Xpress Yourself Publishing

Nobody cares if she uses POD technology. The issue is whether or not she expects her authors to give her money, either directly, or indirectly through book sales.

As far as the other issues, such as not paying advances, paying substandard royalties, and not promoting and distributing her books very well, well, all those are forgivable because she does publish books and publishing books is very good.

Although I do take issue to "believing in the author more than the book." If the book is a soulless compilation of drivel, than it's not going to go anywhere, no matter what a great salesperson the author is.

ChristineR said:

As far as the other issues, such as not paying advances, paying substandard royalties, and not promoting and distributing her books very well, well, all those are forgivable because she does publish books and publishing books is very good.

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Speaking in the abstract, and not of XYP...

If a publisher acquired one of my books, then didn't promote or distribute them very well, I wouldn't be so quick to forgive. It's their *job*.

I'm new at this; I don't have a clue as to how to identify a POD from a traditional publisher, and so on. But I hope that Ms Tiles reconsider's her position to leave this site. I've found this site to be a great resouce and networking mecca. The mixture of professionals, novices, and experience in different genres makes this a pleasant place to build lasting comraderie.

If Ms Tiles and Ms Carla Dean [of U Can Mark My Word editorial services, of which the original thread was about] would take the time to read some of the other threads in the Bewares forum, they'd clearly see that the posts have nothing to do with race or bashing; rather, people who are trying to look out for others. I may be new, but I do know that when you open for business, you open yourself to scrutiny and lots and lots of questions. And more questions. Because people are trying to be successful; and if it weren't for sites like Absolute Write and Preditors and Editors, too many authors would go down like the titanic.

In other words: I'd take AW over a few bruised egos ANY DAY.

I see where you're coming from eqb, but XYP is a small niche publisher, and their stated intention is to publish books that are not of interest to enough people to get them shelf space in the major chains--or at least the majors believe there's not enough interest. So that leaves small presses with limited resources to pick up some of these books. Maybe XYP could do a better job, and maybe they can't--maybe it's not possible to publish these niche books without aggressive author marketing, and still make money.

I don't know, if the author thinks a book is worthwhile, and the other options have been exhausted, maybe they'll look at XYP. It's certainly a dilemma that many people who think their book is worthwhile have found themselves in. Anyhow, I'd tell someone to get better info about whether they really expect authors to purchase their own books.

Doomie said:

I'm new at this; I don't have a clue as to how to identify a POD from a traditional publisher,

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POD or Print/Publish On Demand is a technology, a way of actually printing books. Basically, it's a really big honking laser printer.

It is a great technology, and one that I use. And yes, "big name" publishers also use POD--for galleys and arcs and books they give away, not for books they sell.

There are a number of reasons. POD is nifty and fast and awfully useful, but the quality of the paper, the printing resolution, the inks, the binding glue, and the cover stock are all inferior to those of conventional publishing.

POD books are, on a book by book basis, more expensive to print, than books printed on the standard large scale Web presses and etc. used on mass market paperbacks which have print runs in the tens of thousands and thus print books for much less money.

I'm not being snide about POD; but it is the nature of the technology.

Medievalist said:

POD or Print/Publish On Demand is a technology, a way of actually printing books. Basically, it's a really big honking laser printer.

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I don't think that's correct. Digital Printing is a technology. Publish on Demand is a type of business, not a technology.

Print on Demand is where the confusion comes in because some people are referring to the technology while other people are referring to the type of business. This is where a lot of confusion and disconnect come into play in these discussions.

The problem with the PoD business strategy is that it is a long tail strategy. Whereas a large publisher goes for fewer authors/books and more sales of individual books, PoD lends itself more towards more authors to make up for fewer sales of individual books.

This doesn't mean that individual PoD publisher have more authors, but they have more authors 'per capita', which is to say that relative to their size, they are putting out many more books and dealing with many more authors than a big house.

Now, I don't think there is anything wrong with PoD publishers or authors who go the PoD route. The important thing is for the publishers to be upfront and honest and the authors to come into it with their eyes wide open. (Which is what this place is all about.)

Anyway, that's at least my understanding of it. There are a lot of people here that know far more than me about the industry. (I just read this place religiously.)

herdon said:

I don't think that's correct. Digital Printing is a technology. Publish on Demand is a type of business, not a technology.

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You would be wrong.

POD fairly well known in the publishing community as a reference to digital computing (to wit: http://www.sfwa.org/BEWARE/printondemand.html).

POD is a technology employed in a variety of business, most of them have nothing, at all to do with publishing in any conventional since

Xerox created the very first POD systems, where all the components needed to print, trim, glue and bind a book with a four-color cover, could be used sequentially and automatically, as a way to produce their own manuals.

I know. I was there.

Most POD systems today are actually used in corporate internal-use only environments; the excitement over consumer-friendly systems like the Espresso Book Machine are in part because these systems can be used by ordinary people.

I disagree, Medievalist.

Print on Demand is a business model, and can actually use any printing technology at all. The question is where in the ordering cycle the printing takes place. In Print on Demand it's after the ultimate customer has purchased the work.

Digital printing is the technology that many (but not all) Print on Demand publishers use. Yet other publishers, who are not at all Print on Demand, use digital printing for short runs.

See, for example, from the link you provided:

Print-on-demand self-publishing services (I'm going to call them POD services for short) utilize digital printing technology to provide publishing services to writers.

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I get catalogs from the big publishers every quarter. On a limited number of titles, they are using POD technology. They are also printing a few large print editions, instead of using Thorndike or other presses that specialize in large print editions. POD has been a boon to publishers who attend a lot of trade shows. Time was when we had to cut galleys apart and bind them into a tacky make-shift cover, in order to pitch them to the bookstores at conventions. If we were on schedule, we could bind the designed and laid out page proofs for a better look, but it was still ticky-tack. At least now, publishers can produce a decent looking pre-press edition for buyers to consider.

When I retired from the book business in 1985, type was just starting to be set entirely by computers. When I retired from the magazine business in 1992, our entire edition was prepared on a Page Maker (about 100 pages full color) and was sent to the printer on a disk. The disk included instructions for tip-ins, illustrations, etc. The presses were offset, and were run entirely by computer. The end result was a beautiful slick magazine, a work of art.

DP

Donna, no one is disparaging the use of the digital printing process. They've come a long way, and most publishers use this process for their ARCs and backlist titles. The problems here are with POD publishers who use this technology exclusively.

Which, while interesting all on its own, has little to do with Xpress Yourself Publishing.

One thing I've noticed about the Urban/Hip-hop genre is that it has distribution channels that are outside (or in addition to) the bookstore markets, and has its own way of dealing with that distribution. Another thing I've noticed is that it relies far more on author reputation and involvement than other genres might.

This is (IMHO) an artifact of the way that market grew, and its audience and that audience's expectations. It isn't wrong, it is different, and using the parameters of a different market to measure it will give some misleading results.

So what would Lightning Source be classified as? It's not listed in Preditors and Editors, or www.sfwa.org/BEWARE/printondemad.html

Is the quality of their "product" noticeably inferior to the traditional presses? If so, can you request a better quality paper or stock for the difference in cost?

Lightning Source is a digital printer, and while I am not judge of objective quality I can general pick a LS trade paperback from and offset print run fo the same size. LS tends to be shinier and floppier. (Like I said, not an expert, but I have picked up and turned over a lot of books).

Hello Ms. Tilles.

Thank you for going through (the process) at AW.

I assume you're an author, right? Do you not buy your books? Do you not have books on hand? Your publisher outright gives you cases of books when you need them, without you paying for them? For free? If this is the case, then I find that hard to believe, snip

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If find it interesting that no one I've seen has commented about your above statement above, as many of the posters are multi-published.

I do believe that, yes, the bigger houses do send free books to the authors.
I have gathered over the years of being here at AW, that it's more than just a few.

I personally would never buy my own book/s, again. It's a business not only for the publisher, but the author as well. Money flows to the writer, not away.
I'm a writer not only because I love to write, but because I'd like to make some income from my effort. Buying ones own books is counter productive in that effort. If my/a publisher sent me one e-mail or letter fishing for me to buy my own books, I'd see that as vanity. Or better, paying to pubish on the back-end.

I do feel that you are on the up and up with your business, but some business practices of some publishers do raise red flags.

Ken

Doomie said:

So what would Lightning Source be classified as? It's not listed in Preditors and Editors, or www.sfwa.org/BEWARE/printondemad.html

Is the quality of their "product" noticeably inferior to the traditional presses? If so, can you request a better quality paper or stock for the difference in cost?

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It's not the product of the printer. LS has quality equipment. The publisher picks the stock.

LS has the capibility to print large runs of books. I would bet that they print for the big publishing houses at times.

Lighting Source is a printer. Yes, the biggest publishers are among those who hire them. Like any other printer all they do is put ink on paper. P&E and SFWA wouldn't have anything to say about 'em, because they aren't a publisher. They're a manufacturer.

Ken Schneider said:

I do believe that, yes, the bigger houses do send free books to the authors.
I have gathered over the years of being here at AW, that it's more than just a few.

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Yes, they do.

In my last contract, I got 25 free copies of each edition of my books. For interviews or reviews, all I had to do was contact the publicist or my editor, and a copy would be sent out (followup was sometimes needed, but the point is that the publisher sent copies at my or the interviewer/reviewer's request, free of charge). Once, I needed a case of books to give out as promotional items at a conference; another time I wanted to donate a case of books to a charity auction. Both times, the publisher provided the books for free.

I was also allowed to buy books at a 50% discount for my own use--but I was prohibited from re-selling them. Commercial publishers see it as their job, not the author's, to do the selling.

The above arrangements are pretty typical of the really big houses and the larger independents. Smaller independents may not provide as many freebies, but any commercial-style publisher knows that giving books away reaps promotional benefits, and that using their own authors as their principal customer base is not the way to build volume sales.

- Victoria

I'll be receiving ten free copies from my little POD press, cover price royalties, and a small advance. They specialize in one genre, and their title count is kept down (per year) to a select few so they can invest more in the launch

If I have to go with a small press, or choose to, that uses print-on-demand,I like the best deal that I can get. Sometimes you have to haggle for it.

Tri

I'm friendly with authors who were given around 15-20 free books to start with, but they were allowed to sell them, as long as it was outside the book trade, i.e., friends, neighbors, etc. Their publishers always provided free books to signings as long as they were in bookstores. Most didn't provide them for fairs and talks.

One girlfriend had a book published in China, but the publisher would not distribute it there, or in the U.S.(too controversial). They did distribute in Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan. She bought 1,000 at $3 per book, including shipping, and distributed them herself in Florida. at $18.00 per copy. Sold 600 so far, including 100 on a cruise she took to Mexico. Gawd, it took a lot of work--footwork, paperwork, bookkeeping, and gas.

Definitely not for everyone.

Ken Schneider said:

If find it interesting that no one I've seen has commented about your above statement above, as many of the posters are multi-published.I do believe that, yes, the bigger houses do send free books to the authors.
I have gathered over the years of being here at AW, that it's more than just a few.

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Thanks for bringing this up, Ken. Allowing the statement to remain unchallenged could help perpetuate the myth that all publishers act like vanity presses - and it's beliefs like this that drive people into the hands of outfits like PA. I find the use of that classic PA phrase 'books on hand' decidedly chilling.

However, Ms Tilles could well be a victim of that same myth, so it's good we dispel it here. For the record, yes, I also receive free copies of my book - ten of the hardcover, twenty of the paperback, and more as and when (or if!) new editions are issued. I can also buy as many as I want for a 50% discount. As with Victoria, these are for my personal use only and not for resale - which is rather a no-brainer really, since my publisher makes its profit by selling books to the public, not its authors. Books for signings will be provided by the publisher.

What I don't understand, Ms Tilles, is why you find this hard to believe. It's standard practice in commercial publishing. Have you had no actual dealings with commercial publishers at all?

Louise

Swordswoman said:

What I don't understand, Ms Tilles, is why you find this hard to believe. It's standard practice in commercial publishing. Have you had no actual dealings with commercial publishers at all?

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Excellent points, Swordswoman and Ken.

As Uncle Jim pointed out, there are differences between specialty publishers and mainstream commercial publishers. It is important to acknowledge those. However, several comments from Ms. Tilles lead me to believe she's not familiar with the mainstream industry standards, such as not selling our own books and not paying back our advances even if the book doesn't sell through the advance.

You know, I've been reading through this thread and its really no wonder that she left and wont come back to answer any questions anymore. I find the tone of some of the posters toward Ms. Tilles here really pompous and combative.

I agree that the way that she chooses to run her business isn't the way that major houses run theirs and not the way that some smaller houses operate. However it is her business. She and her authors must decide whether they are happy with the arraingement and if not what they plan to do to change it, if anything. Instead of people who have had no business dealing with her ripping her to shreds, invite some of her authors to come and give their take. Let them tell us whether or not they are happy. And if they are not let them rip her.

Of course Ms. Tilles is free to run her company any way she wants - that's not the point. This is a bewares forum, and her business practices run contrary to authors' best interests. It's important to discuss those business practices so authors can make an informed decision whether to do business with XYP.

You may see our questions as pompous and combative; I see them as trying to ferret out what this company is about. When an agent or editor picks up their marbles and heads back to their room, it sends up a red flag (to me) because it says they can't withstand scrutiny. I can't help but ask why.