Authors Access » Print On Demand (POD)

JC Simonds – How to Start a Publishing Company

Victor Volkman — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 01:52:31 +0000

On December 1st, 2011 Susan Violante and Tyler R. Tichelaar spoke with publisher and marketing guru Jacqueline Church (“JC”) Simonds. She is the co-owner of Beagle Bay, Inc, a book packaging and distribution company. Jacqueline is also the author of the historical novel Captain Mary, Buccaneer. We went back to basics for this episode and touched on all the fundamentals you need, including:

Self-Publishing = Entrepreneurship. Can you handle the business or do you need a partner?
Publishing is a $3 TRILLION a year, global business. Are you ready to compete?
Most new publishers are woefully lacking in knowledge about the book business.
Should you go for a “Doing Business As” (dba) or incorporate?
How many ISBNs should you buy – 1? 10? 1000
Understand the new business models of Print on Demand (POD) + distribution, eBooks, and offset printing.
Marketing = Sales. How do you plan to reach your reader/buyer in the first few months, and from then on?

Jacqueline Church Simonds

Jacqueline is a book shepherd, assisting self-publishers and start-up presses in launching their businesses. Much of her knowledge about publishing can be found at the Creative Minds Press site New Self-Publisher’s FAQIn Captain Mary, Buccaneer, Simonds has crafted an enduring tale that will satisfy readers with its swashbuckling action, dark intrigue, and torrid romance. The book is the result of Simonds’ extensive research into the pirate subculture of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries. From the tales of real women pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read who were tried for piracy in Spanishtown, Jamaica in 1721, Simonds has created a character who would be as at home on Wall Street as she is on the heaving deck of an 18th century brigantine. If you enjoy curling up in your favorite chair with a great adventure story, then this book is for you!

Captain Mary, Buccaneer

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Joel Friedlander – Going Past Traditional Publishing & Self-Publishing Instead

Victor Volkman — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 18:12:52 +0000

On August 3rd, 2011 Irene Watson and Victor R. Volkman spoke with book designer, blogger and publisher Joel Friedlander, proprietor of Marin Bookworks in San Rafael, California. Joel is the author of A Self-Publisher’s Companion: Expert Advice for Authors Who Want to Publish and came to share his wisdom from decades of involvement at every level of book production.He has owned businesses in graphic arts, design and book publishing. He was Production Director of Aperture Books, where he produced award-winning photography books. He founded Renaissance Press in northern California, a private publisher of hand-typeset and hand printed books. As the owner of Globe Press Books in Yorktown Heights, New York, he published books of memoirs and east-west spirituality.

Joel Friedlander

A self-published author himself, he now helps authors who decide to publish navigate the often confusing world of self-publishing. He is known for his carefully produced books, beautiful typography, and an ethical and personal approach to his work and his clients. His blog has become a popular gathering spot for authors, publishers and designers. You can find out more and read over 500 articles on book design, publishing, ebooks, book marketing and the life of the indie author by visiting his blog at www.theBookDesigner.com

A Self-Publisher’s Companion: Expert Advice for Authors Who Want to Publish

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Bill See – From Indie Musician to Indie Author: Every you need to know to DIY

Victor Volkman — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 12:08:04 +0000

On June 16th, Irene Watson and Victor R. Volkman spoke with legendary punk rocker Bill See about publishing and marketing his own memoir. Bill See was the lead singer for critically acclaimed Los Angeles indie rock band Divine Weeks before continuing on as a solo artist.He shared his D.I.Y. know-how from his band days now to promote and market his own book and covered several topics:

How the music industry was revolutionized and is still trying to adjust to the changes and speak to the theories and similarities to the literary world.
The pros and cons of self publishing vs. traditional publishing.
Marketing/promoting: Traditional media vs. underground, blogging and social media, etc.
Pros and cons of hiring a publicist as a self published author. What is money well spent in promotion.
Most important aspects of promotion before actually starting the campaign (i.e. title, keywords, metadata, keywords, social media, book trailers)

Bill See, from the band Divine Weeks

Bill See has just released his first book “33 Days: Touring In A Van. Sleeping On Floors. Chasing A Dream,” a memoir about breaking away from a turbulent upbringing and going on tour in a tiny van across the U.S. and Canada in the summer of 1987. Bill has a unique perspective having watched the music industry revolutionized by the internet, and with the advent of self publishing hitting the literary world, he sees a lot of similarities.

33 Days: Touring In A Van. Sleeping On Floors. Chasing A Dream

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Pete Masterson – Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Subsidy Publishing…

Victor Volkman — Thu, 28 May 2009 15:08:52 +0000

On May 21st, 2009, Irene Watson and Victor R. Volkman interviewed Pete Masterson, veteran book designer, publisher, and owner of Aeonix Publishing Group. We had a wide-ranging discussion of all things vanity press, subsidy publishing, co-publishing, and employing a “self-publishing” company. Key discussion points included:

The pros and cons of traditional large or medium sized commercial trade publishers.
The pros (very few) and cons (many many) of subsidy publishers (or “self-publishing companies” as they’re calling themselves these days).
Discuss the pros and cons of a do it yourself self-publishing process — with or without help from a book coach, packager, etc.

Pete Masterson is the author of Book Design and Production: A Guide for Authors and Publishers. He founded Aeonix Publishing Group in 1997 after having owned a print shop, managed a book oriented typesetting service doing work for large and medium sized publishers, and after managing the publications and graphic production contractor at NASA Ames Research Center.He is a publishing consultant, book designer, and cover designer — he is accepting a limited number of new clients. During his career he pioneered POD production for price list publications at Southern Pacific Railroad, and was an early participant with desk top publishing in a print shop setting. He has supervised production of more than 1000 publications. Currently, he is focusing on sales of his book and in sharing his publishing knowledge with the independent publishing community

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Ryan Johnson – POD Printing Books and Games

Victor Volkman — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:58:21 +0000

Hello and welcome to a special edition of Authors Access Live. This program was recorded in front of a live audience on November 9th 2008 at the 5th Annual Essence of Motown Literary Jam Weekend at the Southern Fires Restaurant in Detroit Michigan. This event was sponsored by the the Motown Writers Network. This talk features Ryan Johnson of the Guild of Blades Retail Group talking about POD Printing Books and Games. GOB is the only POD printer in the USA with walk-in service (as opposed to uploading your files to an impersonal web server) and features mixed (color and black-and-white pages) book printing as well as POD card deck printing, both of which are extremely rare in my experience.

The Guild of Blades Publishing Group is a Detroit area based adventure games and entertainment publishing company. Today the company is the publisher of a half dozen unique gaming brands and publishes and distributes more than 100 in print gaming SKUs. These games range from historical and fantasy board games, miniature games, role playing games and general strategy games. Its core brands include the Empires of History line of historical board games, Overlords: Fantast Battlescape Wargame line, Button Wars Tactical Spaceship Combat Game, Worlds of Heroes & Tyrants Fantasy Quest Board Game and Epic Adventure Role Playing Game and Heroes Forever Role Playing Game. The Guild of Blades is also the publisher of a growing catalog of electronic downloadable PDF games with brands such as Grunt 3rd Edition Fantasy Miniature Battles, Dark Realms Role Playing Universe, Risk Variants, G-spot Games’s adult humor products and e-product versions of select print games. More recent major expansion programs include the
Guild’s launch of the Empires of History Online Gaming Network, a growing network of turn based multi-player online strategy computer games plus the Guild of Blades Fiction Group

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