Comment Living as a one title writer -- readable version (Score 1) 474
I think we are in agreement. I think fiction is the most difficult nut to crack. As you know most fiction authors do not make a living off their books, even when they author and publish multiple titles over several years through a reputable publisher.
PA plays off the desire many writers have to be "recognized" by a "real publisher". You can't be a "real writer" until a "real publisher" publishes you and your books are in "bookshelves across america". Getting on "bookshelves across america" is a waste of time until you have name recognition. New authors can get that with help from a publisher willing to invest thousands (tens of thousands) in their work.
CT Adams is a writing team that just crossed that rubicon. Their book is being promoted well. They got a good advance (low five figures for their first book). I know a very prolific scriptwriter named Zicree who just published a set of three science fiction books that are being well marketed. Note that that in BOTH cases, the writers are working their butts off marketing those books, even though they have supportive publishers who already have them on bookshelves across america. These folks, all seasons writers, cut a good deal for great content with their publishers.
Just getting published by any "reputable" publisher doesn't guarantee you'll get that treatment. Many "traditional" publishers are very like PA, handing out low royalties, tiny advances, and with little or no marketing budget dedicated to promoting a book. Many writers find their books "stay on bookshelves across america" for just a few weeks. After that, their work is found on amazon, right next to POD work and they get paid less per copy.
If you are a one title writer, it probably doesn't matter where you publish. That single title is not going to support you. If you are going to generate a stream of books and want to make a living at it, you should publish it in such a fashion you'll be paid as much as possible for your work. For many new writers, that used to mean getting their work into magazines.
Now it may mean writing ebooks and perhaps doing POD. Getting a book or three printed POD through lightningsource gets them into amazon (right next to all the books no longer available on the shelf) and orderable from any barnes and noble. You can then work on getting them reviewed in newspapers or do book signings for them them at small bookstores, etc.
POD requires no purchase of a minimum number of books. Ebooks have no minimum number you have to print, and they are almost costless to distribute (which means they are almost pure profit when one sells). The thing is, you have to do your own PR. BUT most new writers have to do that any way because publishers expect it and because they don't invest many marketing $ in books from new authors.
You can still submit new work to big publishers. Maybe one will pick you up. They certainly will if you sell 20,000 copies of your books yourself. They may also buy your other work. "What color is your parachute" was self published originally . . . then sold to a major publisher.
Our discussion, as you pointed out, is not about self publishing or POD, its about Publish America which claims to provide a host of services (including editorial services) which it doesn't appear to provide. It can do this because new writers are told, over and over again, that they _must_ have a publisher (as some kind of seal of approval) in order to be a "real writer".
