A Better Choice for Non-Fiction Authors?

I was reluctant to put this here – in case it was seen as a blatant plug for our publishing firm – but I believe that if you’re reading this then you need to be fully aware of ALL your options before making a decision. Not only that but it may just save you a few thousand pounds (or dollars) or act as inspiration for a vanity press to do the right thing and offer real value!

My own publishing company (Lean Marketing Press) has been designed to keep all the good stuff from mainstream publishing while fixing all problems. Since we started in 2003 we’ve been successful in…

• Slashing production times from 1-36 months to 1-2 months (6 weeks is now typical for many projects).
• Reducing inefficiencies in overhead and up-front costs – we always start books using Print on Demand technology and only consider offset print once the market is proven.
• Paying authors a decent cut of the profit – by increasing efficiencies we are able to start out paying 20% royalties which goes up to 40% (and even 50%) when agreed-upon sales milestones are met.
• Paying authors every 3 months – we do this by negotiating terms aggressively with retailers by not being reliant on them for sales – which has so far enabled us to completely eliminate returns risk completely.
• Providing a solid marketing training platform and hands-on promotion  for all authors through granting them free access to Publishing Academy and systemising important promotional jobs like websites, press releases, and getting reviews.
• Supporting all our authors by focusing on reducing 80% of the marketing and publishing waste and focusing on the 20% that works. We still work hardest for the authors that work hardest for themselves though – it’s a joint effort!

The only downside we still share with other mainstream publishers is that we don’t take on just any old book. We have very specific marketing goals and requirements from our authors and we’re currently only accepting non-fiction. That said – we’re much leaner so we are less risk averse – and currently the success rate of proposals is around 20% (it used to be less than 4%) – so you’ve probably got a better chance with us than anyone else.

What about Lulu, CreateSpace, BookSurge and LightningSource?

I discuss the merits of using POD (Print On Demand) companies like LightningSource, Lulu, CreateSpace and BookSurge  here…

All of these companies provide a low-risk way to self-publish, test the market and get your books distributed.

They are printers (although Lulu uses LightningSource for some printing) and not publishers however so it’s important not to confuse Print on Demand service providers (who provide a very useful and specific service) with vanity publishers (who simply get in the way and charge you for the privilege).

Just for the record – up until recently I’d have had no hesitation in saying go straight to LightningSource (this company is used to print and distribute the books of almost all modern vanity presses) but it’s no longer a clear cut choice and the right choice will change depending on your expectations, goals and circumstances.