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This is a monthly e-mail update for subscribers only, sent from
U-Publish.com, the Web site named for the revolutionary guide
to new methods for publishing and promoting books by Dan Poynter
and Danny O. Snow. Get the current edition, now available to
order from major bookstores & leading online booksellers, or order
direct at http://www.u-publish.com/order.htm for free shipping.
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*** U-PubDATE for JUNE 2003 ***
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*** BEA Concludes in LA
Book Expo America, the grand-daddy of all book fairs, concluded
in LA on June 3. Anyone in the publishing world can benefit from
attending. See http://www.bookexpoamerica.com for details, and
stay tuned for a report in the next issue of this bulletin.
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*** Free Resources from Co-Author Dan Poynter
Article Bank: Articles and quotations (great fillers) that may
be used by editors of magazines, newsletters and web sites:
http://parapub.com/articles/
Poynter's Stat Bank: Fascinating statistics on book publishing:
http://parapub.com/statistics/
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*** Scam Alert for Poets:
Rita Mill (http://www.thebookconnection.net) writes:
"If your passion is poetry, you need to be aware there [are]
a lot of scams perpetrated on the unsuspecting poet who just
wants to get his/her work out there. I was alerted to another
poetry scam, and asked to pass this website along to anyone
wanting more information."
http://www.poemtrain.com/scams.htm
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Please feel free to forward copies of this bulletin to your
fellow authors and publishers. This is a free service that is
available to anyone in the book world upon request. We don't
endorse specific products or services, and we do not accept
advertising. You may subscribe or un-subscribe at any time.
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*** Who Uses POD?
First note our bias: "U-Publish.com" is a "Print-on-Demand"
(POD) trade paperback from Unlimited Publishing LLC, printed
by both of the top POD manufacturers, Lightning Source and
Replica Books.
POD has long been associated with the world of independent and
self-publishing, because it drastically reduces the size of the
initial investment required to release a book.
However, POD is also used by major publishers. It's ideal for
bringing back out-of-print titles, or keeping books with modest
commercial appeal in distribution, without printing thousands
of books at a time.
To name just a few, here are some big publishers with POD books
distributed in recent years:
Bantam Doubleday Dell, Cambridge University Press, Columbia
University Press, Farrar Straus & Giroux, Grove Atlantic Press,
Harcourt Trade. Harper Collins Publishers, Henry Holt & Company,
McGraw-Hill, NYU Press, Oxford University Press, Penguin Putnam,
Random House, Scholastic Books, Simon & Schuster, St. Martins
Press, and Time Warner Book Group.
If you know someone (especially a bookstore buyer) who infers
that POD books can't meet professional standards, you may want
to mention a few of the publishers above.
However, professional standards involve more than printing,
whether books are producing using POD, conventional offset, or
other methods of production. Writing, editing, typesetting, lay-
out and cover design are all important. Of course it takes more
time and money to produce a quality product, yet the list above
illustrates that it is possible to produce "major league" books
at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods.
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*** e-Pinion: May 2003 Update on e-Rights
Co-author Danny O. Snow reports two more important digital
rights items from May, and reaffirms his long-standing opinion
that the big media companies, not consumers or artists, need to
change:
During May, AppleMusic.com rolled out a new music site that
allows Mac users (only) to legally download single songs for
99 cents.
Also in May, the Motion Picture Association of America asked
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco to
rule DVD copying software illegal under the 1998 Digital
Millennium Copyright Act -- even in cases where the software
is marketed strictly as a tool for making personal backup copies.
Experts speculate that Apple's move may be an effective way
to combat pirating of music at sites like Kazaa and other off-
spring of the (in)famous Napster site that started the music
"sharing" phenomenon. By allowing consumers to buy only the
songs they really want, at a very low cost, Apple gives the
public a better incentive to download legally instead of
"sharing" unauthorized copies.
I predict we'll soon see similar music sites for non-Mac
users, and that the low-cost, single song model will become
the norm at legal download sites.
The movie industry should pay attention to Apple's move. The
current crisis in the music industry evolved because corporate
monoliths ignored the public, and greedily continued to over-
price commercial CDs long after new technologies made it easy
to copy them. As broadband matures, the same situation will
evolve with films. Film studios will experience the same fate
as major record labels, unless they are smart enough to give
something back to the public in return for good faith.
After all, when music or video is downloaded, the seller saves
a fortune on manufacturing, packaging, shipping and many other
expenses. It's only fair to pass some of the savings back to
consumers.
Many of the same issues face the publishing industry. For more
commentary about electronic books, get a free copy of "Steal
this e-Book!" at http://www.u-publish.com/stealme ... and feel
free to make as many copies as you like, legally! -- DOS
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*** 1st Amendment Under Siege
Privacy of Americans and the new USA Patriot Act are in conflict.
Libraries are being asked to turn over records of who is
reading what. Read this story to see what they are doing
about our "Freedom of Speech" rights:
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/5618608.htm
-- Courtesy of Rita Mills (http://www.thebookconnection.net)
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Please feel free to forward copies of this bulletin to your
fellow authors and publishers. This is a free service that is
available to anyone in the book world upon request. We don't
endorse specific products or services, and we do not accept
advertising. You may subscribe or un-subscribe at any time.
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Inside tip from Poynter & Snow:
ALWAYS READ THE FINE PRINT!
Here's ours:
This is a free e-mail bulletin from U-Publish.com, the web site
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