Marco

[Jude Hardin]

In a former life, I tended bar at a Mexican restaurant. It was a hole-in-the-wall dump of a place, a converted Frisch’s Big Boy with a few colorful blankets and sombreros and piñatas tacked to the walls for “atmosphere.” The food was authentic, though, and we always got good reviews in the newspaper.

I started each shift by cutting dozens of limes into wheels for garnishes, mixing five-gallon tanks of margaritas, and generally prepping the bar for what we called “Fiesta Hour.”

Between 2PM and 7PM, you could buy jumbo margaritas and well drinks for half-price, and you could eat fresh tortilla chips and homemade salsa for free. In theory, the cheap drinks and free snacks were supposed to stimulate customers’ appetites. In theory, they would then order a plate of rellenos or enchiladas or pollo con salsa verde. In practice, however, quite a few patrons regularly came in strictly for the cut-rate tequila buzz and comp munchies.

One of those patrons was a guy named Marco.

Mid-thirties, tall and thin, stringy blond hair, big Adam’s apple, still lived with his parents.

He always ordered multiple margaritas on the rocks (light on the ice; he got more booze that way), multiple baskets of chips, and multiple tubs of hot and mild salsa. He never bought anything off the menu, and he never tipped me a dime.

But those weren't the main reasons I dreaded seeing him.

You see, Marco was a self-proclaimed perfumier. He had a “laboratory” set up in his basement, where he distilled oils and essences, spices and extracts--all sorts of exotic and volatile concoctions designed to titillate the human olfactory nerve. Drop-by-drop, Mad Scientist Marco filled tiny glass vials with these precious potions of his, and then mounted the vials in a briefcase for display. Sometimes he brought the briefcase to the bar with him.

There was only one problem with Marco’s fragrances: they didn’t smell very good. In fact, they stunk.

That’s not just my opinion. Everybody who ever smelled Marco’s products said they stunk. Popping the cork on one of his bottles was like unleashing the hounds of perfume hell. Imagine an elevator full of blue-haired, lipstick-toothed octogenarians, whose senses of smell died sometime during the Carter administration. Add a couple of funeral sprays, some rubbing alcohol, and maybe a dash of Pine Sol. Shake well.

Oh, he occasionally sold one of those vile vials, to a kindly cocktail server or a nearby customer who took pity on him. I even bought a bottle one time, only to pitch it in the dumpster on my way home.

Unfortunately, our patronage only encouraged him. He kept making more of that kerosene cologne, kept trying to hawk it during Fiesta Hour. Eventually, the restaurant owner had a talk with him. Marco didn’t come in very often after that.

Marco’s dream was to be a famous perfume designer. The way I see it, he went about it all wrong.

Shouldn’t you know a little bit about chemistry? Shouldn't you be aware of how various substances might interact with human glandular secretions? Shouldn’t you maybe spend some time in Paris or New York or somewhere studying with masters of the trade? Shouldn’t you analyze popular scents on a molecular level to see just what it is about them that turns people on?

Marco didn’t do any of that. Marco bought some smelly stuff through the mail, pumped it into amateurish-looking containers, tried to sell it from a briefcase at the cantina.

And he wanted to call himself a perfumier.

Sorry, Marco, but you have to earn that title.

Just as, in my opinion, writers have to earn the title of published author.

Anyone who can scratch out words on a page can have those words printed and bound and put up for sale on sites like Amazon. To me, that type of publishing is tantamount to bottling perfume from a basement lab and selling it from a briefcase in a bar.

In other words, it’s very likely that the end product will stink.

I was at a writer’s conference one time, outside smoking a cigarette, when a fellow attendee strolled up and asked for a light.

“What kind of stuff do you write?” he asked.

“Hardboiled. I’m working on a private eye novel.”

“Anything published yet?”

“Not yet. I’m still looking for an agent. How ‘bout you?”

“Yeah, I have a book out.”

“Really? Who’s the publisher?”

He named a certain POD outfit. "Here, let me give you one of my cards...”

He handed me a business card and walked away. He avoided me for the duration of the conference, preferring instead to hang around with other “published authors.” I felt like grabbing him by the collar and shouting you’re not published either, you punk, but of course I didn’t. Anyway, I doubt my harsh words would have penetrated his cloud of arrogance.

There are no shortcuts to becoming a published author. You have to earn the title by landing a contract with a legitimate publisher, and that can take years of hard work.

Some folks would rather throw up a lab in the basement and start hawking product right away (throw up and hawk being the key words there).

That’s their choice, I suppose, but I really don’t see the point.

[Dana King]

I'm not taking Marc's comment as personal criticism; I readliy admit my encyclopedic lack of knowledge about the publishing industry.

That being said, please don't take this as a personal criticism. To say "Most of you are very wrong about how the publishing industry works. There are many intricacies that you are missing entirely and truths that you are misconstruing." doesn't tell us much. Please provide some specifics that can move the discussion along. Where are most of us wrong, and how are we wrong?

Thanks.

[John Dishon]

Yes, I would like some specifics too. It would give the argument credibility.

[Marc]

The weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal last week had a great article about the instability traditional publishing is facing. There are books that examine the differences between traditional publishing and self-publishing. The founding CEO co-wrote a book called get published, iUniverse gives away free electronic copies of this book. We could discuss and debate the state of publishing for weeks. Here are some pieces you are missing that should make the conversation more interesting:

- iUniverse uses the same freelance editors that the traditional 'New York Publishers' use. Most are freelancers whom we maintain on retainer. Our head of editing worked in traditional publishing for years and takes advantage of those contacts to help our authors. See bios of the iUniverse executive team at http://www.iuniverse.com/about/iuniverse-team/executive-bios.aspx

- Self-Publishers give everyone a chance. Many people might not deserve a chance based on traditional standards, but the important part is how the book sells. Without distribution and a publisher behind them, most authors would never know if they have a chance or not. iUniverse gives everyone a chance and then focuses on particular authors who have editorially sound, or financially rewarding, books. Read more about iUniverse's Rising Star program for our best titles at http://www.iuniverse.com/why-iuniverse/programs-awards/rising-star..... Despite having a humble description on the website, Rising Star titles get treated like traditionally published authors. Remember, we are accepting thousands of titles every month. Many will be bad, we are trying to find the good ones.

- Self-published authors (with iUniverse at least) are not second class. Many make substantial fortunes because of our services. Printers such as Lulu might have a different business model but I can tell you that if we didn't sell any books, we would be out of business. We are far from out of business and its because our authors sell books.

-Most importantly, in my opinion, is the proof. Here are some of our recent authors for you to research... Terry Fallis, won the Stephen Leacock award and was picked up by a traditional publisher. Lucille Campilongo was on the Today Show a few weeks ago. Elle Newmark signed with Simon & Schuster for a $2,000,000 advance. Laurie Notaro made it to #10 on the New York Times Best Seller List. Dominic Carter was featured in Oprah magazine in October. These are not isolated incidents. We support our authors. We can turn good books into great books and help authors achieve their goals, whatever they may be.

[John McFetridge]

Okay, so in another thead w're talking about a Crimespace anthology - would iUniverse be willing to offer us a deal?

[Marc]

I would, personally, see to it that a Crimespace anthology would get special treatment. Perhaps a special rate and some extra online marketing services to take advantage of the foothold you already have here. Take a look at what we do and feel free to contact my office at [phone]

[John Dishon]

But your rising star program is only available to those who choose one of the two high price packages. What about the author who goes with the lowest price package? What if his book is the best one?

[Marc]

The idea behind the lower level package is that it is for authors who aren't as interested in selling so many copies as they are in simply having a book published. Its not a package for people who have a great book and simply can't afford a higher level package. If the book is good and you have high hopes, we have a package for that... it just happens to cost more than the package designed for grandpa's memoirs.

That being said, we have had titles that we felt were great books and needed to be in Rising Star. They will be included. That doesn't happen a whole lot because books in the lower package don't automatically go through the review process to be considered. Our business, and profit, revolves around selling books. It doesn't do us any good to be sticklers about $500 if it is obvious that we are missing out on thousands by not getting it the right exposure.

[I. J. Parker]

Umm, I assume "freelance editor" refers to copy editors. Some of the big publishers do indeed use freelance copy editors (the folks who look for spelling and grammar errors), but the editors (the folks who rework a bookand see it through production) are in-house. Most traditionally published books have both. In fact, at Penguin even the copy editors are in-house.

[John McFetridge]

Yes, and it turns out it's very bad if your editor quits or gets laid off before your book comes out.

[Marc]

A "freelancer editor" is any type of editor who isn't an employee of the publisher. I'm not an expert on the editing procedures of the traditional publishers so I asked a co-worker here in editorial (with over 10 years experience with Penguin-Putnam) how that works. I showed him your post and asked for feedback.

His comment was that you are right in theory but wrong in the details. About 50% of their new titles are done in house and the rest are assigned to freelancers. This decision is based on the timeline, current workload, and any previous relationship the author has with a particular editor. The freelancers they use don't lean in any particular direction with regards to the type of edit they usually perform. It is just as likely for a traditional publisher to outsource copy editing as it is for them to outsource developmental editing. They have a staff of editors that can do any of the above (as do we) but still call on a carefully selected team of freelancers whom they keep on a retainer (as do we). The difference between our processes and theirs is VERY minimal. Hope this helps!

[Dana King]

A major difference between their process and yours is that a "major" publisher pays the editor after the contract has been signed; for POD, that's all on the author, and the publisher will publish without that extra edit.

Again, no disrespect to POD, which has great promise. It's just that, for now, there are layers of vetting that are missing.

[Marc]

Our freelance editors are on retainer with us. They are paid by us the same way they get paid by any other publisher. They are carefully selected and are at the top of their game... we do not hesitate to drop an editor whose quality is not above industry standards.

The author pays us and we take care of maintaining the payment to the editor. Honestly, the price the author pays is usually MUCH less than the editor's going rate. Its hard to compare though because most of the freelance editors we use do not offer their service independently, they work exclusively for publishers who can pay a retainer.

We will publish without additional editing, even if we recommend the edit. We won't, however, consider a book for any of our recognition programs unless the book is editorially sound. There is the piece that gets forgotten by most outside the self publishing industry. We publish books that go far but we also publish books that don't. Our aim is to give every author a chance. Some don't come out so great but many do. I don't think that is a reflection on the professionalism or skill of our team, its an accurate representation of authors. Some books are good, some... not so good. We'll take them all and run with the good ones.

I also want to make something clear in regards to our editorial process. Its not standard for the POD/Self-Publishing community. Its a unique approach that has been purposely set up to match the process and quality of the traditional publishing industry that our management and editors are familiar with. Every company is different, we happen to be on the higher end of self-publishing. There are plenty of other options out there that are less expensive and will gladly meet your expectations for a POD company.