Hi Dotsie, I just read all the pages of all the posts from Carolyn, and I ordered her book. This is the kind of thing I want to do in 2005: promote, promote, promote. The timing for Frugal is perfect. Thank you for bringing to my attention. Lynn

Lynn, try your local libraries too. My writing group has written and self published two anthologies recently. I am thinking I might do my book the same way. (after I finish is, that it )

Our first book, Still Waters involved 7 of us. The second one, Trail Blazers had 11 writers in it. Our teacher did the typesetting and I helped with tecnical pc stuff. We each chipped in for the cost of the printer. It cost us about $70 each for a book that was on decent quality paper, coffee table size, (1/2 sheet) spiral bound, (we couldn't afford book bound) color cover on good quality stock, about 100 pages. We only had 100 copies made. I sold 40 of them myself. We sold them locally for $10 each. It gave us the money for our second book, which is book bound. This time we printed 150 copies. The first book is long gone. We have a good local printer who does POD, so we can always get more if we want to.

I am thinking of doing my book the same way. I would probably have to spend 6-8 hundred dollars to have it printed and I would have to do my own marketing. But, if I decide to just do this locally, it might be the right choice for me. I have the computer skills to do it. It's the time. But I'm considering different options. My goal is to finish Carousel Kisses in 2005 and get it out there one way or the other. I have more than half of it done. It will be all stories, essays and poems about growing up a boomer. I can do my own bookmarks, magnets, etc.

We have gone to local libraries and had nights to promote the books. In my personal opinion, that didn't go well. But it gets us out there. The paper I write for is doing a story on us in January. That will help.

Thanks for the info. As for marketing your book, WORD OF MOUTH works wonders. Talk it up with everyone you know. Use your bookmarks, business cards, etc. Try getting a story in your local paper, check out libraries and senior centers.

Louisa

Hello to Lynn and to everyone else on the thread --

I'm brand new to this discussion group. This is my first post :-)

Lynn, I'm really glad that you had such a positive experience with AuthorHouse. I just published my first book with them and I must say that the experience I had was not as pleasant. On one hand, my marketing Representative and my account Representative were extremely polite, professional and caring. On the other hand, the publishing company made so many mistakes during the galley process that I thought I was never going to have a book! They literally drove me crazy with their sloppiness.

I spent thousands of dollars to publish the book, partly because I'm in Canada, so I had to pay more for the currency conversion. I also spent a royal fortune for the expanded promotion package and the Newswire Plus package, but I think that the company moved the people from the proofreading department into the publicity department because I have yet to see any publicity!! I'm sure that it is just around the corner but like you, I now realize that the $1200/US that I paid for marketing alone will probably be in vain because the newspapers don't read this press releases. I've been doing extensive marketing on my own for the last several months anyway.

Having said those negative things about the company, I am very pleased with the final product. My book is all about the recovery process from total hip surgery. I will write more about it in another thread but if anyone is interested in checking out my web site, here's the location

www.sigridsrecovery.blogspot.com

It's nice to talk to a fellow author who chose the POD medium. Good luck to you! And best wishes to everyone else on the thread.

Sigrid

PS I'm planning to publish my second book with a POD printer called Lulu. They allow people to publish absolutely for free -- the only catch is that if you want an ISBN, you pay something like $35/US. And if you want an ISBN distribution program that will allow you to sell on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, etc, the cost is around $150/US. It's an incredible deal and the only downside is that you have to do all of the formatting yourself.

Hi Sigrid, wow, it sounds like you had a "roller coaster" ride with Authorhouse. Yes, the reps are polite, but authors need competence from the company as well. I think I saw someone else on Boomer site who used Lulu. Formatting would be beyond my abilities. I am still trying to figure out how to create my web site. It's great that you joined us, and wonderful that Boomers reach Canada. Love and Light, Lynn

Sigrid,
If you're new here, welcome. This is a good place.

Back to P.O.D., How did I miss these posts? I've been trying to get info about P.O.D.'s for a my writing group. We may use P.O.D. for a poetry book.
I spoke to a couple of companies and Lulu not only seemed the least expensive, I thought they were the nicest. Not sure about their product. Anyone have experience with their finished product?

Good info.
smile

Our group hasn't yet done anything, but we're looking around.

Dear Lynn,

You're so brave! I just checked your book out on Amazon. I can't even begin to imagine what you've been through. Often, survivors don't want to go public with their stories. I really respect you for doing that. Way to go!

I spent some time working as a research assistant at my local university in the psychology department. I analyzed data related to sexual abuse. It was a hard job. Sometimes, I'd go in on Saturdays and I'd be all by myself and I'd cry reading the stories in the files :-(
Then I'd be amazed at the tenacity and resilience of the women and men who bounced back.

Yeah, I had a tough time with AuthorHouse, which is why I'm teaching myself how to do formatting. It's foreign to me, too, but I'm not finding it that difficult yet. I really don't want to publish my second book with them.

How are you doing with your trauma book? I imagine that a lot of women's centers and women's bookstores would be interested in it.

Best of luck :-)

Hi Smilinize,

Thanks a lot for the warm welcome.

I've heard good things about Lulu. I've talked to a couple of people who've published with them and they've said that the product is extremely professional looking. One of the many advantages to working with Lulu is that after you upload your book, you can order just one copy for yourself. If you don't like what you see in the final version, you can delete the whole book and upload another one, or change the cover.

That's not possible with the traditional POD publishers. Also, I'm coming to the conclusion that a lot of the POD services are ripoffs. I'm sure that I paid way more money than I had to for publicity and for my web site, which is simply a link to the page on the AuthorHouse web site. All of the information on that web site was written by me! I may as well have kept it on my blog. At least I can change the template on the blog, add or subtract information, and interact with people through my guestbook.

Anyway, I'm definitely leaning towards Lulu right now, partly because I like the whole concept of having 100% control over my product, and also because I invested so much money in my first book that I can't afford to publish a second one through AuthorHouse or iUniverse.

Best of luck.
Sigrid

Hi Sigrid, thank you for commenting on my book. You are correct in that women's centers are interested in the book. I get feedback from counselors who have read my book and recommend it to their clients. I always thought that I wanted to be a writer. I never imagined I would write about abuse, addiction, and recovery until I was in my 40s. Even then, it was not so much a conscious choice to author these issues, it was more of a spiritual directive. Now I make my book and its topics my life's work so that others don't feel alone, and perhaps by speaking out there will be a better future with less violence for the next generation. Now, about you: what have your experiences been with the traditional publishing houses? Have you considered pitching your current book to agents who may then promote your next book too? Love and Light, Lynn

Hi Sigrid, I don't like the Authorhouse "web page." First of all, a customer has to read all about the publishing aspect of Authorhouse before she can get to the info on the author's book. Secondly, the link is so long that I don't bother to tell people what the direct link is. Did you order a marketing kit from Authorhouse: bookmarks, business cards, postcards? I did, and I enjoyed passing them out. But then I had OfficeMax create bookmarks off of one from Authorhouse. It's not as pretty from OfficeMax, but it cost much less money. I don't know anything about blog pages. I am currently working on creating my own web site. Love and Light, Lynn

Lynn,

Talk about turning lemon into lemonade! I think it is wonderful that you have gone public with your story and spend your time helping other people to come to terms with their own situations. As you well know, so many people think that they are alone in their struggles with abuse, addiction, depression, etc., when nothing could be further from the truth. Unfortunately, many other people share that miserable experience but are afraid to talk about it.

Depression is an interesting subject. I became severely depressed during the 18 months that I had to wait here in Canada for my hip to be replaced. I needed it replaced in my late forties because I was sick and badly injured by a drunk driver in my twenties, and the damaged joint eventually gave out on me. I often find that when I talk about my physical health, people are receptive, but when I talk about my mental-health, people tune out.

The message that I get is that I should be stronger emotionally. I should not get depressed! I should just take whatever deck life has dealt me and shut up about it. So, I went on at length about my depression in my book in case other people, who were experiencing extreme physical pain, also felt depressed. I wanted them to know that they weren't alone.

My best friend killed herself at the age of 25. Her mom told me that many people wanted to avoid talking to her about her daughter's death. Meanwhile, her other daughter had cancer. Neighbors and clerks in the store didn't have any problem in talking about the second daughter's cancer but the first daughter's suicide seemed to paralyze the townfolks.

We have long way to go in terms of understanding and accepting mental-health issues. And you are really helping to bring those issues to the forefront.

Best,