victoriastrauss said:
That's really just one factor. Another very large factor is distribution. Unless a small publisher has some means of distribution other than Ingram--which doesn't sell books into stores--it's going to have very limited bookstore presence, if any. As I just pointed out in another thread, the bulk of books are bought in stores, so if a small publisher wants exposure, it's essential for it to find a way to get national bookstore placement. That usually means working with a distributor (as distinct from a wholesaler like Ingram). It's very tough, however, for a small publisher to find a distributor willing to work with it unless it already has a backlist. Distributors are quite selective about whom they represent.
Are you referring to this clause from SFWA's sample paperback contract? "The Publisher will pay the Author
royalties based upon net sales as reported by the Publisher's distributors as follows." (my emphasis.) But what this actually means isn't "the publisher's net receipts," but "the number of books shipped less returns." The clause continues: "On copies sold at the full retail price as imprinted on the cover:
_____% of said retail price on the first one hundred thousand (100,000) copies sold and _____% thereafter." So the contract does stipulate that royalties are paid on cover price.
I've urged SFWA to take those book contracts off its website, by the way. They are really, really, really outdated, and not a good model for anyone to use.
I'd be very interested in seeing a sample contract. Please email it to me at
[email protected]. Thanks very much for the offer, and thanks for being willing to provide information here at AW.
- Victoria
Victoria,
It is my understanding with our agreement with Lightning Source that they will fill orders for any bookstore that wants to carry our books. We are doing their Global distribution option. We are listed in Bowkers Books-in-Print.As you stated, it is a difficult challenge for a small publisher to get a distributor. As I stated, we will do everything possible to have the books in the chain stores, but its a challenge - whether we published POD or traditionally. Its the way it is for the small publisher, that's why any other should consider strongly whether or not they want to go that route. I believe most small publishers benefit from the challenging aspects of getting an agent and getting accepted by one of the conglomerates. Still, if an author likes their chances of getting a deal with one of the big boys, of course, they should continue to pursue those interests. One thing I would say in our defense is that if an author signs with us and then has a major publisher be interested in them, we would not stand in their way of advancing their career. We will work with good faith with the larger publisher to come to an agreement we both can live with.
As for the contract, yes, we based our contract on the SWFA example and the clause is in our contract is the one in section of the contract you posted. I did notice it was a little dated but it seemed to meet our needs and our legal team signed off on it. If there's a better example we should be using I'd be happy to look at it and bring it to our legal staff for future contracts.
JulieWorth said:
Apart from the POD aspect, what would worry me is that there’s only one book in its bookstore.
Hi Julie, as stated earlier, we just recently opened our doors. I released the first book through Lulu.com and we investigated using Lulu's model for publishing but decided we did not want to be a vanity press. For the past three or four months we have been investigating how other small presses "do it", taking the best aspects of each, discarding the worst. Then its taking us a couple months to set up our relationship with LSI and Bowkers as well as forming market plans for our titles, setting up contracts with graphic artists and editors, ect. Its a lot of work to build a publishing business. In that time, we have not been open for submissions. That changed about a month go, when I felt comfortable that we could service our authors the way they deserve.
As a side note, we will be releasing the first novel officially under the Luna Brillante publishing label on Memorial Day weekend, Dark Dragon. Ancient Rising will be rereleased under our label (and at a much better price)in June or July, we hopefully will have Eric's book out in September if he decides to sign with us and we would like to have two more titles for the fourth Quarter of 06. Right now we are accepting submissions but to date we have only extended a contract offer to Eric. We've rejected several other entries that we deemed either weren't up to our standards or didn't fit what we are looking for in titles. So we're still actively looking for two more Speculative fiction authors to join our family.
CaoPaux said:
To your credit, you've never made any attempt to hide your PODness. My remarks to Eric were mostly in response to his seeming misunderstanding that by dropping Lulu you would no longer be POD. But I'm afraid you misunderstand how books get into stores.
I'm not sure I agree with your view, as I mentioned to Victoria, we have an agreement with LSI that they will fulfill orders from ANY bookstore because we are doing their Global Distribution option. With that, the book will be at the very least available on all of the industry standard websites (like Amazon, BN.com, etc.) and we will advertise our titles in Ingram Advance Catalog that goes out to all the small bookstores. We are also members of the PMA, which allows us opportunities to take advantage of getting to the small bookstores. Our authors won't just be selling to family and friends.
CaoPaux said:
So if the cost of galley revisions exceeds 10% of the allotted composition cost, you will NOT take it out of his royalties?
No, it will not. For the most part, we will not produce galleys until we are satisfied with the final manuscript. We want the reviewers to see the best quality of work. That's why we will be putting the street date much later then our galley production date. So, while the clause is in there to protect the company, I don't believe it will ever be needed.
CaoPaux said:
Heh, thanks. I didn't comment because your announcement didn't paint you as anything but a good-intentioned POD. You were wise enough to give no whiff of charging for editing or marketing packages, and your websites are far better than the vast majority of "I'm a publisher now!" folks coming off of Lulu (or PA, or Xlibris, or Booksurge, or...) -- so I deemed you refinable ore and held off until such time as someone asked about you. And, lo! here we are.
Appreciate that...We do have the best intentions at heart. I feel I've been open and honest with anyone who has had questions about what we are about. BTW, I appreciate the good vibe. I hope as the company continues to grow and our books start getting out there our record will speak for itself.
If there are any other questions or concerns, feel free to email me directly or post them here.