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An editor calling me? Poo. Read on!
Feb. 7th, 2005 11:43 amWell, after a couple of disappointments yesterday, I was thinking that I would do best just to serialize my mystery novels and post them on my website for free reading. That way, I could be read and maybe even hear from any of my readers. Sure, it dashes your credibility with "legitimate" publishing, but I have no credibility now, so what difference does it really make? But then this morning, the phone rang.
The caller ID read "XLibris." That's the small POD press where I published Dulcinea. When I published with them in 2000, I paid a $99 "proofreading and formatting" fee for transferring my Word file into their format. (That came with three free author's copies, too.) My colleague Dennis Havens went with them about six months earlier (in 1999 or thereabouts) and placed all six of his novels for FREE. That's right, friends, he didn't pay a cent. Even back then, you could pay extra for a special cover, publicity services (right), and so forth, but you didn't HAVE to. That, along with their policy that says all you have to do to end your association and get all rights to your book back is send a letter and you've got your wish within a few weeks, sold me on XLibris. I've been very happy, actually, with the books and with the service. (But wouldn't be NOW--more on this in a moment.)
So I answered the phone thinking I was about to hear a sales job from them trying to get me to sign on for "marketing services" and other cash-cow stuff. Or take a survey. Imagine my surprise when the voice said she was an acquiring editor (!) and that she was calling to see whether I had finished the sequel to Dulcinea. I said that I had, and that I was planning to shop it around the New York houses--that I was, in fact, waiting to hear back from yet another agent. She said, "Wow! Well, that's to be expected, since didn't your book win an award?" (Yes, it did, but most awards really aren't worth their weight in dirt so far as credibility and sales.) "The reason I'm calling is that we want your sequel because your first book made money for both of us, and we would like to work with you! Your book has been one of our regular sellers over all this time. You just got a royalty check. We're ready to work with you."
Sardonic smile time. Of COURSE they would like to make more money. Sure, I'd like to see Dulcinea's Dragon in print. Yet I was hoping to break through with it. I'd learned a lot writing the first book--aimed at fantasy readers of all ages, although most editors/agents insist that it's a YA that should be aimed at Harry Potter's audience--and I figured that it's time to run with the big guys.
She went on to say that she'd send me a bunch of information by e-mail and that they'd love for me to send the manuscript RIGHT NOW. "When do you think you'll hear back from the agents?"
"They say to allow three to six months for a reply, and I just sent this off before Thanksgiving. So I'll get back to you. I've been happy with the quality of the books and the ease of ordering."
We did the salesman-goodie-talk a few more moments, and she hung up. I came back here to the computer and found that she had indeed sent me the info.
Now . . . trumpet this, guys . . . they now charge FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS just for the "basic service" of formatting and setting up your book to print. Wow!! $500 big ones!!! My mind boggled. My hair stood on end (and that's quite a sight). Yowza! I realize they have a right to make a profit, but really!! Eek! They've fallen into the crap trap. I hadn't realized that, because I hadn't looked at any of their pages for a couple of years. Had no reason to, really.
No wonder people sneer and think I'm a "vanity press sucker." Good grief!
In the first place, I didn't have $500 in those days (2000 or so). In the second place, well, wow. And it goes up from there! ! ! ! You can end up paying >$1600.
Anyway. I suppose in a way it was kind of interesting to get the call. Some people would think it was flattering. But it was really just a marketing move. "This kid was a sucker last time, so let's try to sucker her in again." Where they're wrong, though, is that Dulcinea isn't the hopeless pile of cat litter that they think it must be. It should've had legitimate publication. I can do a paragraph-by-paragraph analysis of many "legitimately" published novels that have the same flaws it supposedly has and *worse*, so you can't say it isn't "worthy." It doesn't deserve to be thrown into today's "POD press controversy" bucket.
One good result from the little bubble we had recently in this journal re the PublishAmerica scam novel is that now I know about "Lulu." They are a POD press that doesn't charge, just as XLibris was when it first started out. This could be a possibility.
But even though I keep getting hit on the head with the anvil, I'm not giving up just yet. I mean, so MUCH trash gets anointed and published that eventually, why not MY trash?
The caller ID read "XLibris." That's the small POD press where I published Dulcinea. When I published with them in 2000, I paid a $99 "proofreading and formatting" fee for transferring my Word file into their format. (That came with three free author's copies, too.) My colleague Dennis Havens went with them about six months earlier (in 1999 or thereabouts) and placed all six of his novels for FREE. That's right, friends, he didn't pay a cent. Even back then, you could pay extra for a special cover, publicity services (right), and so forth, but you didn't HAVE to. That, along with their policy that says all you have to do to end your association and get all rights to your book back is send a letter and you've got your wish within a few weeks, sold me on XLibris. I've been very happy, actually, with the books and with the service. (But wouldn't be NOW--more on this in a moment.)
So I answered the phone thinking I was about to hear a sales job from them trying to get me to sign on for "marketing services" and other cash-cow stuff. Or take a survey. Imagine my surprise when the voice said she was an acquiring editor (!) and that she was calling to see whether I had finished the sequel to Dulcinea. I said that I had, and that I was planning to shop it around the New York houses--that I was, in fact, waiting to hear back from yet another agent. She said, "Wow! Well, that's to be expected, since didn't your book win an award?" (Yes, it did, but most awards really aren't worth their weight in dirt so far as credibility and sales.) "The reason I'm calling is that we want your sequel because your first book made money for both of us, and we would like to work with you! Your book has been one of our regular sellers over all this time. You just got a royalty check. We're ready to work with you."
Sardonic smile time. Of COURSE they would like to make more money. Sure, I'd like to see Dulcinea's Dragon in print. Yet I was hoping to break through with it. I'd learned a lot writing the first book--aimed at fantasy readers of all ages, although most editors/agents insist that it's a YA that should be aimed at Harry Potter's audience--and I figured that it's time to run with the big guys.
She went on to say that she'd send me a bunch of information by e-mail and that they'd love for me to send the manuscript RIGHT NOW. "When do you think you'll hear back from the agents?"
"They say to allow three to six months for a reply, and I just sent this off before Thanksgiving. So I'll get back to you. I've been happy with the quality of the books and the ease of ordering."
We did the salesman-goodie-talk a few more moments, and she hung up. I came back here to the computer and found that she had indeed sent me the info.
Now . . . trumpet this, guys . . . they now charge FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS just for the "basic service" of formatting and setting up your book to print. Wow!! $500 big ones!!! My mind boggled. My hair stood on end (and that's quite a sight). Yowza! I realize they have a right to make a profit, but really!! Eek! They've fallen into the crap trap. I hadn't realized that, because I hadn't looked at any of their pages for a couple of years. Had no reason to, really.
No wonder people sneer and think I'm a "vanity press sucker." Good grief!
In the first place, I didn't have $500 in those days (2000 or so). In the second place, well, wow. And it goes up from there! ! ! ! You can end up paying >$1600.
Anyway. I suppose in a way it was kind of interesting to get the call. Some people would think it was flattering. But it was really just a marketing move. "This kid was a sucker last time, so let's try to sucker her in again." Where they're wrong, though, is that Dulcinea isn't the hopeless pile of cat litter that they think it must be. It should've had legitimate publication. I can do a paragraph-by-paragraph analysis of many "legitimately" published novels that have the same flaws it supposedly has and *worse*, so you can't say it isn't "worthy." It doesn't deserve to be thrown into today's "POD press controversy" bucket.
One good result from the little bubble we had recently in this journal re the PublishAmerica scam novel is that now I know about "Lulu." They are a POD press that doesn't charge, just as XLibris was when it first started out. This could be a possibility.
But even though I keep getting hit on the head with the anvil, I'm not giving up just yet. I mean, so MUCH trash gets anointed and published that eventually, why not MY trash?
