[Pub svcs] Book in a Box

[VeryBigBeard]

Hello, O Wise Folk in this Subforum.

I stumbled across this via a link from some journalist contacts of mine: http://bookinabox.com/about-us. Didn't see a reference for it here.

From the site:

This company was founded in response to a simple question from a frustrated entrepreneur:

"I want a book, but I don't have the time to write it, and the normal publishing process is so frustrating. How can I get a book done in a professional way, but not have to deal with all of this?"

At the time, there was no answer.

Either you had to endure the long and arduous process of finding and signing with a traditional publishing company, or you had to slog through the confusing and difficult process of self-publishing.

This entrepreneur (Melissa Gonzalez) challenged us to find a way to solve her problem--to turn her ideas into a book without having to do all the unnecessary work--and the result is Book In A Box.

I could see someone getting sucked in by the site's professional presentation and the offer of free consultation. This ain't the place for your High Fantasy re-imagining of Othello.

In less diplomatic terms: if you "want a book," learn to write it and learn to pitch it to the marketplace, i.e. publishers. Also, the more I read about their founder the more grossed out I get, so there's that, too.

 

[stormie]

From the site: "I want a book, but I don't have the time to write it...."

ARGGHHHH!

Okay, now that I've pulled out every single hair on my head, I'll look at the link.

 

[Filigree]

*Facepalm* So his Big Idea is to hold phone or Skype interviews with entrepreneurs, transcribe the interviews into text, organize that, and turn it into a book within 4 to 5 months. For less than what a traditional ghostwriter costs? Okay.

I can see this working for a very narrow range of instructional self-help or business books. It would be unwieldy for fiction - except for being in-person, this was how the late Sir Terry Pratchett wrote his last few novels.

I'd still be inclined to tell the entrepreneur 'learn to write your own damn book.' If your ideas are strong enough you should not need any ghostwriter help.

Re: the founders of the service. Yeah, given a choice between dinner with them or the founder of GoDaddy, I'd rather drive off a cliff.

 

[BenPanced]

Re: the founders of the service. Yeah, given a choice between dinner with them or the founder of GoDaddy, I'd rather drive off a cliff.

I call shotgun.

 

[Filigree]

Whee.

 

[triceretops]

Ooooo, head, bang, wall.

 

[Bubastes]

:refrains from making SNL **** In A Box joke:

 

[Filigree]

Too late, now I gotta go find it on YouTube.

To get back to the OP, and the businesswoman who apparently inspired it: What The Actual Hell. Does she know how to take notes? Do a PowerPoint? Does her value-added knowledge (which is so useful it must become a book) actually have any value? I gotta go look this woman up, I'm afraid. I'm not sure I'd invest in a company founded or run by someone who has taken outsourcing to such a level.

In school, those of us Of A Certain Age were required to show our work: research notes, thought processes, equations, proofs, citations, etc. Did this woman go to a university that required at least a thesis-level class to graduate? Did she buy her thesis online, too?

ETA1: the businesswoman may be this person https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissagonzalezlionesque
The book in question may be this one, 'The Pop-Up Paradigm' http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P04ZYRA/?tag=absowrit-20 (Publisher listed as Lioncrest, so IDK.)

She's doing some interesting things with fashion, pop-up stores, and charity work, so I can't fault her on that. She sounds like a genuinely busy woman.

I'm still not certain this couldn't have been written on the cheap by Gonzales herself, or by an actual ghostwriter. But there is a certain stylistic symmetry to a book about how to create ephemeral retail stores being put together by a stripped-down, Cliff-Notes ghostwriting service apparently founded by frat boys.

ETA2: Confirmed, this is the Melissa Gonzales in question. The comments on the LinkedIn article in the OP are...enlightening. Lioncrest may be listed as the publisher, but Book In A Book claims the work on their LinkedIn article.

 

[VeryBigBeard]

I'll be in the back seat shaking my head as we hurtle over Filigree's cliff together.

Great job finding a location, by the way! So hard to find any good cliffs these days what with all the luxury cottages hogging the views.

The reality for most authors--even #1 best selling authors like myself-- is that traditional publishing is not the best way to go. We should control our own publishing destinies.

Uh-oh.

They look awfully similar to Book in a Box in what they offer. Oddly, Tucker Max doesn't turn up in any other AW threads. Doesn't look like this is his first publishing venture.