Most people who self publish a print version no longer use offset printing or do a print run. It’s almost unheard of now. Even with many smaller presses that aren’t author owned. It’s far more common to release in trade paperback using POD technology. It’s not all Lulu and Authorhouse. There are print-on-demand companies that major NY publishers use for parts of their backlist, University presses use, and small presses use. Lightning Source is the primary company for this. They have great distribution partnerships and their prices allow most people to be able to compete price-wise with other trade paperbacks. (which is what you’d be printing with a 5,000 print run anyway, since mass market paperback requires too large of a print run to make a profit. And hardback is highly risky.)

I’ll have a self-released trade paperback out late this fall (hopefully if the stars line up right. I’d rather have it “right” than “rushed.”) Of course I’m also selling in as many e-formats in as many places as possible. But the barriers to producing a quality paperback book are no longer what they were. And print runs just don’t make any fiscal sense unless you know for sure you’ll be moving a lot of books.

Even then though, you’ve got shipping and warehousing to worry about and LSI can handle an awful lot of volume before you “need” a print run. There are no shipping or warehousing concerns with POD.

Just my 2 cents.

One thing about self-publishing (or small publisjhers) and e-books, is that there is an unusually strong connection between reader and author. If you are selling ebooks, on your own site, then there is easy dialogue with the customer (they will email back their opinions). If you go through Amazon (via the Kindle), there are several Kindle forums where there is active exchange between writers and readers. Often an author will post a message on a forum- Kindleboards.com for one- telling people about the book, and establishing a low Kindle price, say for 60 days, and encourage feedback and reviews. That posting will get many responses, buyers, and reviews on Amazon.

The point is that the connection between authors and readers is more direct and close with ebooks and the internet. So make use of it!

Part of litfic reading is the cachet you get from reading it where other people can see it, or discussing it with Important People Who Discuss Meaningful Things. It is, in essence, a social as well as a solitary activity.

So…….make it social again. Places like Bookglutton.com create social spaces where people can “be seen” reading
Very Important Books. I thought trad pubs were getting it when they started including book discussion group guides in the backs of some of their litfic. Why not have that on a site, or via social networking? Boom, there’s your cachet again.

Actually my impulse buying has gone up since I got the Sony Reader, heh. What does seem to be problem with Calibre is using it AND the Sony ebook software, it seems to screw up the Calibre database.

For getting rid of DRM this article was quite helpful to me.

“It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore,” he said. “Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore.”

Now some people think that’s a sure sign Apple IS working on an e-reader, because Jobs has something of a track record of disparaging ideas to cover up where Apple plans to go next. I would love to think that’s true, because I’m another devoted Mac user who can get a little cranky about e-book interfaces for OS X.

I’ve had good luck with the eReader app and not too much trouble with Adobe Digital Editions on my laptop, but both are DRMed to a fare-thee-well. If I can’t share a book I enjoy with one of my daughters when I’m done with it, I think twice about buying it.

But I firmly believe that e-books are a big part of the future of publishing, and I’m especially excited about the avenue it opens for books that may not have mass-market appeal. I would think it’s a no-brainer for publishers to at least experiment with e-pub for literary fiction.

This reminds me of the fuss over screw caps on wine bottles — even though it is cheaper than cork, more environmentally friendly and better for the consumer in several ways, wineries were hesitant to change their packaging because consumers associated screw caps with cheap wine. Some wineries have helped dispel that notion by putting some of their higher end wines in screw-capped bottles, and slowly the market is changing. Wineries that believed screw-cap packaging was good for the industry pioneered its use, and we will see it more and more. Of course some wine drinkers feel about cork like some readers feel about paper, the look and the feel and the associated tradition, but there’s room in the market for both kinds of packaging.

Reading an e-book is a much bigger change, IMO, than opening a screw cap on wine, but I think younger readers are going to create a huge market for e-reading.

Something about the wireless agreement with the carrier. Buncha mumbo jumbo I don’t buy.

Also heard today that no Pubs have any iphone apps in the works (or haven’t announced that they have) to seel their books via ipod.

Not true.

Scrollmotion has partnered with a few publishers to provide ebook apps for the iTunes store.

However, there are plenty of books-as-applications that are being rejected (mine is one of them) for obscenity or taking Apple’s name in vain or for . . . no reason at all. I won’t call it censorship because Apple’s a private company and can do what they want, but it does make me scratch my head as to what the heck they’re thinking.

I would love to know that Apple was stepping up to the plate with regard to ebooks (I crave an iBook store, CRAVE, I tell you!), but I’m not holding my breath.

I think they should write it in magic marker on all the books they’re pulping.

Another Mac user clamoring for an AppleReader.

I love e-books. I am exclusively reading them on my laptop, which works for me at this point, but eventually would also love a reader that is hassle free for working with ibook’s format. Even better, if they designed removable waterproof cases for bathtub readers, oh heck… while I’m reaching for the stars, might as well add an affordable price for the fiscally challenged readers, and a durable design (see construction of black boxes in airplanes) for the younger/and or clutzy readers.

In the meantime, I’m storing my library on flash drives and hoping Mac will develop something in the near future.

If I can’t buy books on my Kindle, then I don’t buy them.

Bingo. The author (insofar as s/he can control these things) and the publisher need to make it as simple as possible for the customer to buy. Since I–as a nanopress–have limited distribution possibilities to B&M stores, I need to make my catalog (a total of 2 books, one mine, one not) available in as many online venues as possible and make it EASY TO PURCHASE.

The point of ebooks is impulse. Period. You put it in front of the customer, price it attractively, don’t saddle it with encryption code, and make it one, two, three click easy. Boom, sale.

So yeah, while I’m on my own site selling (8 DRM-free formats in a zip file, including EPUB), and my publishing company’s site selling, I’m also on SmashWords (to be able to get listed in the Stanza catalog for wireless download into the iPhone) and Scribd and Amazon in the Kindle store. (I recently lowered my Kindle price as another way to be attractive to potential buyers.)

I’m always trying to figure out a way to streamline my own process even more, but since Paypal is involved, I think I’ve hit the brick wall on that.

Publishers, repeat after me:

Make it easy for the customers to give you their money.
Make it easy for the customers to give you their money.
Make it easy for the customers to give you their money.
Make it easy for the customers to give you their money.
Make it easy for the customers to give you their money.
Make it easy for the customers to give you their money.

Go to the blackboard and write that 500 times. In Sharpie.

Zoe, Moriah interpreted me correctly. I don’t read erotica in public either.

Who’d want to do that? Wouldn’t you want to have some privacy and be close to your…. er equipment? Or whatever or whoever? Heh…

I love my Kindle for several reasons: I live in work in Chicago and the convenience of it is beyond words; carting it around for my commute. I don’t have the room to keep the two or three books a week I typically read. The wireless is fabulous. Changing the font size is a blessing for my challenged eyes. It’s much easier on my hands, too.

If I can’t buy books on my Kindle, then I don’t buy them. Author and publisher loses. Not good.

Yep, Sony doesn’t like Mac. I guess they want people to buy Sony computers, or something. Crazy.

Apparently there’s some software I can download that’ll make my Mac behave like Windows, but that would kind of defeat the purpose of having a Mac. I love my Mac. I want Apple to create an e-book reader, because I know it’ll be just what I want, and will come down to a price I can stomach after a year or two. Unfortunately, I ran out of room, and couldn’t wait for them.

No worries, Zoe, I could have been clearer. Or less insane myself…

I believe part of Suze’s problem may be that the Sony e-book reader apparently doesn’t play well with Mac. I have neither, but that’s what I keep hearing.

I apologize for being insane.

http://ebookstore.sony.com/

the reader software makes it way too easy to buy — one click and it’s downloaded and paid through PayPal and placed in the library.

I’ve also found it pretty easy to download epub files — which I believe Calibre also reads — from My Bookstore and More and from independent writers who sell epub files from their websites.

So maybe the trick is to look for the epub version of the book. Hope that helps.

Thanks, Estara, I’m using Calibre, and fumbling my way through e-books, I just really wish shopping was easier. With paper books, I can see, want, evaluate the price, and buy. With e-books, it’s now a little trickier, and I’m grouchy about having to work harder to buy books that I want to read. I can see that it’s going to really cut down on my impulse buys. Which may not be a bad thing.