There are a lot of choices today for authors. Many years ago people like Mark
Twain, Thomas Jefferson, and countless other famous authors had to hire someone to print their books for them, then they peddled
them themselves.
Then the tide turned, and what became known as "traditional publishers" began
to publish books that they felt would sell well, thus making them money. After awhile, the competition became more intense,
and these publishers began to pay advances to try to woo an author they believed in.
After that there were other types of publishing which followed: vanity, subsidy,
self-publishers, and finally what has become (mistakenly) known as "print-on-demand" publishers. Print-on-demand does not
define a type of publisher, but rather a new digitally electronic method of printing which allows a publisher to have anywhere
from 1 to thousands of copies of a book—as they are ordered.
This new avenue opened the doors to many authors who had, as I had, sought a traditional
publisher for years. The days of slammed doors because nobody has ever heard of you, or of collecting enough rejection letters
to paper the walls in your house because your book didn’t quite fit the normal mold came to a screeching halt. This
has both good and bad sides to it. Granted, there are some book being published that should never see the break of day, but
they have enough money to hire the services of one of these companies, so there they are—on Amazon.com! The good side
is that a lot of great books and fantastic new authors are now getting the exposure of which they are so deserving.
My first book, Dunnottar, was published in June, 2000. That first publisher
got me started, and for that I am grateful. However, they soon went bankrupt, leaving me back at square one. The second time
around, I thought I had the perfect solution, and for quite awhile they were very good to work with.
But somewhere along the way the time to get books into production got way longer than promised, royalties were not received
and they were completely unresponsive to phone calls, emails, etc.
At just the right time, Kristie Leigh Maguire, a long-time friend who had
started her own publishing company because she wanted to treat other authors like she (as an author herself) wanted to be
treated. Kristie had been hunting me down ever since she started, and we both knew that this was the right time for me to
make the move to join her. Not only are all 14 of my current books being re-released from Star Publish, but I have been
appointed as their Marketing Director. While we are both working very hard to make the Star Books the most successful
POD books onthe market, we are having a whole lot of fun doing it. After all, isn't living life to the fullest what it's all
about? We think so!
Star Publish may not be the perfect answer for every author and what they
are looking for, but below are the reasons they are the best in the business for me.
- Their website is easy to navigate and honest about what they do and at what cost.
- Their response time (both by phone and email) has been very good.
- Their setup fee is higher than many of their competitors, but it includes a whole
lot more than other publishers, and by the time you add in the "recommended other packages" the others include, Star Publish's
fees actually come out lower in many cases.
- The author has input into the covers (whether you use your own artist or have
them design one and the fee is included in the basic cost).
- The author retains all the rights to their work.
- They screen books and publish only what they deem the best books offered today.
- They offer a full discount rate to distributors, making it possible for
the books to go on the shelves of bookstores nationwide.
- All of their books are 100% returnable, the biggest argument bookstores have against most
POD books.
- The author cost for copies of books is just cents over the print cost.
- Their royalties are some of the highest in the industry.
- They have the best distribution I’ve ever seen (including Ingram, Baker
& Taylor, over 20,000 online bookstores and in 92 countries).
- Their royalty payments arrive on time.
- They are friendly and honest to deal with.
- They believe in quality, not just quantity.
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