[Publisher] Trafford

[sancrough]

Does anyone have any information on this publishing company. I am so paranoid now about PODs especially after my experience with ***(cannot mention in this thread) that I want to know more before contacting any publisher particularly POD publishers.

Thanks.:kiss

 

[James D Macdonald]

Re: Trafford (a POD) in Vancouver, BC, Canada

When you walk into your local bookstore do you see any of their books on the shelf?

Do they ask you for any money, or require you to spend anything other than postage, ever?

Have you ever heard of any of their books? Do they get reviewed in major venues? Have you heard of any of their authors?

 

[vstrauss]

Re: Trafford (a POD) in Vancouver, BC, Canada

Trafford isn't a publisher, but a publishing services provider--a crucial distinction. For more on these kinds of publishing, see here:

www.sfwa.org/beware/printondemand.html

Among companies like this, Trafford has a decent rep, though I believe it's more expensive than some. Definitely, if you're thinking of going this route, do some comparison shopping.

- Victoria

 

[Whachawant]

Re: Trafford (a POD) in Vancouver, BC, Canada

Hey, James, how many times have you posted those questions? lol :ha

I'm afraid with this new development of POD books not being stocked in the worlds largest book distributor. I would eliminate POD from your plans altogether.

 

[mysteryquiller]

PODs

Unfortunately, PODs will remain as the scratch and sniff area of publishing until a reputable company develops the concept into a bricks & mortar establishment.

This may not happen until some situation evolves to justify the cost, like fuel prices, hence shipping prices, escalating to rediculous.

 

[Whachawant]

Re: PODs

PODs will remain as the scratch and sniff area of publishing

good quote......

(its ridiculous the way you spelled rediculous)
lol ... lol ...(just jokin')

 

[ANNIE]

self publishers question

I have a question on self publishing. I'm definitely trying the tradition route, but I'm also looking at all options, self publishing being one. Anyone have any opinons in general or in specific on Trafford publishing or Morris publishing?
Thanks Annie

 

[Aconite]

The Index at the top of the main page lists this link for Trafford: <old link snipped>. You might also try the two self-publishing fora (one on conventional, one on POD and E-pub) under The Book World.

 

[Carlene]

Hi Annie,

I self published a book I wrote about being a volunteer at the Sheriff's department. We own a commercial print shop, so produced it there - all except the perfect binding. When some of our customers saw the book, they asked if we'd print books for them too - small runs. So, you might want to call around and see if any local printers can do it. Just make sure they've done it before! Ask for samples, do they have in-house graphics, can they do perfect binding in-house, can they take files and formate them for you and of course, what's the price - per book. You can actually get them distributed through Baker & Taylor if you do 250 or more. Let me know if I can answer any more questions.

Carlene

 

[ANNIE]

Thanks for the information, I've got a lot of research to do!

 

[Snoonie]

Trafford

I have seen ads in several reputable magazines for self-publishing with TRAFFORD Publishing. Does anyone know anything about them? I was always against self-publishing but lately have heard good things about it. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Cathy C]

Hi, Snoonie, and welcome!


Trafford is a subsidy publisher, meaning that you WON'T be self-published. Self-publishing requires that you ARE the publishing company. You handle each individual detail, such as buying the ISBN, designing the book cover, paying the bills, etc.

That said, frankly they're quite a bit more expensive than many other subsidy publishers, although they do produce an acceptable product. However, you won't ever find one of their books in your local bookstore, since the product is not returnable.

Here's a thread about Trafford in our Bewares & Backgrounds forum. You need to decide what you want from self-publishing. If you don't mind doing all of the work to prepare and market your book, there are less expensive options from printers who won't lead you to believe that you'll be getting something you won't actually receive.

<old link snipped>

Good luck!

 

[Snoonie]

Self-publishing

Thanks, everyone, for your input. I have print out a lot of Print On Demand info found in several threads which I'm sure will help me make a decision. I hope someday I can help someone just as much.

 

[Sarita]

Trafford

Hi All.

My dad just finished his second draft (140,000 words) and is handing it out to his Beta readers. He's been talking a lot about Trafford Self Publishing. I am going to try to talk him into traditional publishing, even if I have to coordinate his query/agent finding efforts. I don't mind doing a bit of leg work for him.

I was just wondering if anyone had any information regarding Trafford. I searched around on the boards and only found a few small comments regarding cost. I'm looking for the bigger picture: what they're about, are they honest, all the juice. Because if I can't talk him out of this, he should, at least, be using a reputable company.

Anyone?

Thanks,

Sara

 

[victoriastrauss]

Trafford is one of the oldest of the POD self-pub services. It appears to be reliable and to produce a good-quality product, and its contract is decent (time-limited, non-exclusive). Unlike some of the other PODs, Writer Beware has never gotten any complaints about its services.

It is one of the more expensive PODs, however. It's always a good idea to do some shopping around before choosing a POD, since they all offer a different mix of prices and services. It's also a good idea to actually order a couple of books before making a final decision, so you can assess the efficiency of the ordering process and also the quality of the finished books (which can vary quite a bit).

At 140,000 words, a POD book is going to have a whopper of a cover price (POD prices are based on page count).

Clea Saal's Books and Tales website offers useful side-by-side comparisons of a number of PODs (though be careful: not all the publishers she lists--including the high-rated Virtual Bookworm--are reputable).

- Victoria

 

[underthecity]

Hi All.
I was just wondering if anyone had any information regarding Trafford. I searched around on the boards and only found a few small comments regarding cost. I'm looking for the bigger picture: what they're about, are they honest, all the juice. Because if I can't talk him out of this, he should, at least, be using a reputable company.

Sara

Hi Sara,

Definitely push him toward commercial publishing. I've heard about another author who was satisified with his poetry book Trafford printed up for him, but there were costs involved as well as hard work for the author regarding marketing, and of course, there's no bookstore presence. He gave talks, though, and sold his books afterwards. I was told that Trafford worked for him, so he was satisfied, but lulu would have worked just as well for what he needed.

However, if your father is still having doubts, just have him read this thread: http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11369. It should open his eyes.

allen

 

[triceretops]

Sara, just out of curiosity, what kind of book has your father written? It might give us some ideas of where it might go in niche or small press.

Tri

 

[CaoPaux]

Trafford Publishing

Don't mind me; just linking: http://www.trafford.com/

 

[paprikapink]

I have a story in an anthology published by Trafford. I'm not too thrilled about this accomplishment.

I have this butt-kickin' great-aunt-in-law (I really only married my husband to get into Frances's family) who, when she went blind in her late 60s, started writing books. First she wrote "how to go blind books" because they are dang useful and no one else was doing it, and since then she has branched out into writing about whatever-the-hell she wants to. Her first four books were published by Creative Arts, which I think is also sort of a vanity press. But, end-result-wise, they seem a lot better than Trafford to me (except that Creative Arts seems to be bankrupt). The Trafford book has a beautiful cover, but inside, it looks funky, lame, amatuerish. For instance, each essay has the word END written like that at the end. Why?

END

 

[victoriastrauss]

Her first four books were published by Creative Arts, which I think is also sort of a vanity press. But, end-result-wise, they seem a lot better than Trafford to me (except that Creative Arts seems to be bankrupt).

Creative Arts claimed to be filing for bankruptcy, but as far as I know they never did.

CA (which started out as a legitimate advance-paying independent publisher and later transitioned to a vanity model) charged around $8,000 for publication (as opposed to Trafford's fee of $699-$2,000) and didn't print anywhere near the number of books the author paid for (since vanity published books rarely sell more than a couple of hundred copies, few authors realized this). Where authors did manage to sell a substantial number of books, CA either had trouble providing them or never paid the royalties due. When CA ceased doing business in 2003, it left many authors high and dry, their rights in limbo and their money gone. Several authors won small claims court judgments against the publisher, but the authors had no way to enforce the payments, and the last I heard, none had been made.

CA was a bad deal all around.

- Victoria

 

[Julie Worth]

At 140,000 words, a POD book is going to have a whopper of a cover price (POD prices are based on page count).

If he went with BookSurge and could package it into 450 pages (6x9 format), the Amazon price would be $21. And if he did all the formatting (cover and text), the total price for getting it on Amazon would be $99. Not so bad. If he doesn’t need Amazon, go with Lulu. (Look at Lulu anyway. It's a great place to experiment. And you can use them as a printer without making it available to the public.) If he wants more retail options and possibly a better price, look at Diggory Press.

 

[James D. Macdonald]

If he actually wants to get readers, he should stick with the commercial publishers.

Poets have a hard road ... self-publication is prety much their only choice.

 

[paprikapink]

CA was a bad deal all around.

Oh, yeah, I believe this, although I don't know that Frances's experience as bad as that of the authors you describe.

When I said CA seemed "better" than Trafford, I just meant that when I pull any one of her CA books off the shelf and look at it, it's not nearly as strikingly crappy as the Trafford book.

 

[Sarita]

Sara, just out of curiosity, what kind of book has your father written? It might give us some ideas of where it might go in niche or small press.

His book is a fictionalization of his experiences in Vietnam.

I think he's decided to go with another self pub company, I can't remember the name. He's insisting on doing it this way and I can't talk him out of it. But he keeps first rights and it's not PA (whew)...

I told him I'd help him query after he gets through the self publishing stuff. Is that a reasonable plan? I wish I would talk him out of it, but he's just as stubborn as I am.

 

[Julie Worth]

But he keeps first rights

Might be something worth talking about. First rights is gone once you've used it (in a particular area or medium).