Sponsored reviews in literary blogs: $50-100 One month advertisement campaign on Facebook: depends on the size of the target group, let's say $250
Professional ebook text conversion: $70-150 Proofreader/editor: can be expensive but let's calculate with $700-1000 Let's see some inevitable expenses for a 60 000 words novel: So if you have to pay anyway, why spend money for shitty service if you can do it in a way that leaves you in charge? But it's clear that AH & Co aren't much of a help. Sure, there's a few things authors usually can't do on their own, like illustrations and cover art. CS is maybe not the best but definitely the easiest solution. I mean, you can publish an ebook or paperback with zero production costs if using CreateSpace. I really can't understand why would anyone pay for all these packages by AH, xL and all those scammers when any self-respecting author should be able do everything by him/herself.
Joanne wrote: I am now pulling out of my contract and have published with Createspace for free 'happy writing to you my new friend! Susie You are an accomplished writer, in more ways than one. Thank God, it was you, because, you tediously took the time to spell out all that you encountered, and the first part is almost exactly what I was being sold. but, it sounds like you went to the school of "hard knocks" and that is better than any course. my heart goes out to you, for your time lost. You have helped me, and you can read, that you are helping so many future published authors. 'how do they get our numbers.? The only self publisher, I contacted was Digipod, last Spring? 'this is when I stopped and ask for an email. I kept repeating, the fact that, I am submitting my book to publishers for next year's season. I made it clear that my aim is for next year, and every time I mentioned it, she just didn't get it or had selective hearing. Luckily, too, my finished book is about Christmas. said Xlibris.? 'and no where did the email say, Random House or Penguin.
'not true, obviously, -UGH!įortunately, I ask for a break down email. are from Penguin and "they" were just bought by Random House. My caller, Rhea said, "they", were from Random House and "they" (said multiple times). Oddly, I found your blog, through a Google search. Thank you, for all your time writing this out! You have helped me. I wonder if he is the same "Rueben" I refused to work with at Xlibris? Thank you again Amanda. PS.I also noticed "detrimental" in "Reuben's" post. I felt that I had a better chance to be noticed by readers as a self published author and not waste years knocking on closed doors.
These days, the author must do most of the marketing as does a self published author. If accepted, the author has very little control over the input for the artwork, final editing and how the book will appear to the reader. There are many books to chose from and they will only accept a manuscript if you have an agent and are well-known and have some connections. As a first time author, it is almost impossible to get children's books published by a traditional publisher. I wish that traditional publishing was as easy as we think. WHY don't you ever try getting a contract with a REAL publisher? One whose business is selling book (not selling "packages" to wannabes) and providing royalties. Thank you for reading my post.Īmanda wrote: "For Goodness sakes Mrs D. I will continue to work with them on my new books in the future as well. They provide excellent services and take pride in the product they make. Great publisher to work with and I can highly recommend this company to anyone. As I mentioned in my post, Xlibris can make a good product when pushed to do so, but at what cost? Now I am working with Dog Ear on three new books, one is already published and two are coming soon. It was a bad decision to purchase all services in one package. Unfortunately, I stuck with a company who does not care about their costumers until they write complaints.
It is very hard to make them update it with new information. They are still maintaining my website, which was part of my package. In January 2011 Xlibris started working on my both books at the same time, but because they changed illustrators and representatives several times and provided very low quality work, both books were published months apart. As I explained in my post,I purchased the Executive package from Xlibris for two books at the same time.