In America, we are accustomed to having choices. We can choose our mates, our lifestyles, where we shop, what we buy, where we work and which airline we fly, for example. As independent publishers, we can choose our book content, book printers, where to sell our books, which distributors\/wholesalers to use, etc. Lately, however, thousands of travelers are finding themselves stranded in airports because of aborted flights. Those whose connecting flights are canceled feel like prisoners of the airports. What can they do except wait for the next available flight? They have no idea where their luggage is. They are usually strangers to the city. And no one can tell them when the next available flight to their destination might leave. <\/p>\n
I had a small taste of this in Atlanta when on my way home (to California) from Nashville last week. I was among the lucky travelers. Even though my flight was cancelled and I found myself on standby (for the first time in my life), I arrived home only two hours off schedule. But my luggage didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t catch up with me until a day and a half later. No harm done\u00e2\u20ac\u201dbut I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m concerned about future flights I have planned. The traveling picture, these days, is not a pretty one.<\/p>\n
Now Amazon is causing many people to feel much like the traveler who has few options. It seems similar to a hostage situation. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Play our way or don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t play with us at all.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d As I understand it, rather than ordering your POD book from you or your POD company, Amazon wants your digital files so they can do the printing with their partner, BookSurge. While some industry professionals are shrieking, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153MONOPOLY,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d others are saying, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to allow Amazon to print the books they sell and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll continue using my regular printer for the rest of my copies.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n
Some people are feeling helpless against the Amazon conglomerate and others are fairly relaxed about the announcement and the possible ramifications. Many authors plan to use Barnes and Noble to a greater extent and will convince their customers to bring their business to this and other online bookstores. <\/p>\n
The jury is still out as far as SPAWN is concerned. SPAWN, as most of my readers know is Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network. http:\/\/www.spawn.org<\/a> We are collecting comments from industry experts and reading what Amazon has to say before we produce our statement. <\/p>\n If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re interested in learning more about this situation, Publishers Weekly <\/em>is writing about it. Angela and Richard Hoy at Writers Weekly <\/em>and Booklocker have been very vocal with regard to this situation and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been collecting comments from other industry professionals. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll want to visit their site and subscribe to Angela\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s newsletter, Writers Weekly. http:\/\/www.writersweekly<\/a> <\/p>\n If you subscribe to any writing\/publishing newsletters, take time to read them this month. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re bound to include information and perspectives related to this topic. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m told that 50% of those enewsletters you subscribe to do not get read. Not good. How will you become more informed if you ignore the flow of information coming in?<\/p>\n I suggest that you read the pros and cons until you understand how this will potentially affect you and your projects, clients and\/or members and then speak out. Let fairness to all prevail. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rally for freedom of choice. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hope that Amazon backs down in their threat to create a monopoly and that they offer the BookSurge project as an option. <\/p>\n What are your thoughts? PLFry620@yahoo.com.<\/p>\n If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re an author or plan to become one, you really must shift from creative right brain thinking long enough to understand something about the publishing industry. The main reason I wrote my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book<\/em> is to help with this education. You really must study the highly competitive, ever-changing publishing industry before getting involved. If you haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t done so already, please sit down and read my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book<\/em>. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t matter if your book is completed, just a sliver of a thought or somewhere in between, stop now and read this book. It could mean the difference between a successful project and blatant failure. Here are the figures\u00e2\u20ac\u201din 2006, around 76% of all books sold fewer than 100 copies. I venture to guess (and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m correct) that those authors did not study the publishing industry before producing their books. If they had, they would have known whether or not their book was a viable product, they would have had reasonable expectations with regard to their role within the publishing industry, they would have known that a magnificent story or excellent writing isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t necessarily going to guarantee their success in this highly competitive field and they would have been aware that promotion is their responsibility. <\/p>\n Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even think about entering into this industry without an education. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be eaten alive. Read my book and learn the right way to go about writing, producing and selling your particular book. The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book <\/em> http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/rightway.html<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In America, we are accustomed to having choices. We can choose our mates, our lifestyles, where we shop, what we buy, where we work and which airline we fly, for example. As independent publishers, we can choose our book content, book printers, where to sell our books, which distributors\/wholesalers to use, etc. Lately, however, thousands […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t