifts that the majority of writers simply don't possess. Also, there is the element that the first to take hold of new technologies tend to do well, but those who follow often struggle more. So, although this is an issue which will affect all writers one way or another, at present it may be fair to say that the traditional route still has many advantages for a writer, especially those who aren't so good at self-promotion. But I'd be very interested to hear your views on this.

Best wishes,


Terry

I find the concept of POD confusing, Terry, and perhaps I'm not the only one. The idea (or at least, my hazy understanding of it) makes a great deal of sense - both from the writer's point of view and the publisher's. And yet I get the impression that it is still seen as a poor relation to traditional publishing. I'm not sure why - is it possible to tell the difference in the finished product? Or do some people just look down on it because it's new?

Caro

- Terry,
- You wrote 'BeWrite believes that there is a large gap which needs filling, between traditional publishers--whose main advantage to authors is distribution and attendant promotion--and self-publishing/vanity. POD gets round the distribution problem because books don't have to be printed in large print runs that then must be distributed otherwise they're a cost burden on all concerned.'
-
- I think this pretty well sums up Domtom's views too. Also I know that the director, David Kirkup strongly believes that the present system where the large high street chains of book sellers and the major internet ones demand up to 55% discount before agreeing to sell your hard-written books is insanely unfair to both author and small publisher alike and is seeking to address that by not accepting these terms.
-
- I enjoy a lot of publicity so far but it is also fair to say that I go a very long way in obtaining that and keeping 'in the limelight' myself. Yet I do so with the absolute support and backing of my publisher. If I need publicity material, stands, equipment to carry on that promotion, they supply me with my needs immediately. They also actively seek out 'leads' to promote me wherever and whenever they see advantage for me - after all they want me to sell as many books as possible as that is how they make their money.

In short, as an author one cannot expect to lay back and wait for opportunity to come to you. Instead if you want to succeed you need to be an equal partner in promoting yourself with your small publisher. This works for me - it may not work for others.
-
- I am also a strong believer that an author needs a large amount of luck to succeed in this cut-throat business. I also believe that luck equates to preparation meeting opportunity - and boy have I seen that work these past few years.
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- If anyone wants to know more about Domtom, why not email them and ask? I am certain they are much better at explaining their business than me. All I can honestly pass on to you here is my experience in dealing with them - which has been successful.
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- Sue
-

Sue, thanks for that. I agree that authors cannot expect these days to lay back and wait for opportunity. And I like your phrase, 'luck equates to preparation meeting opportunity'. In fact, I'd say if you aren't prepared, you won't even recognise an opportunity when it comes along in the first place.

Caro, I don't think it's the technology of POD that's seen as inferior to traditional publishing, more what it tends to be used for. In fact, many traditional publishers do use POD now, say to keep a book alive when the number of orders doesn't justify a print run (particularly useful with academic books). POD is the also main staple, however, of subsidy and vanity publishers, like Publish America. It means the publisher need make very little outlay on a book--probably no editing, book design, etc (unless the author pays), no print run or distribution costs, just a bit of admin communicating with the author and a spot on its website. One way to tell a susidy publisher is that the cover price is often much higher than for a comparable traditional book. This is because the publisher makes most of its money from the author buying his own books. So, if the publisher is receiving, say 65% of the cover price, and the author buys a hundred copies at say £16 per book, it'll make £1,040 out of the deal. Times that by thousands of authors and it's not a bad little business to be in, with virtually no risk.

Terry