Looking for New Publisher

Hi Jeffery,

I suggest you check out the "Bewares and Background Checks" thread in the Conference Room Section, particularly the Publish America Forums therein.

It won't necessarily help you make a better choice, (even among POD or Vanity options), but it will help you understand the problems inherent in dealing with ALL such operations.

My personal opinion is that all forms of Vanity Press, (which includes all POD publishers), and Self Publishing, are simply a waste of time and money.

All of them require the Author/Poet to bear the cost and most if not all of the work involved. None of them provide any form of "Physical Distribution" to regular Bookstores or Libraries, All provide Promotion, (and that in very limited form), Editing and Proofreading only at an added cost to the Writer, and the only Reviews you are likely to get are from a "Paid" Critiquing service which have NO interest in you or your work, and don't carry the weight of "Professional" Reviewers, (who won't touch POD, Vanity or Self Published Volumes).

The only upside, is that with the advent of POD, you won't end up with 200-2000 unsold volumes in your basement or garage.

Over the years, one can find "isolated" cases of Writers, (even a few Poets), that have acheived a reputation through Self or Vanity Publishing, but they are few and far between (and with regards to Poetry, mainly confined to the 19th Century or earlier, when there were far fewer people writing and attempting to publish, and a Market that was more willing to embrace them).

The only tried and true method, despite the tremendous odds against you is to submit individual Poems to the Magazine and E-zine Markets available until you build up enough "Acceptances" and "Publication Credits" to attract a Traditional Book Publisher.

Anything short of that will do little or nothing to advance your reputation and will provide, at best, only a false sense of accomplishment.

Sorry, if that sounds harsh, but it is, (especially for Poets), the reality of the Publishing Business.

James R. Hoye (JRH)

I see some fairly respectable poets using self-publishing but usually through straight forward printers like lulu rather than faux publishers like PA.

I suggest you ask around at poetry focussed forums perhaps 'poemtrain' or 'Blueline poetry'.

I am not a publisher, Jeffrey. If I were I would not consider or answer your letter as posted. It is hostile, angry and lacks professionalism. So I hope this is not the one you are sending out. You picked a poor choice in PublishAmerica, learn and go from there. We all make mistakes. Perhaps you need an agent. Check out the many threads here for advice. There are many wise people here.

Good luck with your poetry, it is a very hard market and I admire you for that.
Paint

Hi Veinglory,

I hate to burst your bubble but "Lulu" is just another POD operation, and it differs from PA primarily in that it spreads out the cost to secondary services from which it takes a cut (as well as taking a percentage of any final sale).

They are no more effective than any other POD operation, Vanity Publication or Self Publication in providing Distribution, Promotion or Reviewing.

Go to their site and take a close look at their "actual" printing costs and "Service Partners".

JRH

P.S. For the most part, Agents arn't going to work with any Poet who hasn't already established a reputation and most of those who claim they will are probably SCAMS, (Particularly if they change for their services), and there are posts about that in the "Bewares and Background Checks" section as well.

I suggest you read my post again--I said they are a printer, which indeed they are. The local kinkos will be cheaper but for those unwilling or unable to sort out their own sales and distribution printers like lulu and cafepress are as good a service to use as any. being a business, they do make a profit off the writers back but then there are not many charity printers out there.

Alternatively self-publishing can be done at home making chapbooks and distributing through projectpulp.com

Options other than self-publishing are another issue entirely. incase anyone is confused I do not now, nor have I ever, self-published. But self-publishing per. se. is not always a stupid option for something like a poetry collection or anthology.

I would like to reiterate Paint's post. My sentiments exactly. Good luck with your second manuscript. But remember to be professional. And visit the advice sections here as suggested above.

Hi Veinglory,

I did misread your post, and I apologize for that, but I also did check out their website and found they provide most of the other services of a POD thru affiliates, and encourage their use.

As for "Self Publishing", I never did say it was "stupid". What I did say is that any Poet that thinks that such will establish them as a Serious and Recognized Poet, worldwide, is only kidding themselves.

If all one wants to do is print up a few copies for giving or selling to friends or to those who come to one's readings, they're perfectly sufficient.

On the other hand, such won"t get physically distributed to Brick and Mortar Bookstores or be accepted for inclusion in Libraries unless they do a lot of Promotion and Distribution on their own, have a Library of Congress Number for tracking any sales, and are of far higher quality in their construction than most Printers or Vanity Publishers normally will produce.

In other words, If they simply see Publication as an "ego" thing, (by just seeing their name in print), and are willing to pay the cost both in effort and in money for the slim chance of at least breaking even, they may well be satisfied, and best of luck to them. If, however they want to establish a reputation as a "Professional Poet, and/or earn the "RESPECT" of the Poetic/Academic Establishment, their chances are VERY slim, (to the point of being "virtually" non-existant), and that's what I'm trying to get them all to understand.

JRH

P.S. For those who are interested, A full explanation of PODs, how they have evolved, and are evolving, and how they have affected, and may yet affect, the Publishing Industry can be found at: http://www.booksandtales.com/pod/whatspod.htm and a further analysis of Publishing On Demand can be found at: http://www.sfwa.org/beware/printondemand.html and includes danger signs to look for in assessing any of them.

P.P.S. A fairly extensive list of the Print-On-Demand book publishers and printers can be found at: http://www.bookmarket.com/ondemand.html so anyone who wishes can check them all out for themselves. (which may provide a viable answer for finding a suitable alternative to PA, if one is determined to go that route).