How does writing for a webzine differ from writing for print?  Cast a Wider Net

                                                     from Writer’s Digest newsletter

     In the February issue of Writer's Digest, writer Debbie Ridpath Ohi says magazine freelancers should expand their reach to online markets. She interviews several editors on how to break into the webzine scene.
     “Amy L. Webb (founder and editor in chief of Dragonfire [dfire.org], a digital news and culture magazine offering slice-of-life stories behind the headlines): The web requires many more elements.
     Digital storytelling means that a piece may have 500 words in print, a two-minute audio clip, 37 links, photos and a searchable database. Writers hoping to break into web publications must think of themselves as "information brokers" rather than reporters--they need to be capable of collecting information for multiple platforms. That said, solid reporting and writing are solid reporting and writing, regardless of the medium.”
     To read the full article and get more advice from several webzine editors, visit:
http://www.writersdigest.com/articles/ridpath_ohi_widernet.asp

Confessions of a Publisher

         by Steve Neubauer From The Wright Stuff Newsletter –

           to subscribe to this free monthly publication

          send an e-mail to steveneubauer@wordwright.biz.

 

This week I had an interesting discussion with a group of authors about the various types of publishing available to authors. I thought you might find it useful to look at the different approaches the way we did and decide which might work best for you.

 

 

Royalty Houses:

A royalty house buys the rights to your manuscript and then edits, designs, prints, and distributes the book. The author makes no financial contribution to the creation of the book other than the expenses associated with producing the manuscript. The publisher makes all the financial investment and receives no monies from the author. The publisher pays the author money (called royalties) based on the number of sales less expenses. Some houses pay advances against these royalties which means you pay back the advance with your book sales before you receive regular royalties.

Royalty houses are very selective about which books they publish because they have an eye to the bottom-line, and they want to make a good return on their investment. They look not only at the quality of the manuscript but the sales and marketing skills of the author.

Some Key Questions to Ask about Royalty Houses:

 

Q. Do they pay advances? How much?   

A. First time authors with small royalty houses don’t often receive advances. If you are offered an advance, it can vary from a few hundred to many thousands of dollars depending on the size of the house.

Q. What royalty percentages do they pay?   

A. The norm is 7% - 15% but you can find some that pay as high as 18%.

Q. How many books does the author receive for free upon publication?   

A. Two to ten is the norm but some provide as many as 20.

Q. Do they help with getting you publicity? Do they get articles in newspapers and magazines about you and help you find appearances and book signings?  

A. Very few do this but some do.

Subsidy Houses:

A subsidy house charges the author for all the work needed to publish a book. You select which services you want such as editing, proofreading, cover design, and so forth. If you shop around, you’ll find houses that will work closely with you to provide only the services you need. Others have a one size fits all, impersonal approach. You need to be careful to find the one that best meets your needs.

Some Key Questions to Ask about Subsidy Houses:

 

Q. Do they provide editing and proofreading? If yes, what are the qualifications of the editors?

A. Look for editors who are published authors themselves. You don’t want to have your book edited by English professors/teachers with no experience with commercial books because there is a huge difference between “grammatically correct” and commercially viable writing.

Q. If they have editors do you have the final say on how each sentence will read?

A. The best companies will work with you to reach agreement for the best outcome.

Q. Do you have final approval of the cover design? Can you provide your own cover?
A. This varies from house to house. Some allow you to retain more control than others.

Q. Do they provide proofreading?   

A. Again, what are the qualifications of the proofreaders?

Q. Who retains the rights to the book?   

A. Don’t give up any rights to a subsidy house. If they want any rights for any amount of time, find another publisher.

Q. Who sets the retail price of the book?   

A. Make sure you do!!! If you let them set it, you’ll pay a lot more for your books when you order them because your price will likely be based on the retail price. Find a publisher that will explain how books are discounted in the distribution network so that you can set the lowest possible price and still make a profit.

Q. How much does the author pay for finished books?  

 A. Most will give you a 40% discount off the prices they set. (see item 4). This can be a real killer because when you take your book into a bookstore to sell them the retailer will ask you for a 40% discount. In such a situation you could sell a million books and never make a dime. Look for a publisher that will sell you the books at print cost which will be about 75% off the retail price.

Q. How much do they charge for shipping and handling when you order books?

A. Watch out for this one as some companies have huge charges for shipping and handling Do a little research and figure out about how heavy your book will be and then check with UPS to get an idea how much it would cost to ship a hundred of them. Then ask the publisher what they would charge. Of course it will be higher as you need to pay for their time and effort to provide this service but see if it seems reasonable to you.

Q. Is there a minimum initial order quantity?  

A. If you go with a print-on-demand publisher make sure that you can set the minimum print order to one book if you so desire. Don’t let them force you to buy some minimum quantity set by them.

Q. Do they guarantee the quality? What happens if you find a typo or punctuation error in the book after it has been published?  

A. The norm is that once you approve the galley proof the publisher is not responsible. However, some publishers will guarantee their work and fix the typo at no cost to you on subsequent printings.

Q. Do they have distribution via major distributors such as Ingram and Baker and Taylor?   

A. You definitely want this so that bookstores can order your book via their normal process.

Q. What royalty percentage do they pay?   

A. The norm is 20% - 40% but don’t settle for this. If you shop around you can find as high as 85%.

On all of these points, always work with a publisher that gives you the amount of control you’re comfortable with.

Self-Publishing (Also known as vanity publishing.)

You do everything to produce your finished book.

Some Key Questions to Ask about self-publishing:

Q. Do you have the skills and time to do this?  

A. Only you can answer this.

Q. Do you need distribution for your book?   

A. If yes, how will you do this so that bookstores can order your book via their normal book ordering process?

Ask the Book Doctor:

#14  Networking Newbie

Ask the Book Doctor:

#13 Avoiding Sexist Language

Dear Doc,

     Years ago if we wrote, “Anyone may park his car here,” nobody accused us of sexist language. Can you explain why it’s more politically correct to say, “her car’?

– Trying not to be a sexist pig

Dear Trying,

     Your point is well taken, but maybe it’s catch-up time for women who were lumped into the unisex masculine pronoun for so many years. Whichever pronoun you use, however, “he” or “she” is likely to distract some of your audience from the idea you are trying to convey. And saying something like, “He or she may park his or her car,” is just plain awkward. Therefore, let’s look at some smoother ways of avoiding the issue of sexist language in the first place.

     1. Delete the pronoun reference whenever possible. Example: “The writer should jot down ideas as soon as they occur to him/her.” (delete “to him/her”)

     2. Change the pronoun to an article (the). Example: “An author should ask someone else to proofread his/her manuscript before submitting it.” (change “his/her” to “the”)

     3. Pluralize. Example: “A writer should always check his facts.” (change to “Writers should always check their facts.”)

     4. Use the relative pronoun who instead of an “if...he/she” expression. Example: “If a writer’s vocabulary is small, she has fewer ways to express herself.” (change to “A writer who has a small vocabulary suffers a dearth of expressive choices.”)

     5. Repeat the noun or use a synonym instead of a pronoun. “An author must view the criticism of peers objectively. In this way, he can improve clarity.” (change “he” to “the author” or “the writer”)

                                                                  No sexist pigs here – Joan Hall

Have a question to share in this column? Email me at: jmuHall@aol.com with “Ask the Book Doctor” as your subject line. If you want to remain anonymous, I’ll address you by whatever pseudonym you sign. To see previous issues, go to: http://www.joanuptonhall.com/books.htm. Scroll past the book covers and click “Ask Doc” Q&A’s.

Ask the Book Doctor: 

         Publishing Puzzled

                                                                by Joan Upton Hall

Dear Doc,
Some of us are confused when various speakers toss around the terms: Self-publishing, Subsidy Publishing, and Royalty Publishing. Can you please explain the meanings?

Publishing Puzzled

Dear Puzzled,
You are not alone in your confusion. Here are some simple definitions & examples:
     1. Self-publishing: You take care of layout, cover design, and editing yourself; then you print and bind your book. (This includes hiring work done.) If you want to sell the book in bookstores or online, you will also need to take care of things like ISBN numbers, and you cannot get only one. Sorry I can't tell you how to do this because I'd rather be dipped in hot tar than even think about doing such a thing (shudder)! You also have to have several published books before you can register with distributors (explained on #2).
VIABLE EXAMPLES (no ISBN number necessary): chapbooks of your stories, essays, poetry, drawings; a topic on which you are a well-known expert; books intended for family and friends; booklets put together by an organizations (such as recipes), a booklet of collected published reprints (such as my “Demystifying Writers' Demons,” that I sell directly at book events).
ADVANTAGES & DRAWBACKS: You have to pay for it, but the profit is all yours. Lack of professional input frequently results in an inferior product, so don't rely on yourself alone.
     2. Subsidy Publishing: You hire a company that does layout, cover design, gets the book printed, and displays it on their website for sale. It also furnishes the ISBN# and distributorship through Baker & Taylor and/or Ingram to get the book into bookstores and online stores (like Amazon.com). This can be your chance at “breaking into print,” but do be careful. Some of these companies produce a sloppy book and do little or no editing even if they claim to do so. Examine books they have done before!
     VIABLE EXAMPLES: (A) specialty books you have a niche market for and plenty of audience to sell to; or you don't have time or energy to market to traditional publishers; or although traditional publishers have turned it down, you feel strongly enough to try this method.
     (B) I won't name inferior companies, but you can tell by looking at their previous books. One that I do respect, and that we know best locally is WordWright.biz, owned by Joan and Steve Neubauer, who started out in Georgetown. I used this company to print the 2nd edition of a manual I had originally self-published. By then I knew my niche market, and the 1st book's flaws had already been identified, so I was ready to take it to a wider market via bookstores and online.
     ADVANTAGES & DRAWBACKS: You have to pay for the costs, but the profit is your own. Since you paid the initial costs, a company that makes its living this way has less incentive to make a good book. Choose a company that cares about building its reputation. You make a bigger profit on each book than with a traditional publisher.
     3. Royalty Publishing aka Traditional Publishing: You submit your manuscript to a company that does the sort of book you have written. If the editors believe it has a good chance of making a profit, they offer you a contract. If you agree to their terms and sign the contract, they take over from there, using their expertise to make most of the decisions about layout, cover design, etc. You may have less choice about any editing they deem necessary, but they are likely to be right.
VIABLE EXAMPLES: Some of these publishers' names are household words. Others are small presses with fewer books. Writers' Market lists them with contact information and what kind of books they publish. Some subsidy publishers build up to this status and take a chance on writers who have demonstrated great writing and successful marketing. WordWright.biz has recently opened this option while continuing to give newer writers a chance to prove themselves through the subsidy option.

     Atriad Press (represented by our October speaker, Mitchel Whitington) is a small royalty publisher, with no subsidy options.

ADVANTAGES & DRAW-BACKS: Since it's their investment on the line, it is to their advantage to help you succeed. However, if you demonstrate poor effort to market the book or you have been hard to work with, they may not offer you a contract on your future books. You have less control and don't make as much on each book sold, but all you invested was time and effort. Reviewers and bookstores trust royalty publishers more, knowing they couldn't stay in business if they didn't publish good books. Thus royalty publishers can usually reach a wider audience than subsidy publishers. They pay you royalties on books they sell, and you may also purchase books at a discount to sell directly.
     As Mitchel Whitington said, writers today have more options than ever before. Just don't get in such a hurry you turn out a book before it's ready. A conscientious subsidy publisher may or may not catch your boo-boos. And let's face it, we all suffer for what the careless writers and publishers dump in the market place.
     I hope this clears up the confusion.