Sue Collier | June 7, 2010
(Cross-posted at the Writer’s Digest website.) What message do you find yourself repeating over and over to writers? Sue: The difference between true self-publishing and the so-called “self-publishing companies”—and why that difference is so important for authors to understand. Marilyn: Marketing. Marketing. Marketing. It’s mandatory in today’s publishing environment to be proactive and get behind [...]
Sue Collier | May 28, 2010
When I first read this article by Garrison Keillor, I kind of chuckled to myself—I mean, how seriously can I take the opinion of modern publishing from the dude who hales from the (albeit fictitious) “little town that time forgot and the decades cannot improve.” Obviously, he would prefer that the publishing world stay just [...]
Sue Collier | May 21, 2010
Title: The Wealthy Author: The Fast Profit Method for Writing, Publishing & Selling Your Non-Fiction Book Authors: Joe Gregory and Debbie Jenkins Publishing Academy, 2009 Back cover synopsis: Renegade publishers, Debbie Jenkins and Joe Gregory, share their hard-won experience to show you exactly how to make a fast and impressive income as a non-fiction author [...]
Sue Collier | May 5, 2010
I read a blog post today about why authors should pursue traditional publishing rather than try self-publishing from the start. For authors of fiction, I would probably agree that traditional publishing is definitely the more ideal model; but for authors of nonfiction, self-publishing is often the best, most profitable way for authors to see their [...]
Sue Collier | May 3, 2010
There seems to be a fairly common misconception among some would-be self-publishers that if they want to take advantage of print-on-demand technology, they have no choice but to go with a subsidy outfit such as Lulu, iUniverse, or Author House. What they don’t realize is that POD refers to a digital printing process performed by a [...]
Sue Collier | April 27, 2010
One of the most appealing things about using a so-called self-publishing company for many authors is the lack of up-front investment. Companies such as Lulu cost very little, so eager authors jump right in—often without examining the fine print. Unfortunately, most authors quickly discover they are left with an unmarketable book that sells few copies. [...]
Sue Collier | April 15, 2010
I read another blogger today who asked this same question—and his answer was that 99 percent of self-publishing is a scam. I’m going to have to respectfully disagree with him on that one—but only because he is using incorrect terminology. Subsidy publishing—now there is a scam (for the most part—I would probably agree with 99 [...]
Sue Collier | March 10, 2010
I have to speak up again today after reading this blog post: http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/CommentView.aspx?guid=8f273388-29f7-4bcc-9b1f-3efd79f5cf10 The blog wasn’t cooperating with my comment addition, however, so I’m going to put it right here: “…the industry is now experiencing a “true self-publishing” movement that argues a “real” self-published author is one who eschews the use of services like AuthorSolutions. [...]
Sue Collier | January 19, 2010
Apparently, not even Publishers Weekly understands that POD ”self-publishing” is not self-publishing at all. Here is the article I responded to: http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6712254.html?talk_back_header_id=6637648#talkback. (There is a lot of other excellent feedback there, including from self-publishing pioneer Dan Poynter, so be sure to read that as well.) My comments: I find it amazing that Publishers Weekly still doesn’t understand [...]
Sue Collier | December 22, 2009
I received an email over the weekend, requesting that SPR get in touch with GLAWS (Greater Los Angeles Writers Society–http://www.glaws.org/). Apparently, the group had a meeting on self-publishing a while back, and they had people from iUniverse, AuthorHouse, and Xlibris there. Here’s a little bit of what the email said: “I almost fell down. I [...]
