CGW Publishing's New Book Answers Author's Questions About Today's Publishing Industry
CGW Publishing's new book, Write For You, helps new authors to understand the increasingly complex publishing world. More and more people are turning to publishing to capture knowledge and expertise, using a book to build business credibility. But how can authors get their books to market without being ripped off by publishers who charge outrageous set up fees?
Birmingham, United Kingdom, February 16, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Christopher Greenaway and Amelia Hartley of CGW Publishing have spoken out against some of the publishers who exploit authors with high set up fees and restrictive contracts. According to the authors, "In the past ten years, the publishing industry has changed beyond recognition."
Greenaway says, "Book production used to be something that only the major publishing houses could afford. They took the commercial risk of printing tens of thousands of copies of a book and in return, they paid the author the most meagre of royalties. However, their marketing strength and control of the market meant that well promoted fiction books sell in the tens or hundreds of thousands and the author makes enough money for it all to be worthwhile."
The new book outlines how this made the established publishers extremely risk averse. If an author had a number one record, a sports career or a TV series, they were guaranteed a publishing deal while authors who weren't already in the public eye would spend years of rejection from one publisher after another.
Some publishing houses, known as 'vanity publishers' would always take a book, and charge the author the full costs of setting up an expensive offset print run. If the author's goal was to see their book on the coffee table, this used to be the only option.
Today, Print On Demand has turned the industry upside down. Authors can publish their own books through 'self publishing' channels, or they can turn to a growing number of small publishers who offer them editing, cover design, ISBN registration and marketing services.
Some automated services offer the author no assistance at all, and so the author has to learn all about file formatting, cover design and print setup. The setup costs are reasonable, but the time and effort it takes to get your book to a high standard of production is beyond some author's capabilities or desires.
A number of publishers have entered the market to solve this problem. They will take an author's manuscript, format it, give the author a number of stock cover designs to choose from, set up an ISBN record and guide the author through the entire process.
Greenaway explains, "Authors can easily get their books into print, so what's the catch? The catch is that they have to pay up to $8,000 for this service."
"At one British rip off publisher, the minimum, 'print only' package costs £795, giving the author a stock cover design. But what if the author needs help in other areas? A cover design of their own? £99. A marketing kit? £219. A fast turnaround of only 2 to 3 months? £399. Press release? £559. Social media profile? £699." says Hartley, adding, "We were recently contacted by an author who has already published a book in the US, because his publisher charged him $4000 the first time round. They apparently give the author $20,000 worth of services for only $4,000. And it must be worth every cent because their logo is a coat of arms."
Greenaway believes that these publishers are exploiting the technological changes in the publishing industry for their own benefit rather than passing those benefits on to authors; "How can they do this? Simply by letting their authors believe that this is the only option. In the past, these would be the 'vanity publishers'. They will take any book and pass on all the commercial risk – plus a very healthy profit – to the author. But without the heavyweight marketing of the major publishers, who own the shelf space in the High Street book stores, a new book is unlikely to sell in high volumes. Therefore an an author is very unlikely to recoup the cost of book production through book sales alone."
In Write For You, Greenaway and Hartley outline what an author can do.
The way to profit from a book is to use it to capture intellectual property, sold as a unit in itself, or to promote and build credibility in a service business.
Hartley gives an example; "Consider an author who has been a corporate manager for many years, and wants to start a service business coaching managers. By writing a book on the subject, the author demonstrate far more authority and credibility than all of their brochures and testimonials put together. It's something that they can use to open doors to conferences, corporate opportunities and of course exposure in the business press."
Greenaway and Hartley, the founders of CGW Publishing, built a successful management consultancy and established an enviable reputation in a niche training area by writing and publishing five books, and they now help other authors to achieve the same results.
CGW Publishing have published a book which guides authors through the publishing process. Priced at just £7, Write For You, ISBN 978-0-9565358-3-2, is available from all good book stores.
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Greenaway says, "Book production used to be something that only the major publishing houses could afford. They took the commercial risk of printing tens of thousands of copies of a book and in return, they paid the author the most meagre of royalties. However, their marketing strength and control of the market meant that well promoted fiction books sell in the tens or hundreds of thousands and the author makes enough money for it all to be worthwhile."
The new book outlines how this made the established publishers extremely risk averse. If an author had a number one record, a sports career or a TV series, they were guaranteed a publishing deal while authors who weren't already in the public eye would spend years of rejection from one publisher after another.
Some publishing houses, known as 'vanity publishers' would always take a book, and charge the author the full costs of setting up an expensive offset print run. If the author's goal was to see their book on the coffee table, this used to be the only option.
Today, Print On Demand has turned the industry upside down. Authors can publish their own books through 'self publishing' channels, or they can turn to a growing number of small publishers who offer them editing, cover design, ISBN registration and marketing services.
Some automated services offer the author no assistance at all, and so the author has to learn all about file formatting, cover design and print setup. The setup costs are reasonable, but the time and effort it takes to get your book to a high standard of production is beyond some author's capabilities or desires.
A number of publishers have entered the market to solve this problem. They will take an author's manuscript, format it, give the author a number of stock cover designs to choose from, set up an ISBN record and guide the author through the entire process.
Greenaway explains, "Authors can easily get their books into print, so what's the catch? The catch is that they have to pay up to $8,000 for this service."
"At one British rip off publisher, the minimum, 'print only' package costs £795, giving the author a stock cover design. But what if the author needs help in other areas? A cover design of their own? £99. A marketing kit? £219. A fast turnaround of only 2 to 3 months? £399. Press release? £559. Social media profile? £699." says Hartley, adding, "We were recently contacted by an author who has already published a book in the US, because his publisher charged him $4000 the first time round. They apparently give the author $20,000 worth of services for only $4,000. And it must be worth every cent because their logo is a coat of arms."
Greenaway believes that these publishers are exploiting the technological changes in the publishing industry for their own benefit rather than passing those benefits on to authors; "How can they do this? Simply by letting their authors believe that this is the only option. In the past, these would be the 'vanity publishers'. They will take any book and pass on all the commercial risk – plus a very healthy profit – to the author. But without the heavyweight marketing of the major publishers, who own the shelf space in the High Street book stores, a new book is unlikely to sell in high volumes. Therefore an an author is very unlikely to recoup the cost of book production through book sales alone."
In Write For You, Greenaway and Hartley outline what an author can do.
The way to profit from a book is to use it to capture intellectual property, sold as a unit in itself, or to promote and build credibility in a service business.
Hartley gives an example; "Consider an author who has been a corporate manager for many years, and wants to start a service business coaching managers. By writing a book on the subject, the author demonstrate far more authority and credibility than all of their brochures and testimonials put together. It's something that they can use to open doors to conferences, corporate opportunities and of course exposure in the business press."
Greenaway and Hartley, the founders of CGW Publishing, built a successful management consultancy and established an enviable reputation in a niche training area by writing and publishing five books, and they now help other authors to achieve the same results.
CGW Publishing have published a book which guides authors through the publishing process. Priced at just £7, Write For You, ISBN 978-0-9565358-3-2, is available from all good book stores.
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CGW Publishing
Christopher Greenaway
44 7794 470305
www.cgwpublishing.com
Christopher Greenaway
44 7794 470305
www.cgwpublishing.com
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