Xulon Press / Townhall Press / Salem Publishing

I have heard their quality is OK - however, they are very expensive for what you actually get: there is no need to spend that money these days. Compare spending hundreds of dollars at xulon with other companies like Lulu or Diggory Press (Diggory Press are a also a Christian company although they print other stuff too) who will charge you much much less....

check not only the up front price but the cover price of the final book--sometimes it is a trade-off.

Does anyone know anything about Xulon Publishers.

http://www.xulonpress.com/how_it_works.htm

AFFORDABLE: For as little as $999 you can get published! There’s never been a more affordable way to publish your book. No hidden fees! And we offer proven, time-tested ways to distribute and market your book for additional fees that are also very affordable.

I think that pretty much says it all. They really toot the Christian horn on this one. I dunno, why do I not feel so good being a Christian when I see this type of stuff going on? They're not dong me a favor. I'm not in this to take the low, easy road.

They have a marketing package that is additional to the primary cost.

Nope. Run away. Unless this is as far as you aspire to. This is a last resort, and an expensive one at that.

Tri

triceretops said:

AFFORDABLE: For as little as $999 you can get published! There’s never been a more affordable way to publish your book. No hidden fees! And we offer proven, time-tested ways to distribute and market your book for additional fees that are also very affordable.

I think that pretty much says it all. They really toot the Christian horn on this one. I dunno, why do I not feel so good being a Christian when I see this type of stuff going on? They're not dong me a favor. I'm not in this to take the low, easy road.

They have a marketing package that is additional to the primary cost.

Nope. Run away. Unless this is as far as you aspire to. This is a last resort, and an expensive one at that.

Tri

Click to expand...

Do you work for these guys or have you used them yourself?

A vanity POD.

Not worth a second look.

Townhall Press

A New Alternative to Liberal NY Publishing Houses

Have you written a manuscript and you're tired of being rejected by the traditional publishing houses? Townhall Press wants to be your book publisher. We can turn your manuscript into a high-quality book and make it available to 25,000 bookstores and on the Internet – all in less than 90 days. Townhall Press is an on-demand book publisher, and a part of Townhall.com – one of the leading self-publishers on the Internet. Send us your manuscript today and within 90 days we'll promote it on Townhall.com and Amazon.com in high-quality paperback or hardcover editions. Start today for as little as $999.

Click to expand...

http://www.townhallpress.com/index.php

Total POD vanity press. If you want to make sure that no one but your mom and your best buddy read your book, this is the way to go.

Stay away.

There seems to be a new one springing up almost every day!

$1000? And people do this? That just amazes me - for them to POD and promote it "on townhall.com"???

Stew21 said:

$1000? And people do this? That just amazes me - for them to POD and promote it "on townhall.com"???

Click to expand...

People pay alot more than that in many cases for POD.

Duped said:

There seems to be a new one springing up almost every day!

Click to expand...

Like weeds! You know what I say to that? "Kill 'em. Kill 'em all!" *grabs weedwhacker and runs out into the garden.*

Prices start at $999.

I see they're aiming at conservatives on the platform that all the existing publishers are liberals. I guess they've never heard of Baen.

Maybe I'm nuts, but I would think if you take the time to craft a book, which is no easy task, you would take the time to investigate the publishing industry and how it works and realize that if you pay to publish, it is vanity publishing. If you really want to get your book published, you need to take as much care finding an agent as you did for writing the book. I'm 21, though, so perhaps I am just young and naive.

And Coulter, Hannity, Limbaugh, and Savage have just such a hard time finding publishers....

imagoodgurl4 said:

Maybe I'm nuts, but I would think if you take the time to craft a book, which is no easy task, you would take the time to investigate the publishing industry and how it works and realize that if you pay to publish, it is vanity publishing. If you really want to get your book published, you need to take as much care finding an agent as you did for writing the book. I'm 21, though, so perhaps I am just young and naive.

Click to expand...

For some people (cough*me*cough) POD turned out to be a good option. I had written a novel, but it was for a niche market and I was a first-time author. I spent about a year querying agents and publishers, but nobody bit. Since writing is just a recent hobby for me (I have a full-time job and four kids) and I have no aspirations of doing it as a profession, POD was a perfect vehicle.

Of course a big publisher would have edited my book and made it better and would have distributed and marketed it and it would have been available to readers at a lower price. That would have been great. But I'm very happy to be able to write stories and have them available online all over the world in a professional format. My sales are in the hundreds as opposed to tens-of-thousands, but I'm cool with that.

And for the record, my mom LOVES my books but my best friend doesn't read fiction so he hasn't read them. I'm not sure where the other sales have come from.

ETA: And I used iUniverse which cost about $400. About 1/3 the cost of another guitar, so I consider it money well spent.

Self-publication can make sense for:

1) Specialized non-fiction
2) Niche fiction
3) Poetry

That's self-publication. There isn't any case to be made for vanity publication. Distribution is, always, the real problem.

James D. Macdonald said:

Self-publication can make sense for:

1) Specialized non-fiction
2) Niche fiction
3) Poetry

That's self-publication. There isn't any case to be made for vanity publication. Distribution is, always, the real problem.

Click to expand...

Sorry, I thought I understood the difference between "self-publication" (getting a printer to print the manuscript and buying the copies yourself and distributing them yourself) and "vanity publication" (such as lulu or other POD's which print and distribute your book based on online ordering). Am I missing some important distinction between the two? And if not, why would there be a justification for one and not the other? The ease of national distribution of POD and the lower financial commitment certainly make vanity publication seem like a much better option.

And before this goes any further, let me say I have nothing but respect and admiration for you Uncle Jim. I'm not trying to be contentious - just curious.

III said:

For some people (cough*me*cough) POD turned out to be a good option. I had written a novel, but it was for a niche market and I was a first-time author. I spent about a year querying agents and publishers, but nobody bit. Since writing is just a recent hobby for me (I have a full-time job and four kids) and I have no aspirations of doing it as a profession, POD was a perfect vehicle.

Of course a big publisher would have edited my book and made it better and would have distributed and marketed it and it would have been available to readers at a lower price. That would have been great. But I'm very happy to be able to write stories and have them available online all over the world in a professional format. My sales are in the hundreds as opposed to tens-of-thousands, but I'm cool with that.

And for the record, my mom LOVES my books but my best friend doesn't read fiction so he hasn't read them. I'm not sure where the other sales have come from.

ETA: And I used iUniverse which cost about $400. About 1/3 the cost of another guitar, so I consider it money well spent.

Click to expand...

I was not dissing anyone using self-publication by choice, so I apologize if you thought that. It is, of course, a reasonable option for, as you mentioned, a niche book or poetry. I was referring to the people who want to make writing a career, not a hobby, who choose a POD publisher based on lack of knowledge. If you've decided that POD or self-publishing is right for you then more power to you. Sorry if there was confusion in my statement.

imagoodgurl4 said:

I was not dissing anyone using self-publication by choice, so I apologize if you thought that. It is, of course, a reasonable option for, as you mentioned, a niche book or poetry. I was referring to the people who want to make writing a career, not a hobby, who choose a POD publisher based on lack of knowledge. If you've decided that POD or self-publishing is right for you then more power to you. Sorry if there was confusion in my statement.

Click to expand...

No apology necessary. I was just throwing my own story out there as an example. You're a good gurl and I appreciate your comments.

MacAllister said:

Lulu actually doesn't really count as a vanity publisher, III, because they don't charge you for anything but the books themselves, meanwhile the books are available by ordering from Amazon or from the Lulu site. With Townhall, you spend at least a grand, and you *still* don't have any books.

Click to expand...

Ah - I looked into Lulu a little, but didn't know that about them. I know with iUniverse I paid $400 and got 20 copies of my book, plus everything else. I thought that was how Lulu worked as well. Thanks for clarifying.

Very, very shortest and simplest difference: with self-publication the author owns the ISBN. With vanity publishing the publisher does.