What POD Could Be
A couple times a year we go through our major competitor’s offerings, just to make sure our service is still competitive. Angie (my wife and business partner, for those of you who don’t know) completed that review yesterday. She wrote an article for today’s WritersWeekly newsletter on the fees charged by iUniverse, xLibris, Authorhouse, and Lulu.
My observation after reading Angie’s results are that our competitors seem to be inventing new ways to screw authors.
You have to understand, we all use the same back-end company to do the printing and drop-shipping (Lulu prints some books in-house). In other words, the books printed by iUniverse, xLibris, Authorhouse, and Lulu come off the same printing machines, sit on the same loading docks and get put into the same delivery trucks as BookLocker’s books.
Furthermore, we certainly aren’t as big as those other companies (though we are no slouch either - we’ve published print books for more than 1,000 authors). So, in theory, they should - if anything - be getting a lower price for everything from the printing company due to their volume. And yet, they are all charging higher setup fees than BookLocker, as well as inventing fees for things for which BookLocker doesn’t charge extra.
I should be thankful that our competitors are handing us this gift - putting such large margins on their services that we will never have the fear of being undercut on price.
It is a bittersweet victory, however.
First, the price difference puts some doubts on BookLocker’s offerings because people question how we can do it for so much less than everyone else.
And second, since these guys are the more visible companies in the POD services industry, they fuel the argument from the naysayers who claim that all POD publishing companies exist to suck money out of the pockets of gullible authors.
What is so sad is that POD publishing doesn’t have to be a scam to make money. POD publishing is an excellent way to test a book’s viability in the marketplace without investing a lot of cash - one of the biggest problems traditional publishers have when investing in new authors. It spreads the risk more equitably between author and publisher during that uncertain time when the market is developing for a book.
At least it could do these things if a savvy traditional publisher ever hooked up with a savvy POD services company.
If any savvy traditional publishers want to talk, email me. ;->
Regarding these two points: “First, the price difference puts some doubts on BookLocker’s offerings because people question how we can do it for so much less than everyone else.
“And second, since these guys are the more visible companies in the POD services industry, they fuel the argument from the naysayers who claim that all POD publishing companies exist to suck money out of the pockets of gullible authors.”
As a purchaser, I can understand that sort of thinking (item 1). However, as a Booklocker POD author, I can testify strongly that my experience with Booklocker fitted the high-tech cliche, “seamless.” Booklocker walked me through the procedures that needed to be followed, helped me over any obstacles that my own inexperience created, and provided me with a finished product that I am still proud of. So, a Rolls Royce level of service defiinitely does not have to cost Rolls Royce prices in POD.
As to the second point, Booklocker IS, to me, the proof that a publisher exists who does NOT simply suck money out of gullible authors.
The one caution I will share with anyone who wants to do POD publishing is this: be prepared to become a skilled marketer of your own work, because that will be your responsibility. Booklocker will point the way, but the leg work will be yours, and that’s sensible, I believe. Would that I were a more skillful marketer . . .
And, finally, to the skeptics, I will add, I am not related to, nor employed by, anyone involved with Booklocker, its associates, etc. In fact, we have never even met–except through the e-mail process of getting my book published.
Comment by Kevin Murphy — March 21, 2007 @ 3:41 pm
One of my favorite topics for writing is “How we can know things for sure.” How can we know something is true when we can’t experience it all. Along with that, I seem to have a knack for tripping and falling into the correct ditch on my first try. Booklocker was the first POD company I ran across. So long ago I can’t even remember how I got here. But it was obvious that they were marketing their integrity. And my answer to the question, “How do I know that?” is that they lay everything out for you right up front. When someone is in a business, they know which are the significant questions to ask. When that person gives you the answer to all those questions right up front, they are proclaiming that they have nothing to hide and that their operation can withstand scrutiny. I’ve been through the Booklocker and Writer’s Weekly sights with a fine tooth comb. Only because I’ve been following them for quite a while. The only other POD site I’ve run across is Lulu. I didn’t do an in-depth analysis bit I did note that their explanation of their fee structure, while easy to follow, seemed to be incomplete and have a couple of obscure areas which I’ll bet, when looked into further, have some more fees tucked away in there.
Comment by Seamus O'Bròg — March 21, 2007 @ 7:27 pm