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Book Fulfillment Services
Posted By: abello on 5/24/2005 6:37 PM (CST) 250 Points
Greetings,

I have just completed a book that uses a fable to teach Negotiation Skills, and have decided to self-publish for the Caribbean Market where I live, then seek a U.S. publisher after demonstrating measurable success in my region.

In the meanwhile, I am looking for a book fulfillment service to distribute orders placed online by U.S. Clients.

Any advice?

Thanks,
Andre

Posted by: Rich* Member Response
5/24/2005 7:06 PM (CST)
Andre,

One of the premier self publishing services on the internet is Amazon.com's Advantage program. Check the following link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/partners/direct/direct-application....

Hope this helps you out.

Rich
 
Posted by: abello Author Response
5/24/2005 7:13 PM (CST)
Hi Rich,

I agree, but unfortunately Amazon's rules state, "To enroll in Amazon.com Advantage .. you must be located in North America."

I would happily use their service, however, since I live in Jamaica, I am not able to.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

Andre
 
Posted by: ASVP/ChrisB Member Response
5/24/2005 7:42 PM (CST)
Michael Goodman's the man to talk to. He's a great marketer as well as an author and publisher. I'll draw his attention to this question. Good Luck.
 
Posted by: mgoodman Accepted Answer
5/24/2005 8:30 PM (CST)
Thanks to ChrisB, I have now read your question and can probably help you. There are a number of questions and issues, of course, but we do have a publishing company that has excellent relations with the major US wholesalers, Amazon.com, etc., and we handle fulfillment for our own titles and a few others. We can probably help you too.

Let me suggest that rather than bore everyone here, you contact me privately by clicking on my username and sending private email. I'll respond either by email or with a phone call.

Let me also suggest that you get and study a copy of Tom and Marilyn Ross's book, "The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing." Get the 4th edition, because it's much more relevant than the older editions. You may also want to join the PMA (Publisher's Marketing Association), as they offer a lot of services for small publishers, including one of the better newsletters out there and several support services. ( www.pma-online.org)

The US market is very tough for a new author, even if you do have some successes to point to elsewhere. There are more than 50,000 new titles every year, and most of them sell fewer than 1,000 copies total. The only way to sell books is to promote heavily, and that costs money and takes an inordinate amount of the author's time. And when it's all finished, there usually isn't much money in it. (The author rarely gets 10% of sales, and the publisher doesn't do much better.)

Of course, if you are Stephen King or John Grisham or Hillary Clinton you can do better, but you should know that only about a dozen authors account for 80% of the books sold in the US each year -- not counting textbooks. It's really a tough market. The rare first-time-author success is always well marketed; that's the key.

Anyway, send me an email message with your contact information. I'll do what I can.
 
Posted by: ASVP/ChrisB Member Response
5/24/2005 9:12 PM (CST)
Michael, thanks for picking this up, fast and thorough response!

Abello, is there a weblink we can all visit to look at your book?

ChrisB
 
Posted by: abello Author Response
5/24/2005 9:34 PM (CST)
Hi Chris,

The book is currently being printed and the website is under development. I have the beginnings of a "blog" on the book which includes the Foreword written by Prof. Lawrence Susskind of the Program on Negotaiation at Harvard Law School.

I don't want to break the protocol of this forum, so I will update my profile with the URL.

(And thank you Michael... you should have received my e-mail by now)

Andre
 
Posted by: Paul Copcutt Accepted Answer
5/24/2005 11:21 PM (CST)
Andre

Check out www.lulu.com it is a website that allows you to place your book 'for sale' and is a print on demand service so when a purchase is made the order for one book goes to a print centre and is printed, placed in an envelope and mailed - you still keep 80% of the sales - unlikely you will find anything similar from a publisher

Heres their sales message

"We're free
No set-up fees. No minimum order. No risk. We print and ship each book as it's bought.
We're fast
Super-mega-crazy fast. You can publish and order within minutes.
You keep control
Even if it sounds too good to be true. You control the design, copyright and price."

Good luck
 
Posted by: abello Author Response
5/25/2005 9:19 AM (CST)
Thanks Square Peg,

This is a definite option depending on the quality of their production. I have actually considered them for a photojournal that I have done just for fun (I never really planned to get it published).

I'll test them with that one and validate the level of their printing and binding.

Andre
 
Posted by: thinkmor Member Response
5/25/2005 1:32 PM (CST)
Hi Andre

Yes, Michael's the man to contact and I'm sure he'll give you valuable advice.

If you are considering to distribute to the UK market then Pen Press maybe another option.

I have a friend who also self published his specialist book on Democracy in the UK and I will try and get some contact info for him if you are interested.

Let me know and I will send you an email and at least you may get another perspective about the UK market.

Zahid Adil
 
Posted by: abello Author Response
5/26/2005 1:24 PM (CST)
Thanks Zahid,

I am definitely interested in the UK market and would welcome any information. I will be focusing my attention on the English-speaking Caribbean, then US, then UK.

Michael has contacted me via e-mail and has given some great advice.

Thanks to all for your comments and help.
Andre
 


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