Raise Your Hand If Youd Consider Giving Up The Rights To Your Book Forever

If Random House pulls up to your house with a U-haul filled with millions and wants to buy your book, maybe you'd consider giving up the rights forever. But, let's come back to the real world. In the real world, many authors find that the best way to launch a writing career is to essentially self-publish by using a print-on-demand (POD) publisher.

The problem is that the POD buffet is filled with the equivalent of healthy choices (publishers who charge low or no publishing fees and allow authors to terminate the contracts at anytime) and unhealthy choices (publishers that charge exorbitant upfront fees and lock authors into contracts for years). Often the writer's eyes are bigger than her stomach ? she makes a move for the first publisher who tells her that her work is great.

Signing a POD contract impulsively is always a mistake. Unless you are trained as a lawyer, deciphering a POD contract can be tricky since many POD publishers have paid some hefty legal fees to have attorneys sculpt contracts that could easily crush an unsuspecting author.

If you can't afford to hire a lawyer to review your POD contract you need to arm yourself with some knowledge before signing one. In my book, The Fine Print (www.book-publishers-compared.com), I take the legalese commonly found in most POD contracts and explain it in terms that will actually make sense. I also tell you the types of clauses in a POD contract that should cause you to run away from a publisher as quickly as possible.

If you don't want or can't purchase The Fine Print, here are three tips that may help you avoid a bad publishing experience.

1. Never pay more than $500 in up front POD publishing fees.

The most reputable POD publishers charge between $300-$500 for the publishing package which should always include customized cover art, formatting, placement of your book on Amazon, etc.; and ISBN number, bar code, and a sales page on the publisher's website. If you are paying more and not getting at least the services mentioned above, you are getting taken.

2. Only Sign a Contract That You Can Terminate When You Want

The best contracts are those you can terminate at any time (usually by giving 30-90 days notice). Some POD publishers that don't charge or charge very little for their services require a longer commitment on your end (1-2 years) before you can terminate. Because they have money invested in you this is understandable. Never sign a POD contract that you can't get out of easily. Some POD publishers require that you give them the rights to your book for the term of the copyright. When you see this run fast! The term of the copyright is for the life of the author, plus another 70 years ? basically forever.

3. If the Publisher offers less than 30% Royalties on the Gross Sale Price Find Another Publisher

The royalties paid should, at a minimum, be 30% of the sales prices of each book. Be wary of contracts that give you some high percentage of the net sales price. This is where fuzzy math can creep in and take away almost all your profits.

The factors you should use to determine whether or not the proposed royalty is acceptable are:

? Whether it is based on the gross or net sales amount (and if based on the net sales amount, the calculation must be on hard numbers (production costs, credit card processing fees, etc.) and not vague items ("administrative costs", etc.);

? The actual production cost of the book (Production costs on POD books should be between $3.50 and $5.50. Anything higher than that and you can bet that the publisher is padding this amount to lower your actual royalty);

? The size of the publisher's distribution network and traffic to the publisher's online store (the more places your books are for sale, the more chance people have to find them); and

? Marketing efforts the publisher engages to inform readers of your book (if a publisher actually spends money to help sell your book, a lower royalty is not out of line).

? Whether the publisher treats itself like a third-party retailer (e.g. Amazon.com) and gives itself a trade discount to sell you book (For example, for a $15 book, Amazon gets $7.50 for each book sold, then the remaining $7.50 is divided between the author and publisher based the royalty agreement. Some publishers give themselves a trade discount so in effect they end up making 80% of each sale for a book that you paid them to publish!)

Again, these are just the basics of the basics, but they provide the building blocks of the foundation of knowledge you will need to have before you sign a POD publishing contract.

Mark Levine is the author of The Fine Print (http://www.book-publishers-compared.com), which dissects, analyzes and ranks the publishing contracts and services of 74 of the top POD publishers. He is also the president of Click Industries which provides business incorporation services (http://www.clickandinc.com) and copyright registration services (http://www.clickandcopyright.com)

---

Top 5 Book Selling Tips

TIP # 1Online reviews are paramount in importance when it... Read More

Get Rich Writing Fiction

Some of us write simply because we can't not write.... Read More

Distribute Your Self-Published Book - Part 1

Where is your book now? With a distributor? In a... Read More

How To Market A Suspense Novel In An Online Multimedia Format

If you haven't heard of the author C.F. Jackson or... Read More

Increase Book Sales: When a Book is No Longer Just a Book for Sale

Do you have books sitting in your garage that you... Read More

Top Ten Ways To Prepare for Your Online Book Marketing Success

Still marketing your book through press releases, networking groups, and... Read More

Book Marketing 101

Francine Silverman. Book Marketing from A-Z (InfinityPublishing.com, 2005). Trade paperback.... Read More

The Booklet Journey Opening a New World

1991 was a pivotal year in my life. My professional... Read More

19 Ways to Secure Non-Returnable Book Sales and Sell More Books

Surprisingly, book stores are not always your greatest source of... Read More

Five Secrets of Winning Book Proposals

Working in the publishing industry comes with a high expectation,... Read More

Looking to Sell Your Book for a Good Price?

Many self-publishing authors plan on eventually selling their book to... Read More

Why Write Articles to Promote your Book?

Reach 15,000 to 100,000 targeted buyers every week Online. That's... Read More

Sell Your Book with Pennies

Imagine you share a huge penny... Read More

Book Titles that Make Big Bucks

Do you know how readers decide to buy a book?... Read More

Book Publishing Without Pain

When I meet an author with a great book concept,... Read More

How To Promote A Book

Nowadays it's no longer a matter of whether or not... Read More

How to Schedule a Book Signing

How would you like to sell more copies of your... Read More

Sell Your Book At Book Fairs, Festivals & Trade Shows

Play a bigger game with your book sales by expanding... Read More

Increase Book Sales: At Book Fairs, Festivals and Trade Shows

Play a bigger game with your book sales by expanding... Read More

Book Signing: Fun and Profit for Writers and Readers

Have you ever walked into a bookstore when an author... Read More

Best Sellers Aren?t Written ? They?re Made - It?s All About Promotion

Writing a book is becoming more and more of a... Read More

Self Publishing Success Starts With Marketing

Self-publishing is not for the faint of heart. The publication... Read More

Plays Well With Others to Become an Instant Author

You wrote a tips booklet. Maybe more than one. Oh... Read More

Buzz-Based Book Marketing

Once upon a time, people went to bookstores when they... Read More

Spend a Little Time, Get Free Books Online

There's just something so gratifying about owning your own books... Read More

4 Questions to Answer Before Contacting a Book Agent

Obtaining agency representation is your first step toward getting profitably... Read More

Navigating the Amazon Sales Ranking

First, the disclaimers: Since the algorithm Amazon uses to generate... Read More

Online Book Promotion Beats Traditional Seven to One - Part 1

While traditional marketing can work for the book author or... Read More

Dont Clone your Book or Business Marketing

Remember that the miracle of cloning sheep has its drawbacks.... Read More

Extend Your Books Life With a Sales Letter

Authors, publishers and business owners are great at getting their... Read More

Media Events for Book Promotion

"How do I set up a media event?" -- As... Read More

Book Marketing 101- Book Publicity for Authors -- Creating a Book Publicity Campaign

Publicity is that elusive thing that can make or break... Read More

Publishing Your Book?What Way is Best For You? - Part 2

Your print or ebook is nearly finished. You wonder if... Read More