Science Fiction, Fantasy |
Xlibris | Xlibris publishing service | xlibris.com |
|
|
|
Science Fiction, Fantasy |
Xlibris | Xlibris publishing service | xlibris.com |
|
|
|
|
|
|
An Xlibris author speaks frankly about his experience |
Special thanks to: 
for designing Xenite.org's graphics Contact Us! |
Why you should not use Xlibris
I am an Xlibris author. I have decided to actively oppose the further efforts of Xlibris to recruit new authors. For those of you who don't like to read through long diatribes, here is the short version of my reasons: they have changed their service, their method of distribution, their method of royalty payment, and now they are raising their prices to unbelievably high levels. They have done everything possible to infuriate and alienate their author community and I have had enough. If you are thinking of self-publishing through print-on-demand, don't even consider Xlibris as a last resort. My book has done well enough for them that we've both made money. Xlibris has probably made far more money on the book than I have. Of course, I published it for free. You can't do that with Xlibris any more. Not even I can do that, and my free book was profitable for Xlibris. Xlibris is a publishing services provider. Some people in the traditional publishing industry will tell you that means "vanity press". Yes, in a way, Xlibris has always been a vanity press. There is no shame in admitting that. But for several years they were not a subsidy press. Subsidy presses have, because of numerous abuses, earned a bad reputation, even though many publishing services providers have simply printed up books for specialized markets without misleading anyone. If your company has had manuals printed up for their products or training courses, they have used a publishing services provider, even if the name of the company was Honest Jim's Printing and Reproductions. The wicked, nasty reputation which has become associated with subsidy presses developed through the practice by a relatively small group of companies, most of whom are or were located in or near New York or on the east coast, who preyed on writers who either could not win contracts with traditional publishers or who did not know how to pursue such contracts. The subsidy presses were infamous for inviting writers (often through classified ads in the back of writing magazines) to submit their manuscripts for review. The writers usually received contract offers, which represented legal contracts. But the contract was generally for the writer to pay the company to print up copies of their books. If the writer was lucky, the subsidy press might distribute some press releases or perhaps even send out a few promotional copies of the book. But the classic story told by innumerable subsidy authors through the years is that no one ever saw their books. The subsidy presses were making their money by selling books to the writers, and not to the readers. Traditionally published authors do everything they can to persuade aspiring writers to AVOID the subsidy presses. Now, self-published authors don't have to go through subsidy presses. They can acquire their own ISBN (International Standard Book Number), set up their own printing contracts, do their own marketing, hire editors and designers, etc., etc. In effect, a self-published author becomes a small publisher. The real distinction between a self-published author and a subsidy author is that the self-published author has not been suckered into a lame contract. The self-published author is treating the project as a business. In fact, many small presses have been launched by self-published authors who went on to review and publish other people's books. Nonetheless, the great stigma attached to both subsidy and self-publishing by many traditional authors is the fact that these books have not passed editorial review. And many of them have probably been rejected by traditional publishers for good reason (which may have nothing to do with quality of writing -- in fact, all traditional publishers will reject well-written books which are submitted for the wrong reasons). The mantra of every writer is, of course, "I am a GOOD writer." The mantra of the traditionally published author, however, is, "Someone else says I am a GOOD writer." So when you self-publish (or subsidy publish -- sometimes you can sell the books yourself), your only respected counter-argument to the criticisms levelled by the traditionally published community is your book. That is, if your book sells, other people are saying you are indeed a good writer. You just aren't benefitting from the editorial filters of the traditional publishing industry which gave us such well-written books as The Sword of Shannara. Although there have always been printing companies and other services which have aided self-published authors, within the past few years companies like Xlibris have emerged which have combined the power of the Internet with the rapidly developing technology of print-on-demand publishing to offer self-publishing authors an easier route to achieving their goals. Xlibris offers a variety of publishing plans, the lowest-cost being their core service. In 2000, I contracted with Xlibris to publish Visualizing Middle-earth through core service, which at the time cost nothing. You had virtually no control over the look and feel of your book, but you didn't pay them to publish it, either. Self-publishing through a company like Xlibris offers an advantage over doing it yourself. They get you listed in Books-In-Print, the 4,000,000+ catalogue that most booksellers rely upon. Unfortunately, Xlibris changed its distributors in December 2000. They went with Ingram's Lightning Source subsidiary, and suddenly Xlibris authors began hearing reports from their readers of interminable waits and lost orders. Lightning Source is also extremely slow in reporting its sales results to Xlibris (so Xlibris tell us), although anyone can call (615) 213-6803, type in an ISBN, and get an up-to-date report on book sales (except, when I did this a week ago, Ingram reported almost 0 sales for my book -- their accounting system seems to have forgotten all the copies of Visualizing Middle-earth they have printed up). Although the Ingram situation was annoying, I was still getting reports of sales, and Xlibris was paying my royalties on time. So I didn't mind if there were a few snafus. Happy readers were writing to me and telling me they enjoyed the book. But then along came the Spring, and Ingram announced it would be going to its own proprietary book catalogue. Suddenly, thousands of Xlibris titles vanished from the database at Amazon.Com. I won't mind telling you that Amazon is the leader in Internet-derived sales for Xlibris books. At least, there is where most of my online sales come from. Well, Xlibris got that situation straightened out, but then they announced that resellers would no longer get a standard 40% discount. Instead, they would get a 20% discount if they ordered from Lightning Source. Folks, in this business, professionalism and credibility go a long way toward making a good impression on the buyers at bookstores, and Xlibris authors have been very active in pursuing events at bookstores. I've done a few myself, and had good feedback from the store operators. So what was up with Xlibris trying to reduce the booksellers' discount? This is one of those controversies where everyone has an opinion. Only Xlibris has the facts, it seems, and they haven't been as forthcoming as we authors would like them to be. However, one former Xlibris employee, Julie Duffy, posted a message to a private discussion forum which I cannot reproduce here without her permission. But, in summary, her point was that any POD (print-on-demand) author who feels their book should be in a bookstore doesn't understand the technology and is wrong to want Xlibris to offer a standard reseller discount. Sorry, Julie, but that is absolute and utter nonsense. In an ideal world, every bookstore will have a POD machine and it can spit out POD books on demand, as the developers of the technology envision. But the reality of the situation is that Xlibris offered its services to authors by emphasizing the fact that POD technology reduced everyone's costs and therefore they could supply the book sellers with all the books they needed AS THEY NEEDED. Now, instead, Xlibris is hinting that it feels all the readers should come to Xlibris for their books. In an email sent out to authors on Friday, August 10, 2001, Xlibris announced that it is raising prices. Trade paperbacks will start at $18.69 per copy (retail price) up to 250 pages, and the price increases to more than $20 per copy for larger books (you'll be able to buy Visualizing Middle-earth for almost $22, nearly twice what it was selling for a few months ago). Resellers will in this way be able to get their 40% discount back, but in the meantime, Xlibris authors have to convince their readers that these books are not really overpriced. They are simply more valuable than other books on the shelf or in the online catalogue. Keep in mind that your average book purchaser may only have $12 to spend. Or $15. Or the $16 that Xlibris trade paperbacks are priced at through the end of August. It does an author no good to persuade a potential customer of the value of his or her book if the potential customer doesn't have the money to pay. Back when you could buy Visualizing Middle-earth for $11.80 at Booksamillion, Xlibris books didn't seem too expensive. Now, starting September 1, 2001, Xlibris tells us that "The best price is the direct Xlibris price. The best royalty is the direct Xlibris royalty." Right. In other words, they are implying that the best bookseller is Xlibris. Sorry, folks. That dog won't hunt. Over 75% of all online book purchases are made at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The vast majority of the rest are made at Booksamillion and a few other online retailers. Xlibris doesn't have the market reach, let alone the loyal buying audience, to offer its stable of authors any reasonable hope of selling books in sufficient volume to recap their expenses. Remember, Xlibris is now a subsidy publisher at all levels. And though the core service may be only a couple hundred dollars, basically covering the cost of the ISBN and the eletronic setup fees entailed by POD technology, you'll have to sell at least 40 copies of your book to make back your $200. I can do that. I have done it many times over. How many other people can say the same? To be honest, most self-published books hardly ever sell ANY copies, except to the authors and friends and relatives. If you have been intimidated by the long turnaround times and/or the rejections of the traditional publishing industry, or if you have a specialty book that just doesn't fit in with the traditional publishers' needs, and you're seriously considering self-publishing, even after learning how much work you'll have to undertake to sell your book, I have only one piece of advice to give you: DO NOT USE XLIBRIS. I won't dwell on the new royalty system. Xlibris did make changes to the way they pay their authors and the changes were, at first, going to cost us more money. The authors railed against the changes, and Xlibris has altered its plans sufficiently that we should not be too unhappy. Nonetheless, they are no longer doing anything right, sane, or worthy of recommendation. Except for the fact that I still have promotional campaigns in place which will run through September, I would have pulled my book from Xlibris immediately. As it is, I'll have to wait and cut the tie sometime after September. I will never use Xlibris again. I hope you never use them at all. Xlibris has made its bed. Let them sleep in it, and may all their cheerleading former employees who feel that the authors don't understand how to sell POD books get what they have asked for: the lack of respect they have earned. BTW -- if you thinking of buying Visualizing Middle-earth, and haven't done so yet, DO IT NOW, before the price goes up on September 1. If you buy the book from Xlibris after August 30, I will get a higher royalty. The money is not important to me. I want people to enjoy my essays. I appreciate the fact that so many people have bought my book. But I don't see any reason for the price to go sky-rocketing. And given all the changes in their program that Xlibris have made over the past year, I just don't feel comfortable being associated with them any longer. About the author Michael Martinez has been actively discussing the works of J.R.R. Tolkien with other fans through online services and the Internet since 1993. He has studied Tolkien's world intensively since first reading The Lord of the Rings in 1975. As an active member of fandom, Martinez organized and directed the first fan programming track dedicated to J.R.R. Tolkien and Middle-earth at Dragoncon in 2000 and 2001. Martinez also writes a monthly column on Tolkien and Middle-earth for MERP.Com, and has advised several companies about the works of Tolkien, especially concerning Middle-earth. Martinez also wrote the free eBook Parma Endorion: Essays on Middle-earth, 3rd edition and created one of the first, if not the first, Web-based forums devoted to Tolkien and the Inklings in October, 1997. The author also established the longest-running continuously updated Tolkien movie news information site, and the original Lord of the Rings movie news and information page in February 1998. Michael Martinez' next book, Understanding Middle-earth, will be published by Vivisphere in the fall of 2003. |
This page is copyright © 1997-2006 by Michael L. Martinez. All rights reserved. |