Publishing Avenues

We're going to get back to the query critiquing shortly, but since there haven't been a great number of comments expressing interest so far, I may repost something new on that later this week. Meanwhile, I did get a couple of comments on an earlier post that indicated there might be some interest in another area - particularly e-publishing and print-on-demand services.

The internet has opened a whole new world of alternatives to traditional publishing. The Kindle product was one of the first to offer downloads of digital books for the reader. Since e-publishing has taken hold, others have joined the bandwagon including manufacturers of the digital reading devices (such as Apple) as well as a redesign of the publishing and distribution models that many major publishing houses are undergoing. Deals are being made and things are changing in the publishing world.

Also, for those who want an actual published hard-copy book produced, self-publishers have many alternatives from which to choose, including Lulu and CreateSpace, to name just a couple of the most popular. These are typically referred to as POD (print-on-demand) services which allow the user to make their creations available to the public with no up-front charges, and offer not only books but DVDs and CDs as well. Customers can place an order for your product on Amazon or other outlets and have the item produced and sent to them within a short time.

One of the most informative blogs on the net is that of Curtis Brown literary agent, Nathan Bransford. Hardly a week goes by that he doesn't post an update on what's happening in the e-book arena. If you'd like to stay informed, Nathan's blog is an excellent resource for timely and accurate data. You can subscribe by email and get a daily update.

Meanwhile, if you have ventured into this area as an alternative to traditional publishing, or you have any information you'd like to share about your own experiences in the e-book or POD world, our readers would love to hear it. Post a comment and let us know what you think, what you learned, what you know, or what you'd like to know about this new publishing medium that seems to be growing in popularity.

I'm listening.