Traditional Literary Standards Swept Aside by Publish on Demand - Part II
Writers tend to be loners but they are generally a compassionate lot. Most do not have a background in business. Imagination is their stock and trade. Perhaps they are more trusting than they should be. They are working in a field that is considered art, after all, and art is good. It would only follow then that all the folks working in the field are good and are endeavoring to promote the arts. But it just is not so. Vendors are motivated by financial success. Most are not accountable for their performance or the results that they may promote as possible. It would seem reasonable, for example, that a publisher would return a manuscript that was badly in need of proofreading because of the errors in it. None do. Publicists rarely turn down an author because the work they are being asked to promote is inferior.
Some may promote the book without ever reading it themselves. Instead, they caution writer clients against seeking immediate results, but their admonitions are usually couched in optimistic allusions as to what is possible in time—usually months after the contract with the client has expired and the client has no recourse. Seminar and workshop sponsors rarely pretest those seeking admission to determine if those all bring in an aptitude for the subject being taught. Writers attending classes, either in person or online, usually find out that the format is also a forum for hawking other products and services—products and services that are supposed to make a difference in a writer’s career and are available for a fee. Every vendor benefits from the widely recognized fact that success is achieved only when a long list of variables turn up in support of the writer’s effort—a measure of good luck perhaps most important among them. Vendors know there are no guarantees, and they bask in the light of that fact.
Publish on Demand Tips
There are, of course, dedicated professionals in all the areas related to publishing who offer a quality service. The only way to find them in the crowd is to set the cherished manuscript aside for a few weeks, get online, and read as much as possible about the POD industry, the vendors serving it, and what other writers are reporting based upon their own experience. A few attempts at consolidating information on the vendors have been made. Anyone considering entry into publishing should check in with the Association of Authors’ Representatives, http://aaronline.org/, Preditors and Editors, http://pred-ed.com/, and several groups available on linkedin, http://www.linkedin.com.
If you have enjoyed reading this article, I invite you to visit my web site http://jjhohn.com/about-the-book/ and read the reviews of my novel, Deadly Portfolio: A Killing in Hedge Funds. Thank you.