Hi,
Youwriteon are offering POD to the first 5,000 people who contact them. They offer no proof reading, editing or marketing. The ISBN is available separately through Legend Press, although I don't really know how this works. Should this be avoided at all costs?

Before going ahead ask yourself 2 simple questions:

Have you ever bought a POD published novel off Amazon?
How many other YWO member's novels are you looking forward to reading if they were POD published?

The answers will give you some idea of the probably market for your POD published novel.

As for interesting agents and publishers - YWO is a showcasing site where your work is already freely accessible to agents and publishers, and Agents and publishers are not interested in seeing submissions in POD format.



- NaomiM

Coffee cup, you might want to have a look at this blog post on How Publishing Really Works:

http://howpublishingreallyworks.blogspot.com/2008/09/youwriteon-publishes-5000.html

The consensus seems to be that you're no better off than using Lulu or one of the other similar ones, and possibly worse, given that the Legend setup are going to struggle to cope with the 5,000, and there seems to be little chance for you to fine-tune the quality, as there is with Lulu, in that you can print a single copy and then amend the files before you do more.

Emma

Thanks Naomi,
That's exactly what I was thinking.

However, it can often be useful to see a copy of your ms in book form as you'll find the mistakes jump out at you more easily than reading it off a screen. So as an editing tool POD has something to recommend it.


- NaomiM

Thanks again, Emma. It's made me determined to go back to the drawing board/keyboard and try to find an agent...

<Added>

Indeed, Naomi, just clutching a hard copy from my own little laser printer helps enormously with revisions.

If I may butt in - briefly - I have to say I don't think POD is the problem, and people do have very strange prejudices about the process. All my novels are POD published, both the ones which are commercially published in the small press and the self-published ones. The former are available on Amazon and - gosh! - some people even buy them and give them great reviews from there!...



Axxx

Absolutely. I love reading your posts and following your progress
It's not the POD per se, it's the rush and the inevitable lack of care that these manuscripts would receive, the inability to make a change when there was an error, lack of proof reading, editing etc

Very true. Editing is vital. However, if you do have a non-mainstream but good quality MS available that's been professionally critiqued and edited, and then edited again, I'd definitely say go for it as it's a good offer under those circumstances. I'd certainly do it if I had an unpublished MS in that condition - unfortunately I don't, dammit!!



Hugs!

Axxx

PS I have no actual progress! I only have regress!

Anne, I know my comments about POD publishing must rub you up the wrong way, since you have put a lot of hard work in and made a success of it.
However, 5000 POD published YWO manuscripts flooding into the market is what gives self-publishing a bad name, so I will continue to discourage it.
If, however, anyone is serious about going down the self-publishing route, then I will give them every help that I can.


- NaomiM

I'm sorry but I must disagree again - what gives the book market a bad name is books of no quality or dubious quality being published - there are of course as many of those in the mainstream commercial market as are in the POD market.

What if all those YWO manuscripts are top-notch quality stuff? What then? And yes I understand that you say they won't be, but I also say in answer that I highly doubt that the next 5000 commercial manuscripts published by the mainstream press will all be good quality either.

I think we seriously have to stop calling POD or self-publishing the poor relation, and simply begin to judge books on their merits alone.

So yes, consider me thoroughly and utterly rubbed!

Axxx

<Added>

PS I must also say that I am not at all a success. Bearing in mind the atrociously poor numbers of books I sell but also the good reviews they get, the most accurate description of my book life is actually "high-quality failure".

Hi all,
I was actually going to ask you guys about this as I have won one of these places (last week).
I wanted to feel really excited but didn't
I want to be published so badly but I've never approached an agent/publishing house so in one way here is an easy, rejection free route to see meeeee and my words in print but I'm pretty certain I'm going to turn it down.
My (fave) C. writing tutor asked me to email her the messages they've sent, they mailed me a contract etc.
Really don't know what to think.
Will check in with WW to see if anyone has a thought xxxxxxxx

I'm so glad I read this post - Write Words saves the day, yet again! Someone mentioned this scheme at my writers group in Brick Lane and the Arts Council sponsorship gave it some kind of cachet. In sheer desperation at being rejected for years I was seriously considering POD and the youwriteon scheme. But the disadvantages really outweigh any perceived advantages - the first rights thing is something I wasn't aware of and really scuppers it for me. I'd hate to effectively consign my book to the publishers scrapheap. I agree with the above posters' cynicism about clearing the youwriteon backlog - I certainly think it will have that effect! Another point regarding quality, I think is crucial - the role of editors in knocking a book into shape can't be underestimated. It's just not worth the risk if you have aspirations of becoming a serious author. Sadly, too many writers today are only interested in people reading their work regardless of its quality.

I have won one of these places (last week).

'won'? Sorry but it's a promotion, not a prize.


- NaomiM

This is the Agreement - any thoughts? There is a cancellation clause so I'm not sure whether that will mean the first rights issue mentioned in the publishing blog will still apply.

1. Parties

This is a Publishing Agreement between (“Publisher”) and the author (“Author”) whose details are signified at the end of this Agreement. This agreement relates to the print version only of the book listed at the end of this Agreement, herein referred to as "Work."

2. License to Publish

The Author grants to the Publisher the non-exclusive, worldwide license to publish the Work in print. The Author retains sole and exclusive worldwide copyright and all rights including moral rights to the Work in all formats, editions and languages. An ISBN will be assigned by The Publisher to the Work to enable the Author’s book to be sold by online retailers.

3. Publication
The Author grants to the Publisher the right to store, transmit, use and distribute copies of the Work to facilitate the publication, printing and sales process. This includes to all booksellers and other vendors or Affiliates.

4. Author Rights of Cancellation

This Author may terminate this agreement at any time and for any reason as long as a 30-day e-mail notice is given to the Publisher. Email notification of termination of agreement by the Author should be sent to YouWriteOn@legendpress.co.uk and add ‘Terminate my Agreement’ in your email header. It typically takes up to three weeks for all online book retailers to remove a book from listing on their sites, these timelines are subject to individual booksellers own timelines for book listing removals. If you have achieved publishing success elsewhere through YouWriteOn free publishing, please let us know in your email as we will do our best to help promote your book further.

5. Author Warranties

The Author represents and warrants the following to the Publishers:

(a) that the Author is the exclusive owner of the Work, and has the legal authority to enter into this agreement and grant publishing rights regarding the Work

(b) this Agreement does not conflict with any other agreement, arrangement or understanding between the Author and any other persons, business or entity

(c) the Author states that the Work as submitted by the Author, and its publication by the Publisher, does not or will not violate or infringe upon any personal or proprietary rights, including copyrights, contract rights, trademark or trade secret rights, publicity rights, or privacy rights of any other persons or entities

(d) that the Work is free of any claims of libel, copyright or trademark infringement, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts, or breach of privacy

(e) the Author warrants not to enter any agreement with any person, firm or other entity that would conflict with the rights granted to YouWriteOn.com Publishing without first terminating this contract and

(f) the Author warrants that the work is not defamatory or obscene, or illegal in nature, and warrants and represents that the Work and material contained within it will not be injurious to any user, reader or other person. The Publisher reserves the right not to publish books submitted to us through free publishing, and to cancel publication if we believe that any of the above terms have been infringed.

6. Publicity

The Author agrees that the Publisher has the full right to use book excerpts, quotes, reviews, cover images, and other book related material for promotional purposes. YouWriteOn helps to promote writers where we can, but there is no agreement on the part of the Publisher however to engage in or fund promotion or marketing expressed or implied by this contract.

7. Timelines to Publish Book

The Publisher will endeavour to have all books prepared for publication by Christmas 2008 if the Author is one of the accepted 5,000 authors who email us by 31st October 2008. The Author accepts that this is an aim and not a guarantee as unpredictable events may affect the timeline. If not published by Christmas, books will be published as soon as possible after Christmas.

8. Author Royalties And Book Retail Price

The Author shall receive a 60% net royalty on all sales of printed copies of the Work that the Publisher receives. The net royalty for each book sold is after printing costs for books sold directly from the YouWriteOn site. For copies of books sold through other book retailers, such as Amazon, Waterstones, etc, the net royalty is paid after printing costs and after bookseller discounts per copy sold. A bookseller discount is the share that a bookseller such as Amazon or Waterstones takes as their percentage of a book’s sale price in return for listing that book for sale. YouWriteOn will set the retail price for books. Author royalties are not paid on copies of the book bought by the Authors themselves. As well as giving writers a high royalty, YouWriteOn’s aim is to set marketable book prices, for example, we published Bufflehead Sisters, a 300 page book, by Patricia J. DeLois for £6.49 ($12.99). The author was successful in sales and achieved a two book deal with Penguin. We believe a marketable book price helped to achieve this. The Author accepts that suitable retail prices may vary depending on the size of a book and changes in retail prices over time, and that YouWriteOn will make a decision on cover price.


9. Royalty Payment Periods

The Publisher will provide royalty statements and pay royalties to Authors on 1st April and 1st October annually. If the royalty payment due for a six-monthly payment is less than £25 then the money will be carried forward to subsequent six-monthly periods until the balance exceeds £25, at which time the publisher will make the appropriate royalty payment to the Author. YouWriteOn Publishing will send the Author a link to an online statement of accounts for sales of the Author's book(s) on a six-monthly basis or email the Author the statement of account on a six-monthly basis. Royalties will be made by bank transfer, cheque payments, Google Payments or Paypal (UK) and by cheque or Google Payments or Paypal payments only (US). Some payment providers, for example, Paypal, charge a small processing fee which is deducted by the payment provider from the payment sent to the recipient. Royalty payments may sometimes take place a few days after the payment dates specified above depending on the volume of payments to be made to Authors.


10. Book Availability and Distribution Fee Payment

The Author agrees to pay a fee of £39.99 for the Publisher to assign an ISBN number to the Author’s book and make their book available to order as a Print-On-Demand paperback book through the ordering service of major online book retailers, such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, WH Smith and Waterstones. Print-On-Demand is the publishing process by which a paperback copy of a book is created and printed by the printers only when an order from a customer through a book retailer is received. Print-On-Demand book Authors typically receive considerably higher royalties than book printed by commercial publishers, this is generally because Print-On-Demand publishers do not need to keep stocks of books.

Books will be delivered to customers according to the delivery policies of individual book retailers, such as Amazon, WH Smith and Waterstones. Typically, this will be between 2 to 5 working days. Some book retailers, such as Amazon, enable customers to expedite their delivery further.

11. Submission of Manuscripts The Author accepts that the Publisher reserves the right not to publish books that do not meet the book submission guidelines we have sent the Author, or which we consider are not appropriate for publishing, for example because we believe they may infringe others copyright. The author is responsible for all facets of their layout in the book they submit to the publisher, including grammar, text layout, spelling, and all word processing and other computer produced layout that the Author has included in their submitted documents and Work. The Author accepts that for documents and Work submitted to different computers that the documents and Work may sometimes not appear as it does on their computer and this may be reflected in the published book. For example, a chapter may end on a different page than the author intends. This is because of how word processing systems work and we cannot be held responsible. The Publisher agrees to publish the text of the Work that we receive in its entirety. The Author agrees that the Publisher is not responsible for any errors the Author may have made upon submission in their Work.

12. Correspondence The Publisher has set an obligation of publishing 5,000 writers for free so that they can be ordered as paperbacks by Christmas. In order to achieve this, we have kept this very simple for writers in our instructions and guidelines which we have sent to participating Authors about sending us your manuscript. The Author accepts that we can only publish authors that follow these instructions correctly.

13. Publisher Transferal or Bankruptcy

The Author understands that the Publisher may at any time sell its business and that all current contracts and licenses would be transferred to the new owner. If the Publisher liquidates its business or is legally judged bankrupt, this Agreement shall be terminated immediately. The Publisher will only be responsible for any unpaid royalties due to the Author.

14. Termination by Publisher

The Publisher may terminate publication of the work and its display on the site immediately without giving notice upon receiving information of an actual or potential breach of copyright or information of any other liability claim relating to the Work.

15. Publishing Submissions

Publishing submissions of Work must be submitted electronically to the web site by email to youwriteon@legendpress.co.uk.

16. Submission Acceptance

The Publisher reserves the right not to accept a publishing submission upon receipt, for example, if we believe the Work infringes others copyright in any way. We will email writers whose Work we have accepted. Once a submission of Work has been emailed to us, the Author accepts that we will begin production of their Work for setup as a Paperback.

17. Title Maintenance

The Author must pay to the Publisher an annual title maintenance fee of £15 ($30 )if the Author wishes to keep the Work listed for sale and distribution with booksellers and distributors. There is no annual title maintenance fee for the first year of publication. The yearly maintenance fee is based on current charges and administration incurred by the Publisher to display books on bookseller websites and catalogues. The Author is liable for the fee annually if the Author wishes to continue to have his Work displayed on bookseller catalogues and websites. The author will be informed when the title maintenance fee is due, and if the Author chooses not to pay the title maintenance fee by the due date then the Work will not be displayed on bookseller websites.
18. Agreement Acceptance

The Publisher agrees to the terms in this agreement. By adding your name and address to this agreement below you state that you have read and agree to all its terms and conditions in this publishing agreement in the same manner as if you had manually signed the agreement. We may ask for, and you consent to provide, a signed, printed copy of the agreement if required.