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| Posted By : ragemachine - 1/13/2006 2:39 PM | I've been in the ebook biz for about five years now, so I guess you could call me an expert. It's a new field and there's so much to know. I'll offer what I can.
GW Thomas
Editor/Publisher of www.lulu.com/ragemachinebooks
G. W. Thomas has appeared in over 350 different books, magazines and ezines including Black October Magazine, Writer's Digest and The Armchair Detective.
http://ragemachinemag.tripod.com |
| Posted By : RonShiflet - 1/17/2006 3:48 PM | quote:
Originally posted by ragemachine
I've been in the ebook biz for about five years now, so I guess you could call me an expert. It's a new field and there's so much to know. I'll offer what I can.
GW Thomas
Editor/Publisher of www.lulu.com/ragemachinebooks
G. W. Thomas has appeared in over 350 different books, magazines and ezines including Black October Magazine, Writer's Digest and The Armchair Detective.
http://ragemachinemag.tripod.com
Hello Mr. Thomas, this is just what I needed. My work was accepted for 4 of the Nancy Jackson edited anthologies that you're publishing and I love the one I've seen. (Travel a Time Historic) As a result, I'm currently compiling a horror anthology that I plan to print through lulu.com and have a couple of questions. I've noticed that you don't sell your books at Shocklines. Is it because the seller requires too large of a discount when purchasing?
I hope to offer my anthology at both lulu and at the primary online genre booksellers if possible. Is that likely to be a financial problem?
I realize my question may be too vague but thought I'd give it a shot.
What is a normal discount that sellers require from publishers? I can see how it will be a major consideration in pricing my finished project.
I've got about a million questions but obviously haven't thought them all out at this time. I've done a mock-up of a story collection in order to see if I formatted everything correctly. It looked good when transferred to the lulu PDF format. If the system accepted it, will it appear that way when printed? I guess I'll know soon because I threw together a test cover and ordered a copy to see for myself. |
| Posted By : ragemachine - 1/17/2006 5:25 PM | You are absolutely right. I'd love to sell through Shocklines. They are great company and wonderful exposure. But they need a 40% discount. POD books are pricey to begin with and our profit margin is about 40%, which leaves nothing to deduct without making 0 profit. I wish I had an answer to this that didn't involve higher prices. i felt if someone loves Sword and Sorcery they'd rather pay $15.99 for a copy of KINGS OF THE NIGHT or MAGISTRIA than $25. (Plus postage on either of these prices.)
If this is going to change I believe it will have to come from Shocklines end (some new innovative pricing system, but they have enough material without going to such lengths.)
GW
G. W. Thomas has appeared in over 350 different books, magazines and ezines including Black October Magazine, Writer's Digest and The Armchair Detective.
http://ragemachinemag.tripod.com |
| Posted By : Dragon Angel - 1/17/2006 6:59 PM | As a reader, I have to say that $25 is too much. $16 is great for an anthology. About $20 is what I expect. But I'm getting old and my prices are getting out of date. Coke's fifty cents in a vending machine, right?
read free fiction and poetry at http://www.geocities.com/davidolson22/index.html |
| Posted By : RonShiflet - 1/19/2006 1:14 PM | quote:
Originally posted by ragemachine
You are absolutely right. I'd love to sell through Shocklines. They are great company and wonderful exposure. But they need a 40% discount. POD books are pricey to begin with and our profit margin is about 40%, which leaves nothing to deduct without making 0 profit. I wish I had an answer to this that didn't involve higher prices. i felt if someone loves Sword and Sorcery they'd rather pay $15.99 for a copy of KINGS OF THE NIGHT or MAGISTRIA than $25. (Plus postage on either of these prices.)
If this is going to change I believe it will have to come from Shocklines end (some new innovative pricing system, but they have enough material without going to such lengths.)
GW
G. W. Thomas has appeared in over 350 different books, magazines and ezines including Black October Magazine, Writer's Digest and The Armchair Detective.
http://ragemachinemag.tripod.com
Thanks for verifying that for me. That's sort of what I thought. It's a shame there isn't an online site that exclusively features quality POD works of horror/fantasy/sci-fi. I would love to see a place much like your own Rage Machine Books where interested readers can go and see a wide selection of what's available.
I'm not in the publishing business and I know once my anthology is finished, that it's going to really need promotion on the part of the contributors and myself to get the word out. I may still go the other route but it looks like a financially difficult row to hoe. At least I'm in the positive position of managing to secure talented authors with high name recognition, many of whom have considerable fan followings.
I've been truly gratified by their willingness to sign on with and untried galoot like myself.[:I] |
| Posted By : Dragon Angel - 1/19/2006 6:05 PM | There are a few centralized locations: The Genre Mall (http://www.genremall.com/contents.htm) which sells about 20 different publishers, and Project Pulp (http://projectpulp.com/catalogue.asp) which sells a bunch too. I'm not a publisher, so I have no idea what percentage a publisher loses by selling to these groups. Probably about 50%.
read free fiction and poetry at http://www.geocities.com/davidolson22/index.html |
| Posted By : RonShiflet - 1/19/2006 7:10 PM | quote:
Originally posted by davidolson22
There are a few centralized locations: The Genre Mall (http://www.genremall.com/contents.htm) which sells about 20 different publishers, and Project Pulp (http://projectpulp.com/catalogue.asp) which sells a bunch too. I'm not a publisher, so I have no idea what percentage a publisher loses by selling to these groups. Probably about 50%.
read free fiction and poetry at http://www.geocities.com/davidolson22/index.html
Thanks for the info. I knew about Project Pulp but not about Genre Mall.
I would love to see a site that dealt exclusively in POD and Ebooks. Someone who would take a small commision for hosting the site and showcasing the books. Their primary function would be to advertise the books and supply the link to where they could be ordered. I know something like that isn't likely to happen but it would be nice. |
| Posted By : ragemachine - 1/27/2006 4:29 AM | The industry norm is usually 40% but there are some companies charging more.
GW
G. W. Thomas has appeared in over 350 different books, magazines and ezines including Black October Magazine, Writer's Digest and The Armchair Detective.
http://ragemachinemag.tripod.com |
| Posted By : RonShiflet - 1/28/2006 10:32 AM | I have a couple of questions concerning formatting books for POD publishing. I recently put together a collection of 12-13 stories (my own) to use as a test book.
I followed the procedure, ordered the book and was very happy with the results. There are a couple of things I want to do differently.
I tested the book at lulu which I know Mr. Thomas uses. My question:
Can I justify both sides of a paragraph without screwing up the transfer to PDF file?
I also need to adjust the margins slightly to make it easier to read. The test book wasn't bad but I think it could benefit from margin changes.
If anyone knows about justifying the paragraphs, please let me know. I know how to justify them, I just don't know if doing so will cause a problem in the transfer from Word to PDF file. Thanks! |
| Posted By : ragemachine - 2/5/2006 8:15 AM | Ron,
Sorry for taking so long on this question. It isn't that hard to try it one way and if it doesn't work, go the other. I don't publish poetry as a rule so most of my text tends to be left justified. In the few cases where I have used poetry (Nancy jackson's anthologies only so far) I have centered them.
GW
G. W. Thomas has appeared in over 350 different books, magazines and ezines including Black October Magazine, Writer's Digest and The Armchair Detective.
http://ragemachinemag.tripod.com |
| Posted By : cussedness - 2/27/2006 5:33 AM | The PoD companies that generally have books selling through places like Shocklines usually go through Lightning Source directly. The initial set up cost is higher, but the price of individual books is much lower than lulu, and the higher initial cost can be made up in the long run. That's how Wildside does it.
Janrae Frank
Blood Rites http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook29989.htm
http://www.janraefrank.com |
| Posted By : gwthomas21 - 3/21/2006 10:20 AM | Janrae is right of course. This is the next step up from simply selling from Lulu. The expense is higher but the rewards are also there.
GW
G. W. Thomas is editor/publisher of RAGE m a c h i n e Books at www.lulu.com/ragemachinebooks His website is www.gwthomas.org |
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