anyone like publish america. Or know one like them

Createspace or Lulu will print your book. But real editing is generally something you need to pay for.

I would check out the Publish America forum in the Bewares, Recommendations and Background Check section of this message board to learn more about them before you sign anything with them.

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=115

But, my honest opinion, I would not use them.

I found my own editor through here: http://www.the-efa.org/dir/search.php

If you decide to use Lulu or CreateSpace, you would be able to purchase your book, depending on the length, at the lowest cost. A 50,000 word book with black and white interior would most likely cost anywhere from $3.25 to $4.00 a book (it really depends on if you have photos inside the book and how many pages the book has, but that's a ballpark figure). Much less expensive than PublishAmerica, especially if your main goal is to have copies for your family members.

herloversrevenge said:

I am seeking place like Publish Ameica that can publish my book quickly. But that will really edit it and not claim they did.

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Good and thorough editing takes time. If you want your book printed before Christmas, you may be able to get someone to copyedit or spellcheck, but editing for content is probably not feasible.

herloversrevenge said:

Ok ty do the people that write the books with these sites get discounts? With Publish america I get 40% discount? I am new where can I find an editor?

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Lulu and the like are a printing solution. You pay them a small set up fee for your file. They will then print individual copies of your book to fill orders. They keep a fee for every copy and give you the rest of the cover price. You set the cover price to cover their fee and however much more you think you can charge. Everything else—editing, formatting, promotion, everything—you do yourself. You can generally buy your own titles for printing costs plus shipping and handling.

Vanity publishers such as Publish America provide the same level of service—none—but charge many times more for it. If at any time you are paying a publisher, they are not a publisher.

If you want a few copies to hand out to family and friends at Christmas, you want an ultra low run print service such as Lulu. If you want professional editing, you'll have to pay for it. If you pay for editing at a vanity publisher such as Publish America, it will not be professional.

Those are the facts. There is no quick road to publishing. But there are some very affordable printing options available these days.

Persevere and beware of scammers.

herloversrevenge said:

ok so then what would you do cant you take your book down off lulu any time you want to? Like make few copies then take it down? I want to do book signing and gifts for holiday!

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I don't want to promote Lulu exclusively. But I can't be bothered to research other options at the moment. So poke around the Lulu site. www.lulu.com There are a whole lot of links at the bottom to help you learn how it works. Read thoroughly.

Pulled from the Terms of Use:

13. Term This Agreement is effective until terminated. Lulu may terminate or suspend this Agreement immediately for any reason and without prior notice to you. You may effectively terminate this Agreement by ceasing to use the Site. All provisions of this Agreement relating to disclaimers, limitations of liability, and proprietary rights shall survive termination.

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They also offer a bulk printing option for orders starting at 250 copies.

Not only do the details vary from POD printer to POD printer, they vary depending on where you are. An agreement with a POD printer is a business agreement and international borders can make a huge difference in the viability of different POD printers. Make sure you investigate specific requirements for publishing in your jurisdiction.

Poke around in these forums some more, too. Someone else may have already asked a relevant question. Or you may find an answer to a question you hadn't thought to ask.

You could find a full-package POD publisher... I know Paradise Creek (www.paradisecreekbooks.com) offers full package (professional editing and cover design).

I would also recommend Lulu, and I would also recommend that you read the Publish America forum. There's a REASON it has its own forum and every other publisher has a single thread.

I'm sorry to disappoint you, but your timing is off for Christmas gifts. Editing takes time. Define what you mean as "real editing." Are you looking for someone to do copy editing -- clean up grammar and spelling only? Or are you wanting someone to do a deeper, more substantial dive, like an editor at a traditional publishing house would do? Neither option is inexpensive, but the latter will cost thousands.

Lulu is a good choice for just printing a few books. You can, I believe, take it down. Not sure why you'd want to, though.

You mentioned book signings, which implies to me that you're thinking of selling the book, not just giving it to friends and family. Are you sure the book is ready for that? You may want to hang around here, and then get a portion critiqued in Share Your Work. I can't speak for you, but I know I'd rather miss this holiday season and put out a quality product rather than rushing to market with something that doesn't have a hope of selling -- especially if I'm PAYING for cover art, editing, and printing.

You can chose to keep lulu files private as well - as in only you can access that file and 'buy copies' as opposed to it being on the website for anyone to buy. I've used lulu to make calendars for family before but found a cheaper option for that elsewhere.

There is also Lightening Source for book printing which may be worth looking at.

A good editor can cost a lot of money and you may need several levels of editing done. Before thinking about paying for an editor I would consider the following:

- get at least one beta reader (there is a forum here for that, post a request and be aware that this often means you owe them a beta read in return) and have them review the book. They can pont out any major problems and suggest changes and will cost you nothing (other than the time needed to do the same for thier book).

- Make any and all changes they suggest.

- Go through the document yourself and check for spelling, grammar and other errors. Do this line by line (some do it by reading the document in reverse to avoid missing things).

- Then consider an editor you pay for a final check and polish before you send it to Lulu for printing.

- Finally, do a final proof check on the proof copy Lulu (I think) sends you for free before ordering your copies.

herloversrevenge: Unless you MUST produce your book by this Christmas, I recommend postponing printing your book until next year. This way you have time to fully edit (or pay someone to edit) your book, and have plenty of time to find the right printer for you.

I understand wanting to get your book out there, but you know your book needs editing. As others up-thread have said, that takes time. If you want a quality product (and protect your book and your pocketbook at the same time), please consider delaying.

Snowstorm said:

herloversrevenge: Unless you MUST produce your book by this Christmas, I recommend postponing printing your book until next year. This way you have time to fully edit (or pay someone to edit) your book, and have plenty of time to find the right printer for you.

I understand wanting to get your book out there, but you know your book needs editing. As others up-thread have said, that takes time. If you want a quality product (and protect your book and your pocketbook at the same time), please consider delaying.

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Good advice. And even then, for the purpose, it sounds as though having a few copies printed and bound at Staples or Office Depot or the like would be a suitable choice.

--Ken

herloversrevenge said:

Ok ty do the people that write the books with these sites get discounts? With Publish america I get 40% discount? I am new where can I find an editor?

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Unfortunately none of the assisted self-publishing services can give the kind of discount necessary to get chain stores to stock books. However they can get them into online Amazon, Barnes and Noble etc.

Realistically getting a book edited, formatted and packaged (and shipped) is likely to take at least 2-3 months. I think Xmas is going to be a problem unless you just want to run with it as is (unedited) with a blank or stock cover.

Queen of Swords said:

Good and thorough editing takes time. If you want your book printed before Christmas, you may be able to get someone to copyedit or spellcheck, but editing for content is probably not feasible.

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this.


1. avoid PA. Unless you simply WANT to screw yourself over, all they offer is heartache. For this, they charge pretty handsomely too.

2. That said, I'd also suggest you give up on this Christmas....if you need a thorough editing, take the time it needs and give it to them next Christmas--you don't want to put them in the awkward position of reading it starting with pride and progressively finding more and more "oh my god, they did this?" red flags as they progress because you rushed it....it won't reflect what you can and want to do.


Ideally, I'm a fan of "do it once and do it right" and in this case, that probably means waiting a year, imho.


best of luck,
Quick

veinglory said:

. . . Realistically getting a book edited, formatted and packaged (and shipped) is likely to take at least 2-3 months. I think Xmas is going to be a problem unless you just want to run with it as is (unedited) with a blank or stock cover.

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That would be slapdash haste, difficult even for a pristine manuscript requiring no editing or even proof reading.

--Ken

herloversrevenge said:

ok so then what would you do cant you take your book down off lulu any time you want to? Like make few copies then take it down? I want to do book signing and gifts for holiday!

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You can have Lulu print a book without "publishing" it. There is no ISBN and no public sales page to "take down." You just have them print the number of books you want.

I do this for my beta readers.

You can design your own cover; Lulu offers a free, easy-to-use cover design "wizard" as part of the process of getting your book ready for print.

That said, based on the punctuation, spelling and grammar in your few short posts here I would imagine your novel needs a lot of editing. I am not saying this to be offensive; it is simply an observation. Your best bet may be to temporarily suspend your dream of signing stacks of books and bone up on basic grammar, spelling and punctuation.

Good luck, and welcome to AW.


ETA: As others have said, I'm not trying to push Lulu. They're just the service I've used a few times and I've been happy with the price and results.

herloversrevenge said:

ok so then what would you do cant you take your book down off lulu any time you want to? Like make few copies then take it down? I want to do book signing and gifts for holiday!

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You can select an option with Lulu where only you can buy copies, if that's what you want. And you can delete the book at any time.

With Lulu, as with any of the self-publishing places, there's a bit of a learning curve.

At PublishAmerica: They aren't fast, they aren't cheap, and they aren't good. They own the publishing rights to your book for seven years, and they're verbally abusive to their authors (as if their extremely author-unfriendly contract weren't bad enough). I can't see any reason in the entire world to use them. If you have spell-check on your word-processor you can do a better job of editing than they can.

If you're in a hurry ... there's a good chance you'll get scammed. Take a breath. Slow down.

Quality takes time.

James D. Macdonald said:

. . . And you can delete the book at any time.. . . .

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You can only "retire" it if you have had any copies printed. The files stay on Lulu's servers forever. I raised that point with principals of the company in person, and they had no solution. I've seen no change in that practice since.

--Ken

A book that only you had access to, that you've retired, is as good as deleted.

Meanwhile, for the OP, may I suggest getting and reading William Strunk's original The Elements of Style? It's available free on-line. Read it cover-to-cover.

Agree with it, disagree with it, that makes no difference to me. But as a writer you should certainly be aware of what's in it.

(If you want to get the updated Strunk & White, also titled The Elements of Style that too is widely available in any bookstore or library.)

areteus said:

There is also Lightening Source for book printing which may be worth looking at.

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Just for info's sake you have to be a publisher to use Lightning Source.