Nat's Notes:
Adventures in Publishing

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Readers Room.com is excited to announce this new feature which will follow an author through the process of New York publishing, from a book sale to the book release. Many people wonder what happens after a book is sold to a large publisher. Natalie is wondering, too. Read along on the 15th of every month, as she explains the process--or at least gives it her best shot.

By Natalie R. Collins

POD POSTER CHILD---Somewhere along the path to the eventual publication of my first book with a big New York publisher, I became the POD Poster Child. Now, for those of you who don't know what POD is, it means print on demand, and it is a technology for printing books. My first book, SisterWife, was published by a company that uses POD technology. Each book is printed as it is ordered. This has made life easy--in some ways--for small publishers, as they are not required to make a large initial investment in a print run. It has also made it difficult, for along with legitimate small publishers, there are a bevy of vanity and subsidy publishers that will print anything and everything regardless of quality. For the most part, when you hear the term POD, you hear disdain, wails, and gnashing of teeth--from both sides.

Authors published by legitimate small publishers using POD technology are tired of the battle of trying to get bookstores to stock books; tired of that fact that their trade paperbacks cost more than discounted hard back books do on Amazon; tired of the impossibility of getting reviewed anywhere but online. In short, POD authors are usually dismissed without being given a chance. It's a sad but true fact.

Most POD published authors don't sell many books and rarely, if ever, become big name authors. I was one of those. I sold a few copies of my book, got some excellent reviews, and took my family out to eat on my royalty checks--to McDonald's. It was not a wildly successful venture. But I was undaunted. I continued to promote wildly, anywhere and everywhere I could, and I sent press releases out on a regular basis. One of those press releases caught the eye of my current editor, and she asked to see a book that had not been published yet, the formerly titled Outer Darkness. To use a cliché, the rest is history.

Now I have learned I have been widely touted as a POD success story. "Look," other POD authors are saying, "she made it! She was a POD author and now she has a New York publisher!" This is true, however, a few things must be considered.

1. Timing: My press releases that went out shortly after kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart returned home were what caught the eye of my editor. That nationwide furor definitely worked in my favor. And my editor did not want the book that the press release was about. She wanted something new. Thus, although I did have a POD book, the manuscript she bought had never before been published. For that reason, I don't really consider myself a "POD success story." I never sold millions of copies of SisterWife, my book printed using POD technology.

2. I am not a huge fan of POD printing. Please don't shoot me. Overall, it was not a great experience. My publisher, like all small publishers, is working with little or no budget. Therefore, there is little or no promotion, advertising, etc. You are expected to do all of that. "You have to do that with a big publisher, too," they say, when someone complains. Not true. You do have to do a fair amount. To not do everything in one's power to promote a book is folly. But having the publicity department of a big publisher behind you, even for the newest of authors, is a huge step beyond what any POD publisher will ever offer.

3. I was lucky. My editor at my small publisher was the best. Simply fantastic. She edits on a level that is totally in line with the best of the best put out by New York. For this reason, my book SisterWife, was something that I could send out without cringing. All POD publishers cannot make that claim. Because publishing companies can now be set up without much investment, they are cropping up right and left. I was fortunate enough (and I'd like to think smart enough) to find a company and a publisher with genuine concern for garnering a good reputation and the desire to compete with the big boys.

So, for these reasons, I have decided to resign my reign as POD Poster Child and am turning over the crown to someone else. Someone who has sold more than 500 copies of their POD printed book--step up candidates.

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In other news, I have a new cover. Hmm, odd, you might think. Is there not a cover already on your Web site? Yes, but that cover is no longer the cover. It has been redesigned. Apparently it was too masculine. I agree it is rather phallic. Most buildings are, probably because they are designed by men. Or women who really like men. But my publisher wants to appeal to female readers, and so I have a new, more mysterious cover. I like it. I look forward to unveiling it sometime soon.

Do you have questions or comments about Natalie's adventure in publishing? She'd love to hear from you. Contact her at: ReadersRoom2@aol.com

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