Hello Dude:

First of all I'm not an expert in the sense that I have a lot of experience, so I'll speak of what I do know, or think I know.

One time I wrote William Buhlman and asked him about this, and he said that if you don't have an agent, publishers won't even consider you. I read an article by Buhlman's agent (I can't remember his name), and he said the so called slush piles are even less reliable than some people claim. Or in other words, if you don't have an agent, good luck in getting a publisher to look at your book.

I don't know if Vicky's experience contradicts what I just wrote.

Hampton Roads publishing, the company Bruce Moen published through, seems to be an exception. If you look at their site, it explains how to submit a proposal. There might be other publishers who operate in a similar way.

When it comes to non-fiction, the usual way to do things is to submit a proposal of the book you want to write, find a publisher that is interested, and then write the book.

This approach didn't work for me because I wanted to write what I wrote regardless of what publishers want. I doubt that what I wrote is what publishers are interested in, they consider factors such as what they believe will sell. Going by what I read, the publishing industry is having a tough time financially, so they are more likely than ever to consider monetary factors before anything else.

Quite obviously self publishing doesn't require a publisher's approval, is much quicker, you have control, you get a bigger cut; but on the other hand, it is hard to get a book into a book store if you self publish. Some people find a way, such as David Icke.

It is important to add that I checked on the internet to see what people say about companies that print to order for self published books, and some people found that some companies don't tell the authors about all of the books that are sold. The companies keep all of the money for themselves.

I decided to not try Hampton Roads publishing because going by the messages I received something big is going to happen this October, and even if Hampton Roads were interested in my book, they probably wouldn't be able to publish until after October, and my book might become a mute point by then.

The October factor combined with how self published books usually don't sell too well, led me to decide to offer my book for free on an internet site. Not that having the site seems to help, when I did key word searches pages and pages of sites appeared before my site.

Type in "self publishing" on youtube. There's a guy from Ireland who gives a pretty good talk about it. I'd provide the link except that I can't do so while at work.

Hi Dude,
I've sent you a PM with a few tips for you that I've run across.
Bob

Interesting publishing info, Recoverer.

Thanks for sharing it.

Where do you suppose electronic books fit into that games plan?

Bets

You're welcome Dude and Betson.

I haven't considered and researched the electronic dowload factor enough to know anything definite.

I believe Vicky's book would be a good book for a skeptic to read, because it is clear that she isn't a fraud who made up stories for the sake of money, fame, whatever; and that she experienced more than a bunch of hallucinations. A skeptic would have to really spin to deny that Vicky provides experience based examples as to how there is more to this world than the physical.

Change of subject...I've seen one of Bruce's books in a chain bookstore only one time (his Afterlife knowledge handbook). This demonstrates that publishers can't guarantee that a book will end up in a bookstore. Therefore, if you have a small niche market, it might be better to self publish. This is especially so because your book might end up in limbo if a publisher can't get it in a store. You can do Amazon.com without the help of a publisher, and give them a smaller percentage. To me it doesn't make sense to give them 55% as some people do.

When it comes to getting your book in a new age bookstore, that might be another matter. I've seen a few copies of Bruce's books in new age book stores.

Vicky

Thank you soo much for that link!  I can't believe how cheap it is to self publish through them!  What I like most is I can order ten books and it will cost just as cheap per book as ordering 200.  Good stuff.  Recoverer, have you checked it out yet?

Dude:

I've been really busy lately and haven't had time to check it out in detail.  It seems as if the company is owned by Amazon.

I Am Dude wrote on Sep 23^rd, 2010 at 1:54pm: