Author! Author! - online publishing services - Brief Article

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, Sept, 2001 by Erin Burt

TRENDS | How to PUBLISH YOUR BOOK on the Web even your name isn't Grisham or Grafton.

WHEN retired judge Ralph Fertig fulfilled his lifelong dream of writing a historical novel, he faced a problem common to most writers: No publisher would give him the time of day. Seven months and 40 rejection letters later, Love and Liberation is in print, thanks to iUniverse.com.

Whether you aspire to be the next Stephen King or just want a few copies of your personal memoirs or genealogical research, you can submit your manuscript to a growing number of online publishing services, such as iUniverse, Xlibris.com and 1stBooks.com--Internet versions of the vanity press, only better. For a price, they will format your book, design a cover, digitally store it, and make it available for sale in paperback, hardcover and e-book formats on their Web sites and at other online booksellers, including Amazon.com, Borders.com and BarnesandNoble.com. When an order is received, a copy is printed and shipped within a few days.

You earn royalties of up to 25% of each copy sold (more than many traditional publishers offer), and maintain the right to publish elsewhere. Figure on paying at least $99 to publish an already-edited manuscript with no illustrations, and $1,600 for a package that includes graphics, tables, footnotes and a more sophisticated design.

Last December, Fertig paid $130 to publish his book, plus $245 for the rights to illustrations. By March, Love and Liberation was available for purchase, and within three weeks it had sold 600 copies. In June, the book hit number four on the Los Angeles Times paperback bestseller list.

Fertig's success isn't typical. Print-on-demand services usually don't promote your book, so Fertig hired a publicist for $500 a month to arrange book signings, readings and other appearances in southern California. Most newspapers and magazines won't review print-on-demand books, and your great American novel is not shelved in bookstores: Customers must order it.