GERARD REID ON NEW MODES OF DELIVERING BOOKS

I'd like to clear up some misapprehensions about the new modes of delivering books: both print kiosks and eBooks. This is, in part,
illustrated by the woman, Mary Cade, reported in your blog item as saying "It can takes years to get a book published but now I can get a copy printed straight away."

Misapprehension 1: that there is any logical connection between
printing and publishing.
Mary Cade uses the terms interchangeably. The print kiosk is just a
while-you-wait version of Print on Demand which has been around for
19 years. However, a book printed by the author via Print on Deand,
as distinct from those offered through the kiosks, is not "published"
It has never been selected as worthy of investment; it has not been
professionally edited; it has not been professionally designed and
produced; and it has not been offered for sale to a wide audience.

Misapprehension 2: that the availability of print kiosks will benefit
the author who wants to publish themselves.
The titles on the print kiosk list didn't get there by accident.
Someone had to acquire them from authors or publishers and prepare
them into the correct digital format ready for printing. And,
publishing economics being what they are, it is unlikely that the
backers of the print kiosks will want their servers clogged up with a
lot of titles of no interest to the public. So they will rely on
publishers to have pre-selected titles before they offer them via
this medium.

Misapprehension 3: that eBook technology means anyone can become a publisher. Just like printing, eBook technology in its many forms is simply a
delivery mechanism for books. Just as anyone can have an unedited or
poorly edited, poorly designed book printed for a price, so too can
anyone have a digital version made. But without the functions of a
publisher (Selection, investment, editorial and production skills and
marketing capability) it will simply be invisible to its intended
audience.

Misapprehension 4: that lovely people in the book industry are going
to give away their market space and knowledge because they are so
kind.
You name it - LuLu, Lightening Source, Book Surge and the local
equivalents - their goal is not to sell authors' books half as much
as to charge authors to make them. When aspiring authors consider the
various options they should not talk to the clients the
"self-publishing' companies nominate. They should select some other
authors at random from the "publisher's" list and contact then
directly. There are a lot of sad, disappointed and poorer people out
there.

Declaration of interest: My company, Pindar NZ, offers a range of
professional publishing services to private publishers. We urge
anyone contacting us to subject our proposals to the same levels of
scrutiny recommended here and will offer a complete list of all our
previous private clients on request.
--
GERARD REID MANAGING DIRECTOR
G.A. PINDAR and SON (New Zealand) Ltd trading as PINDAR NZ
PHONE: + 64 9 3600790 FAX: + 64 9 3600791 DDI: + 64 9 3616893
MOBILE: +64 21 610062 MOBILE (UK) +44 750 7602330
LEVEL 2, 209 GREAT NORTH ROAD, GREY LYNN, AUCKLAND 1021, NEW ZEALAND

http://www.pindar.co.nz/
http://www.pindar.com/