IrvineRenter_IHB
New member
I haven't posted to these forums in months. I started a new job in mid-May, and I have been very busy with it and with finishing the book. It became very difficult to take the time to keep up with the forums. I finally quit trying. I have been reading the forums again for the last several days, but I haven't been able to find the way to break the ice and get back to participating again. I thought perhaps this would be a good way to do it.
I want to give everyone an update on the book. It will be out very soon.
I have learned a lot about the publishing business over the last several months. It is still very difficult to get picked up by a major publisher, and I did not manage to do it. There are scores of smaller publishers, and I was ready to turn over my book to one of them. I finished the final draft of the manuscript with the help of several contributors, and I sent the entire package along with a contract off to the publisher on August 24. I heard nothing. I resent it a week later. I heard nothing. I contacted them a third time last week, and I heard nothing. This motivated me to do some more research and see what was going on and what were my options.
As I researched options for self-publication, I came across some negative reviews of the publisher I was trying to give my book to. I came across some well-written blog posts on what to look for in a publisher and what to look out for. There were a number of additional red flags that came up. For the lack of communication and many other reasons, I am dumping that publisher. Fate has prevented me from making a huge mistake.
I realize now that I had been too quick to dismiss the idea of self-publication. I am going to print the book through Createspace, and distribute it through Amazon. As soon as I finish making the necessary layout changes, I am going to upload the PDF, get and approve a proof, and then it will be available for sale on Amazon and through Createspace. This should be complete by the end of the month.
Since this is a self-published book, I retain all the rights, and I may still be able to interest a major publisher. In the meantime, I plan to use the blog and the bubble blog community to market the book.
What really made me change my mind about self-publication was when I investigated the deals on royalties available through Createspace and compared them to what I would have made with the other publisher. No matter who publishes the book, it is going to sell through the blog and the bubble blog community. What a traditional publisher brings to the deal is the marketing and distribution lines to get it in other locations. The small publisher I was looking at wasn't going to do anything more than I was going to do myself, and I was going to have to give them 80% of the net. They were not committed to marketing the book in a way that was going to sell 5 times as many copies, so it all seemed rather pointless.
The Print-On-Demand publication service I am going to use is ideal for non-fiction books with a specific audience like The Great Housing Bubble. If I were one of the million dreamers trying to peddle my children's book or fiction novel, it would be a waste of time, but with the exposure of the blog and the interest in the bubble blog community, this kind of publication makes sense and it can be successful. Also, since there are no set-up costs, and since I can get a large number of wholesale copies, this one seems like a no-brainer.
I still plan to circulate the book to various publishers despite the fact they say they do not want unsolicited manuscripts (John Talbot, the author of several books on the real estate bubble, told me in an email to ignore this and send them the book anyway). I would still like to get picked up by a major publisher, but if circulating it around the bubble blog community is all that happens, I am OK with that.
I will notify everyone when the book becomes available on Amazon. I would greatly appreciate it if the IHB community would go fill the reviews section with positive comments.
BTW, you will all know my real name very soon...
I want to give everyone an update on the book. It will be out very soon.
I have learned a lot about the publishing business over the last several months. It is still very difficult to get picked up by a major publisher, and I did not manage to do it. There are scores of smaller publishers, and I was ready to turn over my book to one of them. I finished the final draft of the manuscript with the help of several contributors, and I sent the entire package along with a contract off to the publisher on August 24. I heard nothing. I resent it a week later. I heard nothing. I contacted them a third time last week, and I heard nothing. This motivated me to do some more research and see what was going on and what were my options.
As I researched options for self-publication, I came across some negative reviews of the publisher I was trying to give my book to. I came across some well-written blog posts on what to look for in a publisher and what to look out for. There were a number of additional red flags that came up. For the lack of communication and many other reasons, I am dumping that publisher. Fate has prevented me from making a huge mistake.
I realize now that I had been too quick to dismiss the idea of self-publication. I am going to print the book through Createspace, and distribute it through Amazon. As soon as I finish making the necessary layout changes, I am going to upload the PDF, get and approve a proof, and then it will be available for sale on Amazon and through Createspace. This should be complete by the end of the month.
Since this is a self-published book, I retain all the rights, and I may still be able to interest a major publisher. In the meantime, I plan to use the blog and the bubble blog community to market the book.
What really made me change my mind about self-publication was when I investigated the deals on royalties available through Createspace and compared them to what I would have made with the other publisher. No matter who publishes the book, it is going to sell through the blog and the bubble blog community. What a traditional publisher brings to the deal is the marketing and distribution lines to get it in other locations. The small publisher I was looking at wasn't going to do anything more than I was going to do myself, and I was going to have to give them 80% of the net. They were not committed to marketing the book in a way that was going to sell 5 times as many copies, so it all seemed rather pointless.
The Print-On-Demand publication service I am going to use is ideal for non-fiction books with a specific audience like The Great Housing Bubble. If I were one of the million dreamers trying to peddle my children's book or fiction novel, it would be a waste of time, but with the exposure of the blog and the interest in the bubble blog community, this kind of publication makes sense and it can be successful. Also, since there are no set-up costs, and since I can get a large number of wholesale copies, this one seems like a no-brainer.
I still plan to circulate the book to various publishers despite the fact they say they do not want unsolicited manuscripts (John Talbot, the author of several books on the real estate bubble, told me in an email to ignore this and send them the book anyway). I would still like to get picked up by a major publisher, but if circulating it around the bubble blog community is all that happens, I am OK with that.
I will notify everyone when the book becomes available on Amazon. I would greatly appreciate it if the IHB community would go fill the reviews section with positive comments.
BTW, you will all know my real name very soon...
