Thursday, September 16, 2010

Publishing


Who knows the answer?

So. I finished the manuscript at 4:30 am. My euphoria lasted all the way to Kinko's where it cost $26 to print one flippin' copy! (Nothing fancy, just 250 pages in a spiral binding.) I had envisioned myself sending ten or fifteen copies out to different publishers (who knows how many publishers there are?) and copies to friends and family who've said they want to read it. All twenty grandkids would get their own copy, of course.

Total fiction.

So now I've written the great American novel, and I can't afford to get it out of my computer. Does anyone have an answer to this publishing dilemma?

I did have my first reading. When my book club came tonight they tucked away their copies of Sarah's Key, and let me read a few passages of Son of a Gun. It was awesome! (Thanks ladies!)




10 comments:

kenju said...

Oh, that stinks!! Maybe you can find a small print shop someplace that will do it more cheaply. I know nothing of the process but I wish you good luck!

Christie said...

That is way lame. Why do simple things seem to cost the most?

Diane said...

I have a friend who is local who has had many books published. I can put you in touch with her if you want to pump her for ideas.

Grandma Kc said...

My son-in-law wrote a science fiction book and had it published through lulu.com. He was very pleased with the results and it was fairly reasonable. Worth checking out.

I can't wait to read the whole thing! ~Grandma Kc

The Grandmother Here said...

http://ymountainpress.com/

Oma, Check this out. I saw this at a big genealogy wingding at the Salt Palace. As I recall, they can keep your book on file and print them on demand as anyone asks to buy one.

Heffalump said...

I have a friend who is an author and she does blog tours when one of her books gets published. Rather than send the hosts of the tour a hard copy of her book, she sends it in PDF form. It is always laid out and arranged just as it would be if we were reading the print copy, but saves her having to print a bunch up.
You might think of doing something like that for family and friends and save the hard copy stuff for submissions. Or you might see if publishers will allow you to submit electronically.
Also, some publishers may take a submission of just a portion of the book to see if they like it.

Mrs. O said...

How about lulu.com for the friends and family copies?

And congrats on finishing!

Deborah said...

I would be happy to sponsor a couple of copies for you to send out to prospective publishers. Please contact me at my email address.

Heidi said...

How do you make an ebook. Go paperless. It's the latest thing.

Em-Cat said...

I always go to digitalroom.com to get something printed at a cheaper price than I can get at a regular copy store. I know they do posters and brochures, but I'm not sure about entire books. Worth a try though - right? Long time lurker...1st time commenter...I never seem to have anything to say, but I love your writing!