================================================================ 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 paperback, now available to order from all major bookstores and online booksellers, or order direct from us at http://www.u-publish.com/order.htm with free shipping. ================================================================ *** BEA Buzz *** Thousands converged, Bill Clinton keynoted, George Carlin clowned, and much more... Too many items for one newsletter! See http://www.u-publish.com/bea2004.htm for details. ================================================================ *** PMA-U Pulse *** PMA held its annual Publishing University in Chicago, June 1-3. The opportunities for education and networking were outstanding. To cite just one example, national buyers for Barnes & Noble, Borders and ABA Independents gave a workshop showing how to get your books stocked in stores -- a learning experience with huge benefits for those who attended. To illustrate... "Almost 99% of books we stock are fully-returnable," said one national buyer. This demonstrated that non-returnable books (including those from most POD publishers) have little chance of getting stocked. "The only non-returnable books we stock are special items like holiday books," said another. All three buyers warned that guerilla marketing tactics can backfire, like ordering your own book from stores to inflate apparent demand. Poynter and Snow have already gone on record against gimmicks like this, and the national buyers confirmed our position in their workshop. Lessons like these are invaluable to the small publisher or self-publishing author. Don't miss PMA-U next year! ================================================================ *** Creative Self-Publishing in the World Marketplace *** Co-author Dan Poynter calls it "An essential companion to the Self-Publishing Manual." Co-author Dan Snow adds, "Just one effective tip from a book like this can save the reader many times the cost of buying it." Marshall Chamberlain's long-awaited book is out. FMI visit: http://www.gracepublishing.org ================================================================ 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. ================================================================ *** New Report Shows "More is Less" *** A recent press release reads: "NEW PROVIDENCE, N.J.-(BUSINESS WIRE)-May 27, 2004-R.R. Bowker today released statistics on U.S. book publishing compiled from its Books In Print database. Based on preliminary figures, Bowker is projecting that U.S. title output in 2003 increased a staggering 19% to 175,000 new titles and editions, the highest total ever recorded." The stats were skewed by POD vanity presses that continued to flood the market with thousands of marginal releases in 2003. The report continued: "51% of all new titles published in 2003 by the three largest print-on-demand publishers were fiction, poetry or drama. These categories accounted for 57% of all titles published since 1998 by the same POD houses." It is certainly possible to publish a quality book using POD. The paperback edition of "U-Publish.com" is printed this way; we're very satified, and hope you are too. On the other hand, companies that release largely unedited books, many of which contain frequent errors in spelling and grammar or amateurish Word-to-PDF typesetting, give POD a bad name. Let's hope that 2004 sees greater emphasis on quality rather than quantity in the POD world! ================================================================ *** Call for Submissions: Mona Schreiber Prize *** Writers of comedic essays, articles, short stories, poetry, shopping lists and other forms are invited to submit. Works up to 750 words in length should be typed, double-spaced, accompanied by a money order or check for $5 to cover admin costs, payable to "The Mona Schreiber Prize." Multiple entries permitted but each must pay a separate fee. Put contact info on the first page. No SASE needed. Include e-mail for notification of winners. All entries must be postmarked by December 1 for a December 24 announcement of three winners: 1st: $500. 2nd: $250. 3rd: $100. All receive copies of What Are You Laughing At?: How to Write Funny Screenplays, Stories and More by Brad Schreiber. Entries are not returned and must be unpublished. Humor is subjective. Uniqueness is suggested. Weirdness is encouraged. The Mona Schreiber Prize for Humorous Fiction and Non-Fiction 11362 Homedale Street, Los Angeles, CA 90049. ================================================================ *** "Hard Times" Writing Contest *** 1st Prize: $500, 2nd Prize: $350, 3rd Prize: $250 Deadline: postmarked by July 15, 2004. Write about a difficult experience in your life, how you overcame this obstacle, and how it changed you. Winning stories will be chosen for originality and creative writing style. Stories should be previously unpublished, and should not exceed 5,000 words (double-spaced, 12 point font). Multiple submissions OK. Your name, address, phone and title of work should appear on a cover sheet. Enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope for critique and list of winners, and reading fee of $18 per entry. The Writers' Workshop, Hard Times, 387 Beaucatcher Road, Asheville, N.C. 28805. ================================================================ *** Subscriber Special Sells Out *** Some newsletter subscribers have not yet read the book for which it is named: "U-Publish.com: How 'U' Can Effectively Compete with the Giants of Publishing." A small quantity earmarked for subscribers at a special price sold out in May. For those who missed out, please try again in July. If there is sufficient interest, we will print more! Meanwhile, may we respectfully suggest you ask your local library to obtain a copy? Most libraries are very receptive to requests from patrons. Please reference ISBN 1-58832-002-2 and mention that the book is available to libraries from wholesalers such as Ingram or Baker and Taylor, and from all major retailers. ================================================================ Inside tip from Poynter and Snow: ALWAYS READ THE FINE PRINT! Here's ours: This is a free e-mail bulletin from U-Publish.com, the Web site named for the book by Dan Poynter and Danny O. Snow. Bulletins are sent by subscription only. You may subscribe or unsubscribe at any time. Simply e-mail newsdesk@u-publish.com with requests. We do not endorse specific products or services, and we do not accept advertising. We will not sell your name, address or other personal information to others for any reason at any time. Our goal is to serve as advocates for the self-publisher or independent publisher, large or small. We welcome your participation, feedback, criticism, and suggestions. We learn from our readers, and value your input. Please visit http://www.u-publish.com at least once each month, for periodic updates of interest to writers and publishers. Please feel free to forward copies of this message to fellow writers and publishers. This is a free service, available to to anyone in the book world upon request. ================================================================..please check your e-mail settings and consider changing them from "HTML" output to "Text Only" settings instead. Some e-mail software such as Microsoft Outlook may send messages in the same format (HTML) as a web page, which can cause problems for recipients who use other software. File attachments (especially large ones) also cause problems for some recipients and should be avoided unless they are specifically requested by the recipient. Put pictures on your Web site and include the location (but NOT the picture) in your e-mail messages. For example, if you want to see a photo of Poynter and Snow, click the link below: http://www.u-publish.com/images/poynter4.jpg Finally, when you type messages, we *strongly* suggest ending each line by pressing the Enter key after typing about 60-80 characters, as we are doing here. This allows recipients to forward your e-mail to others with fewer formatting problems. If you are sending e-mail to the public, you want all of your messages to arrive simple and problem-free. The suggestions above will help you reach the public more effectively. ================================================================
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