New Way Publishing

[NewWayPublishing.com]

New, better self-publishing company (merged into BR&BC thread)

* My partner and I are in the midst of launching NewWayPublishing.com. The idea is that we will be a one-stop print-on-demand publisher which offers authors a fair deal. If your book is camera-ready we offer what we think is a good price. If you need editing, design, cover, Kindle, etc. we think we're really well-priced too and we're pretty sure we're offering the best royalty and overall deal. I would love feedback. Our site is not done, but the prices and "offer" is up. NewWayPublishing.com.
The idea, of course, came out of the miserable experience we have had with the major players in the field and the idea that we would create something that was author friendly. Our test book, which will be out in a few days, is by Denis Horgan, a well-known Connecticut figure.

 

[veinglory]

So what are you doing that is better than, say, Createspace, Lulu and/or lightning Source.

 

[Roger J Carlson]

I'd feel better if I knew who, exactly, you and your partner are and what, exactly, your experience is.

 

[shaldna]

I would be asking questions based on your experience in the industry, or in business in general. I'd be asking why there is a minimum order for authors purchasing their own books.

I'd be asking why authors would put a kindle book out with you for 50% when they can do it themselves for 70%

In short, I would want to know EXACTLY why my $299 was getting me - do I get free copies for that? Or is it just a set up fee?

I'd want to know what makes you different from the other SP printers out there.

 

[brainstorm77]

http://newwaypublishing.com/ They posted in Promotions, and I thought I'd post the link here for others to chime in.

 

[shadowwalker]

The idea, of course, came out of the miserable experience we have had with the major players in the field and the idea that we would create something that was author friendly.

So is this a "We'll show them!" type of business start-up or do you have any actual experience? Reading your "About" page, it sounds more like the former than the latter. I'm not really a fan of 'crusaders' when it comes to paying out money.

 

[CaoPaux]

(They originally posted in Self-Publishing and were moved to Announcements. </trivial>)

NewWayPublishing grew out of the frustration its founders had at self-publishing their own books. A writer/editor and an author, the partners had most of the skills required to create a viable book but not all of them. They also are both Internet and publishing savvy enough to know a bad deal when they see it and the existing self-publishing sites offered bad deals. Who wants to do all the work it takes to write a book only to have to sell it at a high cover price or face the choice paying a king's ransom or having it look lousy too.

So ... they couldn't do it for their own books, but they can do it for yours? At the very least, we need to know who's behind this venture.

The site is registered to a Daniel Kline, who is also listed as the now-defunct Ladder Press Publishing on Denis Hogan's previous book: http://denishorgan.com/the-dawn-of-days/. The partner at Ladder was Jason Tomaszewski, which I believe confirms that this is the Daniel Kline who co-authored 50 Things Every Guy Should Know How to Do. So they do have some publishing experience, but ....

 

[Parametric]

Take a look at this:

We can format your book, design a cover or serve as you copy editor. All of our services are listed on our My book is written page, but as an example, for professional copy editing we charge $1 a 6x9 book page or $1.25 if you are still in an 8.5x11 format. , about 20% off the going rate.

That's certainly a "new way" to copy-edit.

 

[eqb]

Their copyediting needs work...

We can format your book, design a cover or serve as you copy editor. All of our services are listed on our My book is written page, but as an example, for professional copy editing we charge $1 a 6x9 book page or $1.25 if you are still in an 8.5x11 format. , about 20% off the going rate.

Also, just this one entry on their pricing page made my eyebrows go up:

Publish a camera-ready book: $299

This includes a unique ISBN and you retain all rights to your book. You also get to set the cover price. Price your book however you want, but we have a minimum of $9.99 for a 200 page or smaller book with the minimum price increasing by $1 for every 50 pages. So, a 300 page book could cost $11.99 or more, but not less. Is your book formatted correctly? Check our publishing guidelines (coming soon)

$299 for what, exactly? If I already have a camera-ready book, I could go through CreateSpace for free and get 20% to 40% royalties. Or buy the Pro Plan for $39 and get 60% royalties.

 

[Bicyclefish]

In the promotion thread it was asked:

So what are you doing that is better than, say, Createspace, Lulu and/or lightning Source.

I found a job posting here that states:

We are a collaborative publisher that does charge for our services. That said, our entire model is based on charging less than iUniverse, Lulu and the other big players. Our authors get to set their own book price, get 20% royalties paid montly after 120 days and we don't take any rights to your book. We offer a number of services, but if your book is ready for camera, we'll have it published in under two weeks. All of our books are available for sale on Amazon and BN.com and can be ordered by your local bookstore.

 

[veinglory]

There model might be based on it, but I would like to see it costs given that Lulu costs nothing up front and 'royalties' is a flexible concept.

 

[Maryn]

Parametric, Girl Detective!

Maryn, tipping her hat

 

[scope]

* The idea is that we will be a one-stop print-on-demand publisher which offers authors a fair deal.

What's new about "a one-stop print-on-demand publisher?".
You really have to be more exact about what you consider a "fair deal", especially as compared to other such companies.

....we think we're really well-priced too and we're pretty sure we're offering the best royalty and overall deal.

You're suppossed to be the expert here. No "we think" or we're"pretty sure".


The idea, of course, came out of the miserable experience we have had with the major players

If someone is going to pay you money to do something, this isn't a good reason for doing so.

Our test book, which will be out in a few days, is by Denis Horgan, a well-known Connecticut figure.

Well known for what?

I would ask all the questions already asked of you.

 

[bluntforcetrauma]

I don't believe this is as much scam as it is a half-baked, under-researched scheme to charge good money for services authors already have plenty of access to for free. Wait! Didn't I just describe a scam?

 

[CaoPaux]

Now, now, "scam" implies malicious intent. Let's not throw that around casually, m'kay?

 

[Amadan]

Publishing is spelled with an 'h'. And your "About" page is full of typos. And you're selling copy-editing services?

 

[veinglory]

Hmmm, seems like they just wanted to post their announcement, not discuss it....

 

[Darren Frey]

the fact that such questions are being asked and this "company" is not even answering them makes me feel weird about this place.

 

[jaksen]

Using the 'contact us' form on their page, I have invited/requested they return to AW and answer some of our questions.

I am in no way affiliated with this enterprise, but I have noticed that often people sign in to AW, advertise, then disappear. I thought I'd give them a chance to state their case and answer questions.

 

[Maryn]

You're a more decent person than I am. Does it, you know, hurt?

Maryn, winking

 

[NewWayPublishing.com]

Yes, I have written two books and have a third one coming out in July. I've also had my newspaper column run in over 400 papers (about a hundred regularly). I don't yet have access to edit the site (my partner, a programmer is building it). We wanted feedback on the model, so we told writers. Createspace and Lulu are hardly free. The upgrade package to get decent royalties is $600 or more (I'm working on a comparison chart). We know we're not their yet. We want to deliver a better product for authors where we make money but not the ridiculous money all the scam sites like Lulu and CreateSpace do. Please tell us what would work for you and we'll look to adapt.

 

[NewWayPublishing.com]

Hey there folks, you can look up my profile at the blog for my new book, Worst Ideas Ever at WorstIdeasEver.com

I have written two books and have Worst Ideas Ever (Skyhorse) coming out in July. I've also had my newspaper column run in over 400 papers (about a hundred regularly). I'm a publishing consultant to EducationWorld.com and have edited newspapers, magazines and a top-25 (in its day Web site).

I don't yet have access to edit the site (my partner, a programmer is building it). We wanted feedback on the model, so we told writers. We didn't expect to be nitpicked, we wanted feedback on the model.

Yes, if you can use Lightningsource yourself, you don't need us. Same goes for Kindle. The idea grew out of the work we did with Denis Horgan (a long-time Hartford Courant columnist). Denis didn't know how to format for Kindle and is not a techie guy. We handled the whole process for him. Our service will be as much or as little as you need. We're also being upfront about our prices whereas all the big guys make it awfully hard to know what it costs.

Createspace and Lulu are hardly free. The upgrade package to get decent royalties on Createspace, if I remember correctly, is $600 or more (I'm working on a comparison chart). We know we're not there yet. We want to deliver a better product for authors where we make money but not the ridiculous money all the scam sites like Lulu and CreateSpace do. Please tell us what would work for you and we'll look to adapt.

That's why we shared pre-launch.

 

[BenPanced]

Lulu and Createspace are hardly scams. They're rather upfront about what they do and how much they charge, and many people here on AW have used them to varying degrees of success in their careers.

 

[veinglory]

So what is your model exactly?

And Lulu certainly can be free, or at most $25 for market reach which is their only 'upgrade' really. Any other fees would be to make the manuscript and not tied to Lulu per se. I am not aware of them running any "packages". That sounds more like AuthorSolutions et al.

I am asking, as a basis for comparison what your fees are and what the author gets as compared to the current best offers (MHO Lightning sources directly, or for more support Lulu and/or Createspace).

Also please do not call Lulu and Createspace scams. They are very upfront about what you get for your money.

 

[veinglory]

You don't remember correctly. And if you claim to be better than a company with a lot of market share, it pays to get your facts straight. Good to see you back. I would suggest keeping this in the other thread rather than bouncing back and forth?