Consider that here is a fine line between the price being high enough to keep your publisher in business, but low enough to encourage sales. Keep in mind that you can always lower the price, but raising the price once it is printed on the cover is unthinkable.

When you self publish a book the expectation of making a ton of money is unrealistic so I will begin by dispelling the myth about “best-sellers.” Books that sell 5 million copies are few and far between and Harry Potter was a once in a generation miracle and lightning does not strike twice. How many people do you know who have won the lottery? Like me I am certain the answer is none, but do not stop dreaming about hitting the publishing pot of gold. I am sure that most of us would be very satisfied with just 10% of what the Potter book grossed in sales.

What you need to know before you self publish a book.

In any given year there are a billion books in circulation. Once you digest that astounding number realize that the average book published in the United States sells 5,000 copies. A quantity of 10,000 is considered a “Best-Seller.” The authors at the top of the lists are movie stars and politicians, and most of them did not write their own books. There is an entire ghost writing industry in the U.S. So the competition is fierce as celebrity opens many doors to publicity, the key to any book success. What that means as a first-time author is that you need to work harder and smarter.

Key elements to consider before you self publish a book.

• Picking a Niche Topic

Writing a book on a niche topic like cooking, woodworking, sewing, flower arranging, sailing, gardening or any niche topic, you need to research Google, eBay and Amazon to see what others have written, then write your book covering the areas these authors may have omitted from their books or not have covered the topic thoroughly. Not all niche topics are equal but it is foolhardy to try to duplicate the work of others because they were successful. Being original or covering the parts of a subject that were omitted from a successful book will always serve you well. On the Internet you can then capture the keywords used by those other authors that will help drive your own online sales.

• Self-Publishing vs. co-publishing

In the true meaning of the term ‘Self-Publishing’ an author, by necessity, is transformed into a business manager and publishing technician. Remember when you self publish a book the author pays all editing, design and printing costs plus distribution, advertising and marketing expenses. The printing and binding process is full of minefields. This carries the risks of simple mistakes costing thousands of dollars once they reach the printing press and need to be fixed. Or worse, errors not caught at all will mean you end up with a book with errors that degrade the quality of your book.
Once printed the author then needs to arrange distribution and that turns the author into a quasi-sales person. When you self publish a book do not get caught up in thinking that you get 100% of the profit, that may sound attractive, but it can also lead to a bag of snakes.
Co-publishing is the best alternative for the author who is willing to do the same financing on his or her title, but who is willing to engage an experienced publisher willing to share their expertise for a percentage of the profit.

• Print a Small Quantity First

A number of first-time authors have come to me in recent years after spending thousands of dollars on Internet-based publishers only to discover that the “On Demand” cost per book leaves no room for profit. Many complain that the initial $800.00 investment quickly mushroomed with one added charge after another. Ordering one book at a time as needed is not just time consuming it is crazy-making. If you are only selling one or two books a week then this is nothing more than an ego trip, not a publishing enterprise.

One of the biggest objections of Internet publishing is that they offer limited predetermined page sizes and cover designs giving your book a cookie-cutter look. Little to no professional editing is done and no creative design takes place. In the end, you self publish a book that leads to a costly disappointment. Agents can instantly spot an online produced book.

One of the first mistakes in self publishing is producing a small quantity. If you are publishing your book for bragging rights then signing a contract for $800.00 with an Internet publisher will fill your need. But think about it. In order to properly promote or market a book you need to mail press releases to various magazines, newspapers and radio hosts and that can quickly consume 500 copies.

Also be prepared for the individual mailing costs of at least $5.00 per copy or about $2,500.00. No one is going to write a review based on your synopsis, a picture of the cover or your good looks. Therefore expecting a magazine review without providing a copy of your book is unrealistic and shows a bit of Chutpzah. At an average On Demand printing cost of $10.00 pr book plus $2,500 in postage you have just invested $8,000.00 and you have not sold a single book. In other words, you can do this one book at a time but in the end you have spent the same amount of money over a longer period of time hoping that one of these contacts will click… this is a bit naive.

After 25 years of independent publishing I will not publish a title unless an author prints a minimum of 1,000 copies. On the other hand, I do not encourage first-time authors to print more than 3,000 copies regardless of the unit cost savings at this higher quantity. No one needs a garage full of books if they do not sell and if the book is successful we can reprint within six weeks.

The author must seriously consider that the first 1,000 books is for test marketing and that the book will not turn a profit and will likely break-even. Therefore, self publish a book with your eyes wide open understanding the financial investment that is required and realize that there are pitfalls.

Most radio interviewers require a copy of your book in advance of booking the interview. Be grateful that they want a copy. As the author of 7 books I will tell you there is nothing more miserable than an interview in which the host does not have a clue why their producer booked you on the program or what questions they should be asking. This turns into a clumsy interview or one of the shortest on record. Either way, you as an author suffer the consequences. Remember, the interviewer is not there to sell your book they are there to create an interesting program for their audience. If you are not provocative enough the rug is quickly pulled out from under you. If you are serious and you want to self publish a book then seriously invest in a coach to guide you through those first half dozen radio interviews, it will be money well spent.

A bit of advice… when you send a copy of your book to an interviewer, send a list of 5 questions you would like to be asked. You will win many friends in the media for this professional consideration. Also include a short biography. An interview that begins with an inadequate introduction leaves the audience in a fog. If you do not have a strong background tell the interviewer why you wrote the book or a funny story on how it eventually got published.

Remember, to self publish a book is a process like baking a cake… leave out one simple ingredient and you end up with a pancake.

Ebooks are easily distributed or downloaded online. One of the best features that have served us well is the fact that an eBook is easily updated. As an example, my 2008 eBook, Defeat Foreclosure has been updated four times in six months as the U.S. House and Senate keep changing the laws regarding foreclosure, mortgages, home ownership and taxes.

We duplicate 700 to 800 books at a time so the book is as current as the last duplication of disks.  Being able to immediately download an eBook online and put the book on your hard drive saves a trip to the local bookstore or waiting for it to come in the mail.  We have truly become impatient consumers.

Ebooks can be designed to be interactive. Our series of Nikon Digital Camera eBooks by best selling author Peter iNova like the D80, D300 and the new D90 utilizes a “rollover” technique in which moving the mouse over an image turns it to a before and after picture like magic, making learning a camera technique faster and easier to comprehend.  These books contain numerous Internet links and when appropriate the reader can go from the eBook to online research material enhancing the learning experience.  Video and mp3 audio files can also be included in an eBook further enhancing the experience, drawing your reader into the virtual world of your eBook. The potential is virtually limitless and the eBook done in PDF files is printable on any printer.

As this new generation seems to be born with their umbilical cord attached to a computer, the new world is not opposed to reading on the Internet, including entire books on their computer, Kindle or iPods.  The information explosion for sharing information, ideas, techniques, and expert knowledge is expanding faster then we can consume the data. This explosion of information was brought on not only by computers and the Internet but also by the development of the eBook. It is obvious, therefore, why electronic self-publishing has become popular so quickly.

Let us devote some attention to what makes eBooks so important, unique and appealing. Ebooks have certain capabilities and qualities that other publishing alternatives do not offer. Ebooks are quite easy and inexpensive to produce. You don’t need an agent, a printing press, or a distributor. You just need a great concept, the ability to write or-the money to hire a writer, and the right software. I am very partial to inDesign a computer program for book layout and enjoy using Photoshop for graphics and images.

In conclusion, there are numerous ways to use eBooks to promote your business, drive traffic to your website and once posted on your site, you can turn them into online study courses, bringing your customer back to read the next chapter or use them as a free gift for making a purchase. We have placed our YouTube promotional DVD on a disk as an example of using a DVD as a business card or innovative brochure.

Using eBooks cuts the cost of producing separate promotional material. Ebooks give you the opportunity to learn your market and customer habits over a period of time, without risking a great deal of financial resources.

Research your own niche if you are planning to write an eBook.  Check out Amazon and ClickBank to see what subject matter is selling. Use your research to discover what the goals and problems are in your specific subject. Then find your own unique way to solve these problems, and publish an eBook that might approach the niche from a different direction. If you plan to do an eBook on a current subject see what those authors have left out of their books.  This will increase the value of your eBook and your reputation as an expert in your field.

The eBook is here to stay… so is the information explosion.

Often, we dream big dreams and have great aspirations. Unfortunately, our dreams remain just that, daydreams. And our aspirations easily collect dust in our mental attic.

This is a sad turn of events in our life. Instead of experiencing exciting adventures in self-actualization, we get caught up in the humdrum of living from day-to-day just barely existing. But life could be so much better, if only we learned to aim a little bit higher.

The most common problem to setting goals is the word impossible. Most people get hung up thinking I cannot do this. It is simply too hard. No one can do this.

However, if everyone thought that, there would be no inventions, no innovations, and no breakthroughs in human accomplishment. There are currently 75 million videos at this moment on YouTube, does that mean 74,999,000 are failures? The average person reads five blogs each day so it is obvious that they continue to search for answers. Impossible is only a word, therefore, learn to seek out more questions.

If you limit yourself with self-doubt, and self-limiting assumptions, you will never be able to get beyond what you consider impossible. If you reach too far into outer space without working towards your goal, you will find yourself clinging onto the impossible dream or getting crushed by the next celestial object headed in your direction.

Remember President Kennedy told us that we went to the moon, not because it was easy, but because it was hard. If you told someone 100 years ago that it was possible for man to walk on the moon, they would have locked you away. Thirty years ago if you told someone that you would send mail from here to the other side of the world in a few seconds, they would have said you were out of your mind. FedEx was Fred Smith’s Masters Degree thesis and his professor thought he was crazy. But, through sheer desire and perseverance, these impossible dreams are now realities.

That old saying, “If at first you do not succeed, try, try, again,” was planted in my head at an early age. Do not know why, maybe as a son of a West Virginia coal miner I realized early in life that I was living in a hopeless employment environment with little to no opportunity for a future, other than digging coal. At the age of 15 my father took me down into the mine and I knew instantly that this is not for me and I fled the state a year after graduating from high school.

When I arrived in California I was faced with the opposite, an overwhelming choice of opportunity and I discovered that if I tried something that did not work I quickly found other options to accomplish the task.

Too many people will sit down at these computers and the minute they cannot get it to work or cannot find what they are looking for they give up in frustration, but Google has clearly shown us that we need to search other words, other avenues and maybe consider another direction. Part of the discovery is the adventure, so do not get caught up in a failure mindset. I have always maintained there are dozens of ways to do things, when something does not work, I make a mental note that this is one that does not work for me, and I move on to another option. It may take three or four or even more attempts, but what a wonderful and fulfilling experience it is when you hit upon the one that works.

A few decades ago I was hired as a commercial printing salesman in Los Angeles, the kind of career with lots of rejection. You need to be a bit thick skinned for such a career and get accustomed to people closing the door in your face. Most of the salesmen in the company had years of experience and therefore, they had all of the big companies buying commercial printing locked up, so my potential as the 15th salesperson was daunting. The man who hired me said he did not expect me to earn my monthly draw (an advance on future commissions) but he was willing to take the risk because he liked my attitude. I had just gotten married and really needed that job as well as any potential success. I remained in the company for 5 years and became one of their success stories. I won every sales contest—so they stopped having them.

What I discovered was that successful salespeople get lazy. Ten of those salesmen in the company had accounts billing $5 million in printing each year, and they were earning in excess of $150,000 per year in commissions, they were too busy running back and forth to service those clients that they rarely made cold calls to potential customers, or looked for new businesses. In my search for new business I discovered the county building permits department offered a wealth of information. This was in the 1960s and there were no computers so this was intensive, time consuming searches.  I knew that dozens of major companies were moving to California and also knew that these companies would have a need for printing.  I kept that secret for a number of years as my income topped some of those successful salespeople. Everyone, including my boss wondered where I was finding all of this new business. I tell you this story is to illustrate that there are opportunities all around us, do not seek out the biggest and most successful one; there is just too much competition. If you are only interested in the ripest apples on the tree you are walking away from a ton of applesauce.

On the other hand, some people suffer from totally outrageous dreams and not acting on any of them. The result? Broken dreams and shattered aspirations and a lifetime of pain, even self-loathing.

Try this exercise. Take a piece of paper and write down some goals in your life. Under one header, write down things you know you can do. Under another heading, write the things you might be able to do. Under one more heading, list the things that are impossible for you to do.

Looking at all the headers, strive every day to accomplish the goals that are under things you know you can do. Check mark them when you are able to accomplish them. As you slowly are able to check off all of your goals under that heading, try accomplishing the goals under the other header-the one that reads you might be able to do. As the items you wrote under things I could do are accomplished, you can move to the goals that are under things things you might be able to do. As you gravitate through this process, you will find out that the goals you thought were impossible become easier to accomplish. And the impossible begin to seem possible after all.

You see, the technique here is not to limit your imagination. It is to aim high, and start working towards that goal little by little. Remember the old question: “How to you eat an elephant?” The answer… one spoon at a time.  However, it is unwise to set a goal that is truly unrealistic.

Thomas Edison once said that “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” Nothing could be truer. For one to accomplish his or her dreams, there has to be hard work and discipline. But take note that that 1% has to be a think-big dream, and not some easily accomplished task. Ask any gym rat and he or she will tell you that there can be no gains unless you are put out of your comfort zone. Remember the saying, No pain, no gain? That is as true today as the day that remark was coined.

Think about it this way. The average person spends over 500 hours of their life kissing. At an approximate length of one minute each, that is over 30,000 kisses. It is therefore worth it to learn to kiss well. Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour. Good, rich, passionate kissing uses up to 600 calories an hour. You decide what your preference is.

The fun part in unlocking the secrets to intimacy, passion, romance and great kisses and that old saying that practice makes perfect is worth remembering. So, working on those rotten kisses can lead to passionate puckering. So if at first you do not succeed, kiss, kiss again.

Intimacy comes in many forms. Kissing is only one of them. Parents give their infants kisses on the checks, head, neck and hands, and in just about any spot to be found. The infant loves it. These brain maps that are created in childhood are taken into adulthood as unconscious styles of relating. Babies who are overwhelmed, over stimulated, or under attended, grow up often doing the same in relating to others: they overwhelm, over stimulate, or under attend.

When the kissing is rotten, all the rest of the stuff that goes along with it are rotten too, like hugs, hand holding, whispering, schmoozing will suffer as well. If sexual intimacy is what you want, if the kisses are rotten, you want less of it, or worse you end up with that good old American quickie.

When the kissing goes south, a lot of really great stuff goes away in time, like caring, closeness, sensitivity, esteem and oftentimes the relationship itself.

This is a shame because kissing can be so exciting. No one should be without this enriching, delicious experience in an intimate relationship, especially if you want maximum pleasure. We are born with the capacity to have pleasure. Demand it, or suffer! But know this: the true initial beginning of intimacy is the kiss.

Just for fun, let us take a look at some of the kinds of kisses. Ever heard of the Salvador Dali kiss? This starts with slightly open lips, do nothing. Have the mouth slightly ajar and on the soft side. This most amazingly vapid kiss requires that your mouth ultimately drip away. This should result in a formless sinking feeling.

The Hoover Maneuver should be tried with a vacuum cleaner in mind.
This kiss requires sucking, then moving, then sucking and moving. Fitting the lips of your partner is never a consideration. Just keep moving, sucking the upper lip, the lower lip and try to consume their tongue. Some folks have given interesting names to their kisses like: The Snake in the Grass; Train in the Station; The Catfish; The Bird in Flight. You get the idea, but it is all about trial and error, make it fun, and you can come up with your own names. Ones that cannot be printer here.

Be sure to check out “The Kissing Cure” by Dr. Ruth McConnell

Lead, children’s books and the heavy hand of our government

During the Holocaust, book burning was a common practice and tens of millions went up in smoke. But such disgusting proclivities do not die an easy death.

In 1978 Communist dictator Tito gave 850,000 Albanian Muslims in Kosovo “autonomy,” without a single vote of the other 7 million citizens of former Yugoslavia-this was the first time in a communist country that one group of citizens was shown special treatment, including a form of welfare.

Albanian authorities in Kosovo took full advantage of Tito’s generosity and fired every Serb from their jobs as doctors, lawyers, teachers, judges and policemen.

The burning of several Serbian Christian monasteries and the systematic rape of Serbian nuns and young Serbian girls was the chosen form of humiliation to “ethnic cleanse” 150,000 Serbs who fled to Belgrade during a 5 year period of obnoxious abuse. One Serbian nun was raped twice and beaten numerous times… she was 68 years old. The 87 year-old Serbian bishop of Kosovo was beaten on the streets by a gang of Albanian teenagers-he spent three months in intensive care nearly dying of his wounds. He is now the Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The banning of the Serbian language and the Cyrillic alphabet, used by the Serbian people since 860 when Sts. Cyril and Methodius developed their language was only the beginning of this brutal regime that has continued to this day and has succeeded in reducing the Serb population in Kosovo from 21% in 1990 to a mere 3% today.  Albanian authorities destroyed 4 major Serbian libraries in the 1970’s, removed Serbian books on religion, history and music from all the schools in Kosovo and burned over 2 million volumes.  Some were priceless manuscripts from the 13^th and 14^th centuries.

In Muslim Albanian Riots in March, 2004 over 3 dozen Serbian churches went up in smoke and 19 Serbs were murdered.  NATO troops looked on as though helpless and incapable of stopping the violence that lasted for 4 days.

In the 1980’s the work of Ivo Andric, the only Yugoslav Nobel Prize winner was removed from the curriculum of Pristina University because Andric, author of his award-winning book, Bridge On The Drina, admitted he was a Serbian.  The world pretended not to notice and the media managed to look the other way in the past 7 years as Albanian Muslim terrorists, under the noses of 17,000 NATO troops, razed 157 ancient Serbian Orthodox churches. These Serbian churches contained some of the finest frescoes in the world and UNESCO listed many as ‘World Treasures.’

The Serbs have been so successfully demonized that most in the media as well as our government think Serbs have it coming. Few major American newspaper and television networks has reported on the destruction of these religious and cultural landmarks.  Even fewer have told the world that 40% of the Albanians in Kosovo are illegal aliens in Serbia who have crossed the border from Albania into Kosovo as easily as Mexicans cross our border each night in San Diego.  Granting Kosovo independence is an outrageous illegal stealing of sovereign Serbian territory where the Serbs have been a majority for a thousand years and where they built over 1,500 Christian churches and monasteries over the centuries in an area the size of Rhode Island.

George  Santayana reminds us that “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.“ Goethe so loved the Serbian people that he learned to speak their language.  It was Goethe who convinced Brahms to write his famous lullaby that was based on a Serbian folk poem.  Goethe also reminds us: “Patriotism ruins history.” These examples are clearly illustrated in the behavior of the Albanians in Kosovo where Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet with Albanian leaders this week who were all Nazis in 1945 when they razed dozens of Serbian churches including the Serbian Cathedral of the Holy Trinity.

On July 24, 1999, under Bill Clinton’s administration and his secret CIA assistance to the KLA terrorists, the Serbian Cathedral, rebuild during Tito’s communist regime, was once again raised and Albanians like the current Prime Minister and former KLA leader Hashim Tachi danced in the streets through the night in celebration of destroying this Serbian Cathedral twice in 55 years. Just like these American politicians will no doubt dance around the intellectual bonfires of burning children’s books!

What does this have to do with lead and books for children you ask?   It’s hard to believe, but true: under a law passed by our stupid Congress last year is yet another example of their rush to pass irresponsible laws to regulate products for children, the federal government has now advised that books for children published before 1985 should not be considered safe and may in many cases be unlawful to sell or even give away.

Bookstores, thrift stores may be at legal risk if they sell older volumes without first subjecting them to testing-at prohibitive expense. I just had This Bible Talks one of our newest titles tested and it cost me $150.00.  Many used-book sellers have begun to refuse new donations of pre-1985 books, and are removing what they have from their shelves in this draconian new law in fear of potential lawsuits.  So, what is the alternative? It has been arrogantly suggested that books printed before 1985 be burned.  How compelling that our elected officials resort to Nazi style solutions instead of a realistic approach to solving the problem.  Perhaps companies like mine should seek a bailout from Barney Frank and his ilk for the costs of our inventory of children’s books?

Like the current “stimulus” bill that has been shoved down our throats without a single lawmaker reading the 900 page bill before voting on it, this same Congress, after the panic over lead painted toys from China passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). Among its other draconian provisions, CPSIA imposed tough new limits on lead in any products intended for use by children under the age of 12 and made the limits retroactive: in other words, goods manufactured before the law passed cannot be sold on the used market (even in garage sales or on eBay) What this says to small business owners is, eat it, regardless of your investment.

Many products for children have included lead-components such as snaps and zippers on garments and backpacks and countless other products containing metal alloy like rhinestones and beads.  This law will destroy more companies or financially ruin many at a time when unemployment is headed for 500,000 jobs per month… Have our elected representatives lost their minds?

The insanity of this measure with a new retroactive aspect on playthings and articles that contain plastic-softening chemicals known as ‘phthalates’ you suddenly have tens of thousands of common items that have become unlawful to resell. Penalties under the law are strict and can include $100,000 fines and prison time, regardless of whether any child is harmed. Sound like something Nancy Pelosi would add to a piece of legislation. Common sense has been thrown out of the window along with the baby and the bath water.

For decades lead pigments in inks, dyes and paints were used in books for children, particularly in the great age of illustrated books at the turn of the 20th century. While lead poisoning from paint in old houses remains a serious public health issue, no one seems able to produce any evidence in which an American child has been made ill by the lead in old book illustrations-and for good reason, book pigments do not flake off in chips for children to put into their mouths.

The New York Times, whose editorial pages vigorously supported the passage of CPSIA is a major newspaper that also covered the book and apparel business but has remained strangely silent on the law in recent weeks… not too surprising to American Serbs as this is the very same newspaper that for the entire decade of the 1990’s did not publish one single article written by a Serbian journalist, author, scholar or political leader during the dismemberment of Yugoslavia.  The Times led the charge in muzzling of opposing views.  The New York Times company slogan, “All the news that’s fit to print” is hypocrisy at its finest… about as absurd as this new law that will destroy small companies like mine and thrown hundreds of thousands of our citizens out of work in a goal to have a non-functioning economy as the result of political correctness run a muck.

The week before Black Wednesday, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, a publishing house made up of two previously independent publishers, including the very successful Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich, decided in November, 2008 to “freeze” acquisitions and has told it editors to “stop buying books.” Since November the staff at Houghton Mifflin was decimated as their publisher resigned… surely in protest?  I have been in the printing and publishing industries for over 40 years and I have never heard of such an edict.  There were always those temporary “cut backs” but never a public policy of NO MORE BOOKS.  Such events at major publishers should give the readers of this article great pause, especially if you are thinking your manuscript has a prayer today of being published by a major publisher.  Self-publishing may be your only alternative.

The days of the bloated and over extended conglomerate are over which can be said of hundreds of American companies in this economic melt-down. It is not merely a fact that books are not selling; bookstores across the country are returning books to the publishers at an alarming rate. In my earlier blog I wrote about the return policy of bookstores and the lack of obligation to the publisher and their authors of returned copies without penalties, a stupid policy endorsed by the entire publishing industry. Last year 26.3% of the billion or more books sold in the U.S. were returned to bookstores. The phrase “Let them eat cake” attributed to Marie Antoinette, seems fitting here, I hope the publishers choke on them as these returned books come right out of the hide of the authors who have been promised a golden dream that quickly turns into a financial nightmare.

A few years back I produced and printed Witness to War: Images of the Persian Gulf War for the Los Angeles Times, a book which won a Pulitzer.  I produced a number of books for the Times including ConArtist, the  30-year anniversary book for political cartoonist, Paul Conrad, Dining Out in Orange County by Max Jacobson, The Los Angeles Riots, The Los Angeles Earthquake, and 30 Years of Recipe Request by Rose Dosti.

In 2001, I suspected all was not well in the newspaper business when the Times cut off nearly half of its staff and enticed another 10% to take early retirement with handsome bonuses, but that has proven inadequate today as its parent company filed for bankruptcy.  Dorothy Chandler, who built the Times-Mirror Empire is surely rolling over in her grave.

But let us take a close look at how major publishers treat authors.  If you are fortunate enough to get your manuscript accepted and even more fortunate to receive an advance on your royalties, the publisher most likely will insist that you use that advance to hire a publicist or public relations firm to promote your title before it hits the bookstores.  It takes a major publisher at least 12 to 14 months to get a book to market and if they feel you have not gotten enough interest in your title they may decide at the 12^th hour not to publish placing you, the author, in a catch-22.  If you have spent the advance or if the publisher is so magnanimous as to let you keep what is left, under most contracts the publisher will own the rights to your property preventing you from taking your manuscript to another publisher.

Since the word “depression” creeps into most conversations these days I am reminded that books did very well during that economic crisis of the 1930s as did the ten cent movie and the sleazy dime novel as these were about the only escapism available at the time. Last week my wife and I decided to go to see the movie, Doubt. With tickets costing $12 each and popcorn and a Coke another $10, I wonder how many Americans will be able to afford the luxury of $44 for an evening at the movies?   As the actors contemplate a strike to further destroy the local film industry in Los Angeles, the Motion Picture and Television Fund and Hospital have just announced that they will move 100 of their residents to other local nursing homes, layoff 300 employees, about a third of their staff, and close this famous retirement home of the stars by the end of the year.

So polish up that manuscript … there is still hope for that book you want to write and publish. Looks like reading may come back in style? For more on Self-Publishing: www.gmbooks.com.

We are just beginning to realize the full impact of the publishers who were buying out every independent bookstore in the country to become the biggest bookstore on the block. This meant feeding those giant stores with more and more books with nearly a third returned unsold, representing another boom and bust in this economy. When sold at 70% discount as ‘remainder stock’ this comes right out of those royalty checks.

Like General Motors who made many dumb decisions and can only blame themselves for the fix they are in, the publishing industry midwifes made just as many asinine decisions by flooding the market with thousands of titles per month that did not have a prayer of selling.

I am convinced it was a Madison Avenue “marketing guru” or maybe one of the current crop of Wall Street “experts,” who convinced bookstores to adopt a fully refundable return policy that now averages 26% or higher of all books sold each year in the United States.  That means for every 100 books sold, 26 come back too damaged to resale.  With a billion books in circulation each year the losses are staggering but this stupid kind of marketing persists for no apparent reason other than bookstores asking their customers to screw them over and over again. In the end this costs comes right out of the hide of the authors.

In this sick and financially troubled society we look the other way in the clothing business where women buy a dress to wear for a special occasion on the weekend only to return it on Monday to get their money back.   Everyone in the department store knows as body odor has a way of traveling with the crook. There are those who buy computer products that they download on their computer hard drive then take it back to the merchant knowing full well they still have a working copy at home on their computer.  We have come to accept this kind of theft in our society because it does not hurt us it only hurts those “rich” merchants and manufacturers.   In the book business it is quite clear, too many consumers buy a book, read it, spill coffee on, dog ear the pages and then demand their money back…  little wonder the publishing industry is currently in the same financial mess as our banks!

I have been in the publishing business for 23 years and have only given refunds for defective or damaged books on rare occasions and I still manage to survive. If you are thinking about self-publishing you also need to think about how you are going to market your book.  Keep in mind, people buy things on eBay or Craig’s list where sales are final, why should books be any different?  We have a sickness in this society that intellectual property rights are ripe for the taking.

And guess who eats the cost of these returned books?  Not just the publisher, the authors receive ‘reverse-charges’ for the returning freight and a subtraction for the retail sale that has one hell of an impact on that 10% royalty check.   A little detail that is usually left out of contract negotiations with new authors. In most of those 10% royalty contracts it is not uncommon for an author to only realize about 6%.  You need to sell tens of thousands of books to ever see a $50,000 royalty check and few are this lucky. Like Don Quixote the entire process is indeed like fighting windmills… the other side of the publishing industry rarely talked about in the media.

The flip side of this coin is Self-publishing, an option that transforms a writer into an instant publishing technician. This carries the risks of simple mistakes costing thousands of dollars. Or worse, the kind of errors that make a final book not look very professional. If Self-publishing is your option then seek out those with the kind of experience that can enhance your chances for success.

Financial risk is the main reason most publishers will not produce new titles. Publishing, like other businesses is based on profit. Some authors are willing to take the risks of financing the production of their books and do the marketing and distribution themselves. This is called “Vanity Press.” I have designed, produced and published over 130 titles in both vanity and co-publishing arrangements and have self-published 7 books of my own on Balkan history and music.

Defeat Foreclosure (www.defeatforeclosure.org) is a book I wrote and published early in 2008, it was written to assist homeowners in this financial crisis.

My current book, The Nursing Home Crisis (www.thenursinghomecrisis.com) is based on the experiences of several relatives confined to a nursing home including my mother who died in one.  If you are considering going into a nursing home or placing a loved one in an elder care facility don’t do it until you read this book.

A good portion of the publishing risk can be eliminated by considering co-publishing as the best option for authors who are willing to make a financial commitment and do the extra leg work on their title and to join forces with publishing professionals who will hand-hold them through the entire publishing process. Co-publishing is a more harmonious relationship in which the author participates in all of the decision-making. In my company we provide an atmosphere in which an author earns up to 60% of the profit from their book.

In co-publishing the publisher has the experience and background which they are willing to share in exchange for a portion of the profits generated by your title. These professionals typically oversee supervision of copy editing, book and cover design, book packaging, printing supervision, binding expertise, internet marketing, publicity, mailing and distribution-all of the important aspects that make a book a success.

In addition to providing a clean double-spaced manuscript and a financial investment in the book the author needs to assist in defining their market. A list of names of experts in your field or subject who can be helpful in promoting your book is an asset. The author should determine interest groups or organizations where guest appearances can be made. A book in print opens doors that could not be opened any other way. A book can get you on talk radio and television. Researching these contacts is vital for the success of your book. As a result of a book in print, there are many situations where you can be called upon as an expert in your field. An English language version of your book can also lead to foreign translation rights.

I will devote more time and space in this blog to all of the advantages and options related to self-publishing.  With 20 years of experience in the printing industry and 23 years in self-publishing this blog may be one of the viable options available to writers, especially in this current market and banking crisis.  My next article will be about the publishing industry giants seeking a bailout.

For more information visit www.gmbooks.com