Ok, so I was searching the web and came across this thing called AuthorHouse--Supposedly something that helps you get published--or whatever. I had a quick look at it and (for some reason), they sent me an email saying something about contacting me in the next few days about giving me advised on how to get published.

What I did was the site has a list of questions where (I thought) you could search for publishers within a specific field. I didn't get any answer at first, but then they sent an email to me saying how they can help me search for a publisher.

Now, this sounds a little strange to me. Does anyone know anything about this website. Is it something I should stay away from?

As far as I can see they're basically a print-on-demand setup for self-publishers: you upload your book, do all the formatting and so on, and order copies as you want them. Editing, proof-reading, design (within their templates, I imagine), marketing, sales, warehousing, distribution and publicity are all up to you - though they may say they can do some of these for extra charges. PoD books are getting better looking, but they still don't look like conventionally printed books in either format or substance. It's cheap to run off a few books if that's all you want, but the unit cost of each book is very high compared to a conventional print run, so it's hard to charge enough to cover your other costs. There are other companies who do this, so a bit of comparing of costs and packages would probably be prudent. And what it isn't is publishing, it's self-publishing...

Emma

Authorhouse is only for those who wish to self-publish - the writer pays Authorhouse to produce a thouand or so copies of their novel, then it's up to the writer to try to sell them.


- NaomiM

<Added>

crossed with Emma.

Oh, I see. So they don't actually help look for publishers then? Well, looks like they decieved me! Glad I asked first.

I don't wish to diss PoD companies, but that's not what I'm looking for at the moment. If I wanted to do that, I'd go for lulu.com as it's much cheaper.

Thanks for that.