It’s Been A While…

Hey Everybody! Did you miss me?!

This blogging thing is a lot more involved than I originally thought, and definitely needs more focus than general writing.

So. I’ll start by printing my first retraction. It belongs to this post. I wrote, speaking about AuthorHouse (the self-publishing company): “There ARE a couple positives. Their package fees are a fair bit less expensive than MillCity and their prices to add images to the manuscript are far less. (Theirs are $5 per image beyond the 10 free they include, whereas MillCity I believe was $50 beyond the 10). They include phone conversation with a marketing professional as part of their packages, though marketing services themselves are separate.“

Michelle from Mill City, who was cool enough to actually read this blog, wanted to make sure I had it straight. And l want to make sure I’m accurate to you guys. So this is the truth.

1. Mill City Press allow up to 20 images to be inserted for no additional charge with any of their publishing packages, and each additional image over the 20 would be $4 per image to insert for you.

 

2.  They provide the opportunity for their authors to have conferences with members of their book publicity staff very early in the publishing process before committing to any marketing or book publicity services to be applied for their book, and these consultations are provided free of charge to their authors.

 

So there you have it. I also wanted to share a link to a little 6 item list I found to help authors find success in publishing their projects.

 

Thanks for listening guys. Tomorrow I’ll share some new character art with you! Have a good night everybody.

Hey Everybody

It’s been a few days. You all must be missing me terribly… (sarcasm)

Thought I’d just make a couple of comments about progress on my book. Michelle at Mill City was kind enough to send me, for free, three books they’ve printed. One Print-On-Demand and two printed using an offset printer. Very professional move to include samples of print quality for free. They’re the only self-publisher I’ve talked to that offers that.

None of the three books sent to me were anything I would consider buying, but the quality of print and materials used were great.

In my efforts to figure out funding for this project, I’ve been going through my things, trying to find anything of value to sell. I have an old 50 cent piece that’s worth about $8.50, but that’s not gonna get me very far…

I was able to procure an antique Lachenal concertina several years ago from a family friend that was using it as decoration and had no idea of its value. It’s very old (probably 1921 or 1922) and should have pretty good value. So I’ve been working on finding someone to appraise its value and then I’ll try sell it. I should be able to get at least $1000 for it. But we’ll see. It could be worth far more or, more likely, a bit less.

The more time goes on, the more hungry I am for this project to be successful. Anybody want to buy a concertina?

In Regards To Earlier Posts

So this is in reference to the last post… (And it becomes clear to me that my book project related posts are the least liked, but I keep thinking this information might be helpful to somebody.)

I talked to Michelle from MillCity Press again yesterday and she set a few things straight. She says:

“When it comes to comparing print on demand digital printing services to offset printing services, the biggest advantage to using an offset printer is that an offset printer provides a much more expansive array of printing options to choose from, which can impact the printing quality of the book. Offset printers provide the option for authors to use higher grades of paper and binding for their printing runs, as well as more specialized lamination choices for the cover.”

That agrees with the other research I’ve done. So my goal remains Offset printing. Now comes the tricky part…

And HEY EVERYBODY! Starting tomorrow, I’m planning on having a guest post on here every Friday. This one comes from an author friend, and I think you’re going to like it. So please check back in tomorrow. And goodnight.

Sometimes It Makes A Difference

So today I talked to Adam from AuthorHouse. They’re another self-publishing firm (why do I keep calling them ‘firms’? They’re just a regular company, right? It just sounds better to me for some reason…) that offers print-on-demand services. I’m not looking for print-on-demand because, from all the research I’ve done, it’s not high quality enough for illustrations. But my research is wrong, according to Adam.

He wanted me to understand that their parent company is Random House, so any lapse in quality would be very bad for both them and their parent company, so I had better believe him that print-on-demand is high quality enough! Adam seemed very much like he’d never heard of offset printing before today…

Needless to say, he did not instill much confidence in me. He seemed impatient on the phone (especially for a phone salesman…) and he informed me that they don’t allow authors to do their own formatting, as it might mean some extra work for them. He had never heard of MillCity Press, the other self-publishing firm (there’s that word again!) I’ve been in contact with, which doesn’t bode well for a convincing pitch. Needless to say, I wasn’t too impressed with what I’ve heard so far from AuthorHouse.

There ARE a couple positives. Their package fees are a fair bit less expensive than MillCity and their prices to add images to the manuscript are far less. (Theirs are $5 per image beyond the 10 free they include, whereas MillCity I believe was $50 beyond the 10). They include phone conversation with a marketing professional as part of their packages, though marketing services themselves are separate.

Price is super important as far as I’m concerned, as the smaller the price is the more likely I am to reach my crowdfunding goals. Marketing is super important too, as I don’t want to end up paying for a product no one will ever know exists.

Still, I feel like the negatives outweigh the positives with AuthorHouse. The worst part was comparing the way Michelle from MillCity spoke with me compared to how Adam from AuthorHouse did. He didn’t believe in me or my project. He wasn’t interested in learning more about my manuscript or why I wrote it or what audience I was trying to reach. He was a nice enough guy, but he didn’t seem to care. I’ve worked in sales for a few years now. I know what it sounds like when a salesman doesn’t believe in what they’re selling. Maybe Adam is just terrible on the phone? Sometimes salesmanship makes a difference. So far, it’s moving me to give up on AuthorHouse.

Anyways, I hope this stuff is interesting to somebody out there. I know the self-publishing landscape can be overwhelming and complicated and hopefully, by sharing what we experience, we can help each other be successful authors!