First Word

It's not easy at a table full of authors to have to state the most unpleasant reality of self-publishing tools like Lulu or Lightspeed or even Smashwords or Createspace. No one wants to hear it. They especially don't want to hear it with their self-published, print-on-demand book in their hands. Now you might construe my points as self-promoting, but I'm being honest and blunt, it is what is ... First and foremost, those "tools" ARE NOT publishers. They do not provide professional editing, proofing (yes, proofing is a whole other process), graphic design, or even truly "publish" your book. Second (and people especially don't want to hear this one), I can tell a self-published book just at a glance. I don't have to scrutinize or even analyze. Lulu looks a certain way as do all of the others. Third, unpleasant truth: if I can tell it's a self-published, print-on-demand book within seconds, the critics (who have equally critical and experi...

I am constantly having my company 3L Publishing compared to what I call "distribution mechanisms" that are not true publishers. Authors think that many of the new eBook distributors are publishers. I try to dispel this misconception. Some of these "tools" include Create Space and Smashwords. Now some of these services will provide what I call rudimentary services such as editing and graphics, but the prices are so low that you have to understand the difference between the perceived value vs. true value. Create Space is primarily a distribution mechanism for eBooks. You follow their parameters for the eBook formatting and then it's distributed via their systems. Now I am not an expert on Create Space, but also I do caution authors who believe Create Space is their publisher . These groups, and this includes Smashwords, are in the group of self-publishers, but typically don't provide any substantial assistance and real publishing methodologies. For example,...

Many authors ask questions about self-publishers such as iUniverse or more recently Book Baby or Smashwords. Now before I explain why these "publishers" are nothing more than a "mechanism" to get your book out there, I want to be fair. Some of these services do exactly what they say -- they get your book converted to an eBook and then posted on eBook distribution service like Kindle on Amazon or Nook on Barnes and Noble. A place like iUniverse does a little more than that, but for the most part not much more.  After speaking to hundreds of authors who have used self-publishing services, I would like to clear up the confusion that seems to follow some of the more popular self-publishers.  Your book is edited by a professional -- true or false ?  False ! Some services provide ZERO editing. Other services provide an editor. Is that editor always qualified? One review of some back cover copies produced by some of these self-publishers suggests a lack of quali...

My new novel California Girl Chronicles arrived yesterday via UPS. A few comments about it. First, I love our printer, who I am not going to disclose for competitive purposes. Every single order they surprise me. What you can't see in that picture to the left is that beneath the jacket sleeve, they embossed the hard cover on front and back. It's done in gold emboss and looks really nice. The quality of the paper on all fronts is excellent. The book turned out BETTER than I anticipated. Big kudos. But that said, 3L Publishing strives for excellence on all fronts. We all work with the best of the best. Every vendor we work with we vet ahead of time to ensure what they produce on behalf of our clients will not just be satisfactory but impressive. With the edition of premiere distributor Bakers and Taylor , we are poised to move aggressively into a very successful distribution model into bookstores. Believe me when I say that it was an impressive feat for us to gain acceptance wit...

With the acceptance as a Bakers and Taylor publisher, there is only one difference between 3L Publishing and traditional publishing. In exchange for super high royalties, you pay for the services you consume -- and that's it. We had a weak distributor in the past that didn't really move books. We expect the new arrangement with Bakers to push books so much better through their reputable services and quality catalog. When we went to the New York Book Expo and our former distributor handed us a CD and mentioned ignore the typos, we knew we were in trouble. Not just any publisher gets accepted to Bakers and Taylor. In fact, most publishers without the quality catalog and sales track record can get into Bakers. Some publishers don't have any distribution model outside of Amazon . In fact, many small publishers in and around Sacramento don't have this capability. So, if you're looking to work with a local outfit, ask your representative how they distribute to the book...