Recently, high-profile house Simon & Schuster, Inc. launched a “self-publishing division,” partnering with the true Dark Star mother ship of POD (print-on-demand) companies, Author Solutions (AS).
Not familiar with AS? A few years back, four members of the “rogues gallery” of POD companies—AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Trafford, Xlibris— joined together to form AS. And Penguin actually bought AS in 2012. The big boys are waking up to all the money being made in POD off of authors desperate to be “published,” and they wanna get their slice. They’re thinking, “Hmmm, what if we could make money off a healthy chunk of the 99.9% of folks whose manuscripts we reject?”
All I can say to those publishers is, “Lie down with dogs…etc., etc.”
I’d wager, any author who can’t get in the door of a big house will think they’ve hit paydirt if Simon & Schuster steers them to Archway Publishing, their SP arm (and wolf in sheep’s clothing) run by the nice folks at AS. Caveat emptor—BIG time.
Suffice to say, the AS companies have left a bad taste in their wake for years through deceptive business practices, nickel-and-diming on fees, shoddy production and lousy customer service, just for starters. Don’t take my word for it. Check out this article (and take the time to visit the articles/posts it links to as well), as well as this one; this stuff will make you angry.
Got an email from friend and fellow commercial writer Gery Deer, who works with a lot of self-publishers, sharing the bad experience one of his clients was having with a POD bad guy. He wrote:
[T]hey’re not playing right with this lady. For $3,549 they prepare the manuscript, digitize the artwork (it’s an art book with a story) and give her … hold on to your hat … 15 copies of the paperback and 3 hard bound versions. They also set up 1 ISBN, create the ebook version and submit it to Amazon, set up a web link to buy the book on their site, give her some posters and lobby cards and that’s pretty much it. PLUS – and this is what I still need to review for her, it looks like they might actually retain some of the rights to her book based on something she signed.
The company Gery’s client above was having trouble with? Xlibris (an AS company) and now, they can tell clients, “we’re an offshoot of Penguin” (and that’s prominently displayed on their site). Well, AS sure could use some mainstream respectability, so it’s a match made in heaven.
Interesting, isn’t it, that while Xlibris operated as its own company for years, before being becoming a part of AS, it refers to itself as “an offshoot of Penguin.” Translation? “We sure as hell don’t have any respectability of our own, so we have to piggyback on someone else’s name.”
After hearing one too many horror stories from his clients, Gery penned this article to help others steer clear of these bandits. Read and heed.
Bottom line, it’s not enough to just steer clear of the Author Solutions companies. Flocks of vultures calling themselves “publishers” (though they’re anything but) smell all that naïve new-author meat out there, and are circling. Simply put, if you’re paying someone to “publish” your book, they’re a printer, not a publisher.
I’ve never been a big fan of POD (print-on-demand); the economics aren’t all that hot, especially if you’re trying to get books into bookstores. But my thinking has evolved some since the original edition of The Well-Fed Self-Publisher came out. After all, POD is here to stay, and happily, the above developments notwithstanding, it’s gotten better and more reputable over the years, thanks to the maturing of companies like CreateSpace (Amazon’s POD arm), and Lightning Source (the POD arm of Ingram, the big “trade”—as in bookstores—wholesaler).
So, bottom line, if you’re going to go POD, there’s no reason to ever darken the doorway of any other company besides CreateSpace and Lightning Source. Their affiliation with some mighty reputable big-name firms in the book industry means they’re going to treat you right. Still doesn’t mean POD is an ideal scenario, but if it’s not, it won’t be because of any hype, over-promising, or outright lies being told to you.
Had a bad experience with one of the AS companies (or others like Lulu, PublishAmerica, etc.)?
Had a close call with one of them but realized in time that they were offering a lousy deal?
Have you used CreateSpace or Lightning Source, and if so, what was your experience like?
Want to be a guest blogger on TWFSP Blog? I welcome your contribution to the Well-Fed Self-Publishing community! Check out the guidelines here.
I have used Lulu.com and have no complaints with them. Of course, I’m using them only as a POD printer and have not signed up for any of their publishing services, so maybe that’s different. Their printing is good quality, they offer a variety of sizes and formats, and I think their prices are reasonable for POD. Their website also makes it easy to set up a “bookstore” where I can sell all the books I’ve printed through Lulu. Since many of the books I work on are things like family memoirs that are not intended for a huge market, POD makes sense, and Lulu meets my needs.
Thanks Melanie,
Good to know! And yes, if you’re only using them for printing, they don’t have much of a chance to take advantage of you (except on pricing, but if you’ve done your homework, then you’re probably fine! And yeah, if it’s memoirs that you know you won’t be trying to distribute commercially, then absolutely POD makes a lot of sense.
Sounds like you’ve gone in with your eyes open, understanding why you need them, AND what their limitations are. As in, an “informed buyer”! 😉 Which, unfortunately, is not the case with a lot of folks.
Thanks for weighing in!
PB
Great post Peter.
This is just one of many reminders out there that authors need to take their books seriously as a business. You can’t be “just a writer” in this day and age, and being a publisher means researching your printing options carefully and making sure no one’s taking you for a ride.
Like you, I’m not a big fan of the POD approach — at least when it goes beyond printing. I’m not even sure why we call these vanity POD companies “publishers” at all. They assemble some folks for shoddy design and “editing.” And they print books. In my eyes, you’re not a publisher unless you have editorial standards, and these companies do not. A publisher is the company or person who puts the book out there for the public. Not the one who simply creates the physical product. Semantics aside, keep fighting the good fight. More new authors need to be exposed to AS and other shams promising to turn them into published authors, for a fee.
Thanks, Jenn!
Good stuff. And you’re right – no one’s going to look out for you, BUT you. And as my friend Gery’s story shows, every day, people are being sweet-talked in parting with far more of their hard-earned cash to get far less than they could IF they did their homework. Knowledge absolutely IS power in the new world of publishing.
And actually, I know why they can call themselves “publishers” (perceived as a positive by naïve authors who think they’re on the par with a real publisher). It’s because of a negative: In most cases, they—not the author—own the book’s ISBN.
Of course, they present it as “we’ll provide the ISBN—one less thing to worry about!” But when it’s their ISBN, they’re the “publisher-of-record.” Voila—instant “publisher.” Yet, at that point the parallels to a conventional publisher come to a screeching halt.
Thanks for weighing in!
PB
Awesome post, Peter. I don’t have a book in me right now, but good to know this stuff for when that time comes.