BEWARE and Compare POD (Online) Publishers

17 08 2011

COMPARE POD PUBLISHERS! More details about each firm below appear HERE: http://writersweekly.com/pod_price_comparison/006780_06152011.html

OBVIOUSLY, THIS INFORMATION CAME FROM WRITER’S WEEKLY. I MOSTLY AGREE WITH THEM, WITH THESE EXCEPTIONS:

BookLocker: I haven’t heard much about them one way or another.

LuLu: AVOID, I have spent more time cleaning up messes after them for customers than I can count. It is impossible to get through to a live person but you can communicate on FB with an imaginary employee they have, hmmmmmm?

CreateSpace: I’ve recently been hearing more complaints about them, BEWARE.

In my opinion, these companies are in the business of selling over priced services to people that don’t know any better, they will over-charge you to purchase “your own” books from them and they are not going to do much to help you sell books. The only reason they call themselves publishers is because they hold the ISBN and when you’re sick of them it is not an easy process to get your book rights back from them!

BookLocker: $517 (Deduct $200 if submitting your own cover)  Rated “Outstanding” by Mark Levine, attorney and author of  The Fine Print of Self-Publishing. **

iUniverse: $999.00 (includes 5 “free” copies)  Rated “Publisher to Avoid” by Mark Levine, attorney and  author of The Fine Print of Self-Publishing.

CreateSpace: $1022.00 (Deduct $299 if submitting your own cover)  Rated “Just OK” by Mark Levine, attorney and author of  The Fine Print of Self-Publishing.

Lulu: $1131.00 (Deduct $450 if submitting your own cover)  Rated “Pretty Good” by Mark Levine, attorney and author of  The Fine Print of Self-Publishing.

Trafford: $1324.00  Rated “Publisher to Avoid” by Mark Levine, attorney and > author of The Fine Print of Self-Publishing.

AuthorHouse: $1517.00  Rated “Publisher to Avoid” by Mark Levine, attorney and  author of The Fine Print of Self-Publishing.

Xlibris: $1972.00 – (includes 5 “free” copies)  Rated “Publisher to Avoid” by Mark Levine, attorney and  author of The Fine Print of Self-Publishing.

***Prices above based on least expensive package offered by  each publisher on similar offers targeting U.S. authors. Fees  include interior formatting (based on a 200-page book), original cover design with up to 5 images, print proof, ebook creation, up to 25 interior photos/graphics, an ISBN,  barcode, a listing on the publisher’s website and  distribution by Ingram, all within 6 weeks.  NOTE: All publishers above currently offer distribution  through Ingram (the largest book distributor), as well as  inclusion of their titles in the major online (amazon.com,  barnesandnoble.com, etc.) and physical bookstore systems.  NOTE: Many companies offer perks that others don’t, some try  to upsell authors on extraneous services, and a few even  claim ownership of files the author has paid them to create.  Study each publisher and contract carefully before making  your choice.