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The MetroWest Daily News
Sunday, December 5, 2004
No vanity about it:
Today's authors using 'self-publishing'
houses to get their message out
By Jennifer Lord / News Staff Writer
When Kristen Magnacca wanted to tell her infertility story, she turned to print-on-demand.
When Scott Pomfret and Scott Whittier started writing romance novels for gay men, they took their "Romentics" out for a test drive at a print-on-demand house.
Far from being the "vanity press" of old – where the barely talented paid to see their names on a book cover, and ended up with a cellar full of unsold books – self-publishing has become an outlet for authors who want total control over their product. Some hope to prove a market exists and get a deal with a mainstream publisher. Others know they have the ability to sell it themselves and want a way to get their books out immediately, rather than wade through the traditional publishing process.
"By self-publishing, we were able to put a brand (promotion, product, Web site, media interest, etc. intact) in front of publishers, agents, distributors and booksellers," said Pomfret, a Wellesley native who, with partner Whittier, authored four gay romance novels. "Building the 'Romentics' brand got the attention of agents and publishers – we cut through the slush pile by differing ourselves as professionals with a proven concept, product and market. It sends the message that we as writers know our job is not done when we type 'The End.'"
Whittier and Pomfret's novel, "Hot Sauce," will be re-issued by Warner Books next year, a rarity for a book that was previously self-published.
That's a success story that R. Michael Johnson, promotions manager for AuthorHouse, a print-on-demand publisher based in Bloomington, Ind., believes will become more frequent.
"I truly believe the next Stephen King, the next J.K. Rowling, the next John Grisham is out there getting ready to self-publish their book," Johnson said. "Less than 1 percent of all manuscripts submitted to a regular publisher get accepted. If you look at J.K. Rowling, 'Harry Potter' was picked up off the slush pile. She could have easily been rejected if an editor hadn't happened to have a spare 10 minutes."
The difference between vanity publishing and print-on-demand is an economic one: Traditional vanity publishers charge roughly $20,000 to an author, who then is sent the entire press run of books. The author then must market and sell all those books himself.
With print-on-demand at AuthorHouse, the author has an outlay of $698, which buys them an ISBN (International Standard Book Number), a unique number assigned to every printed book, input on cover design and registration with book distributors. Actual books are not printed until a customer requests them – whether it's through online booksellers like Amazon.com or the Barnes and Noble at the mall.
"You send us your manuscript, we put it in book format," Johnson said. "Your book is physically just a digital file sitting in the computer system in a print-on-demand computer. I don't have 5,000 books sitting in the basement. We print only as many (as) are requested, and we get it out as fast as a regular publisher."
Both Magnacca and her husband, Mark, both of Upton, have published books through AuthorHouse. Magnacca found a niche audience for "Girlfriend to Girlfriend: A Fertility Companion," which was featured on the "Today" show and in publications nationwide. That brought about a contract with Lifeline Press, which recently published her follow-up "Love and Infertility."
"With 'Girlfriend to Girlfriend,' I just couldn't give up control of it," Magnacca said. "At that time of my life, it was my baby. It was about me creating my baby, it was intensely personal and I just couldn't give it up."
Mark Magnacca's book, "The Product is You," goes hand-in-hand with the couple's business, Insight Development Group. The book is offered for sale at his training programs as well as through regular channels and frequently sells out at those events.
"We have a quiet competition going on," Kristen Magnacca said with a laugh. "He's doing so well just by selling the books. Just the other day he did a keynote before 500 people and they all bought the books. I just said, 'Congratulations, honey' (with gritted teeth)."
Joan Borgatti, a former nurse and Natick resident, has a similar niche market. Her book, "Frazzled, Fried...Finished? A Guide to Help Nurses Find Balance," was first started with a contract from an academic publisher, but she ultimately decided she wanted more control over the finished product, opting instead for Booklocker.com, a publish-on-demand press.
"It's timely and I wanted it out now," Borgatti said. "And the book is making noise. I've been marketing it to staff development directors at hospitals and nursing associations. A lot of what I talk about to nurses is taking a risk – I went with my gut feeling."
Borgatti, however, knew that she had the ability to market her book as a frequent speaker at seminars and conventions. Not all self-published authors have that ability.
At AuthorHouse, authors have the option of purchasing both editing and marketing assistance in addition to the basic package, Johnson said. Marketing can range from a basic press release and bookmark to inclusion in AuthorHouse's annual full-page ad in the New York Times Book Review.
"One-third of our authors aren't going to sell many books," Johnson admitted. "They're completely happy the day they get the book and put it on a shelf at home. They want to tell Grandpa's war stories. They want to publish their family cookbook."
As for the rest, another subsection of authors are people with a story – a cancer survivor, a person with a tale of being railroaded by the system – who find the actual writing and publishing cathartic. Those books, Johnson noted, also tend to not be best sellers.
But business and entrepreneur titles like Mark Magnacca's or Borgatti's sell when they are put before their intended audience. Then there are authors like comedian Rita Rudner, whose book "Naked Beneath My Clothes," went out-of-print at her mainstream publisher. Rudner re-published through AuthorHouse and sells thousands after her shows in Las Vegas, Johnson said.
AuthorHouse now has 22,500 authors, 25,000 titles and has paid out a total of $3.5 million in royalties. Its authors range from a 10-year-old boy's poetry to "Legally Blonde," the inspiration for the Reese Witherspoon movie.
"Historically, there have been best sellers that started out self-published," Johnson said, naming off "Chicken Soup for the Soul," "What Color Is Your Parachute?" and "The Celestine Prophecy" as examples.
There are limits, of course, to self-publishing. AuthorHouse will not publish hate speech, copyright infringements or pornography – although it has published the autobiography of at least one porn star.
"The next 'Harry Potter' is sitting out there someplace," Johnson said. "And I'm betting it will be self-published."
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