Why can’t I make money with a POD Publisher? I thought it was appropriate that I write the answer to this on April 1 because this industry represents one of the largest April fool’s joke on the Internet. As potentially successful as the POD publisher’s salesperson or website makes it appear, the numbers just don’t add up.

A recent visit to the IUniverse website revealed Amy Fisher as their most recent success story but is Amy Fisher being handled like all other IUniverse customers as it appears?

When was the last time something made your blood boil? Mine hit the 100 degree Celsius point when an author approached us for marketing support for his new series of mystery stories. He had just been accepted by a publisher, his book was being edited and it was due for publication in September or October.

It is said if you tell a lie large enough, the public will accept it as the truth. Once accepted, that “lie” becomes the basis on which everything else is judged, making even more lies seem like the truth. “You retain full ownership”… the vanity/subsidy press “Big Lie”.

A reader from last month’s “Ask Ron” column states, “I don’t believe that it was fair of you, in last month’s article, to talk about the average number of books per author sold by 1st Books (77 per title). The average Amway dealer only makes $69 per month and there are some Amway dealers who are millionaires. ”
I know that this isn’t exactly a question but I couldn’t have dreamed up a better example to illustrate exactly what is wrong with vanity presses like 1st Books.

We run into many new “publishers” these days. With the proliferation of digital printing technologies and Print-On-Demand (POD), many new companies have sprouted up (anyone remember SPROUT?) These companies offer many different combinations of book creation services that can confound and trap an eager writer.

Actually, the answer to both questions is pretty easy. If you submit your manuscript to a “Publisher,” receive an acceptance letter, a royalty contract and a promise of a check as a royalty advance upon signing the contract, you are dealing with a publisher and are, in truth, being published.