Escaping the POD People

Lying in Judgment will not, at least for the time being, be self-published. Or hybrid-published.

The hybrid offer from Inkwater - a print-on-demand contract for the first 1,000 copies in which I spend $1,000 for design and layout, another $1,000 for proof-edits and probably another $1,000 for marketing and a customized cover - doesn't pencil out for me. One, it's too expensive. Two, I don't have it. Three, I think that I should be paid for selling my book to a publisher, not the other way around. And four, and perhaps most important, I believe that this book will earn a traditional publishing contract with a major house for commercial mass-marketing.

Even if I wanted to go with a POD-based self-publishing route, much more affordable options exist with better-known companies. CreateSpace, an Amazon.com company, and Lulu, who also distributes with Amazon, provide essentially the same services and opportunities for a much lower up-front investment ($50 - $200) and higher royalties. Both are more DIY-type outfits, but the difference between Inkwater's premium services and what Lulu and CreateSpace offer is kind of like the benefits you get from premium gas. The mileage obtained doesn't pay for the considerably higher price.

There is also the fact that the sample books Inkwater provided didn't exactly sell their editing services to me. I shouldn't cringe when reading, ever, and I did. I don't want my readers doing that about my writing.

There are certainly benefits to POD self-publishing - and products that are more appropriate for it than Lying in Judgment, such as niche books, vanities, experimental designs, etc. But LiJ isn't any of those. It's a legal thriller written for readers - people who buy and read dozens of books per year. For that I need the help of a big house with broad, deep distribution channels. POD firms don't have that.

Nor do they have established marketing platforms for beginning writers. I would have had to buy marketing services from Inkwater, for example - yet, they couldn't even give me an outline of a plan, nor point to a similar book in their catalog with the type of sales I'm looking for. I'd have been as responsible for marketing as they were.

Not a good plan. I'm a writer, not a marketer, or publisher. I'm willing to hustle to sell my books, but I need expert help on a marketing strategy.

So, I'll hold off. I have four appointments with industry book agents at the Willamette Writers Conference in two weeks. Wish me luck.