Espresso Book Machine Works

Just got my first sale of a title through an Espresso Book Machine, from somewhere here in the US. Now if the overseas distribution would finally get started, it would open up markets in Australia and elsewhere.

Literary Mention

Flora Curiosa had a nice mention in an article on botanical horrors (by Judith Supper) in the 109/110 issue of the German science fiction and fantasy literary magazine Quarber Merkur.

Current News

Not much in the way of news, actually, but a few things:

1) Iron Age America, about the mysterious iron furnaces in southern Ohio, will be finished up in a couple weeks, it looks like. Interior is almost done.

2) Almost finished with Raptors of the Northeast, also. Edits are on their way, and I should be able to finish those up next week.

3) Looks like the images for the Mokele-mbembe book will be finished up in a week or so. Then final edits and some other things have to be finished up. I'm thinking this may be a December title.

4) Varmints is lagging, I just haven't had time to spend on it -- another December book, probably. (Late December.)

5) Plugging away at layout for the Cleek mystery reprints.

Looks like the online advertising experiment was a bust. Haven't seen any spike in sales. Right now, most sales seem to come from general web browsing for certain subjects.

Online Ads

I've never really done much with online advertising, as it has never appeared worth the money sunk into it. But, this month, I'm testing two different venues.

First, I'm trying a "long tail" version of Google Ads. I've got about two dozen very basic book title ads that direct to the book detail pages. They are running primarily on the content networks, at a fairly low cpc (usually $.10-.20). The ads are not optimized for click-thru, as I really don't want everybody and their mother clicking on them; I'm just looking for serious clicks. I've been getting 50,000-60,000 impressions a day at my current per diem budget, with a very low ctr that still usually manages to reach the daily budget. I get very few impressions on the Google search -- not happy about that, but Google has a money-grubbing scheme that apparently doesn't allow search impressions from low bids, even when there are no other impressions showing up on search.

My second venue is Project Wonderful, which has an interesting advertising methodology, but appears to be focused mostly on a community of webcomics and the like. Right now, I'm bidding one book ad (skyscraper for Historical Bigfoot) on a single webcomic, Real Life.

I won't know if there's any positive outcome from these until end of month, to see if there has been any spike in sales numbers. Of course, I readily admit that my book title detail pages are not optimized for best click-thru's to Amazon. But, it's an interesting experiment.

Getting Back to Business

After my recent crash, it's been very hectic trying to get back on track. Besides getting my data back, I've tried to upgrade some of my publishing software, with mixed results. I picked up InDesign CS4, but I'm not going to fool around with that until I have more time to go over it in detail. I upgraded Acrobat to 9, then realized it changed the process for creating PDFX/1A files, and it turned out to be a real pain trying to determine whether a file that "conformed" was an actual PDFX/1A file... So went back to my previous version, at least for now.

My primary concern for the last few weeks has been whether I'd be able to get my Varmints PageMaker file back, as it didn't make it through the crash and initial attempts to recover data. I sent my old hard drive to a specialist, though, and they say they've been able to recover and open it, so that is a load off my mind. (A very expensive load, though. At least the recovery is tax deductible.) I could rebuild it, but it's a very lengthy book even now (I haven't even started on the preliminary section that will discuss various species and their relevance to cryptozoology).

Iron Age America is still on track, we're in the final editing stage and have only a few more images to scan. Still waiting for images for the Mokele-mbembe book. Might be looking over a cryptozoology book by an Australian author -- sounds interesting.

Of course, with the Christmas season coming on, I need to start pushing out more titles. Got my latest (and probably last) block of 1,000 ISBNs, so all set to go.

Nothing New Yet...

I'm trying to finish up the text block for Iron Age America right now. The layout and editing are almost complete, though we need to figure out what to do about a few images we're missing.

Once this is finished, I should be able to complete Raptors of the Northeast fairly quickly. Then I can focus on finally putting out some reprints I've been working on (classic mysteries and textile arts). I've been holding off on those, because I'm running low on my original ISBN block, but I just ordered a 1,000 block of ISBNs, so that should last me... well, the rest of my life, probably.

I'm starting to look for more non-fiction authors. I've got several in the works, who are working on some interesting manuscripts. But it takes time, so always good to continue soliciting submissions. So check my book submissions page for details. (If you can write, and have specific areas of interest, let me know, I might be able to come up with ideas for books I'd be interested in publishing.)

One area I'd be interested in exploring is the graphic novel -- though it would require an in-place marketing model by the author in order to do well. I've been kicking around some ideas, but as I'm not an artist myself, not something I can jump on. Wouldn't be cheap, but using color POD, it could come out looking pretty good.

POD and Book Scams

A little off topic today, but scammers who utilize POD irritate me, as it just makes it more difficult for legit publishers to gain credibility. It's bad enough that there are publishers who directly reprint Google-scanned books without regard to all the errors Google makes (missing pages, poorly scanned images, etc.), but now there's a publisher who claims to "publish more than 10,000 new titles" every year, and to "specialize in publishing copyleft projects." In other words, they reprint Wikipedia articles. A few details from one guy who got scammed. (Interestingly, this publisher is "in" Mauritius. Tax haven, anyone?)

Hiatus Almost Over

I've been on a forced hiatus for about two weeks due to a computer problem, with minimal internet access until the last few days. My computer is still at the shop, but should be back up and running normally by tomorrow. Biggest concern was that one shop who was fixing a bug and reinstalling XP neglected to save my files... and weren't able to recover them. (And, of course, while I had a few books, mostly by other authors, backed up, several of my own and some reprints were not...) Fortunately, found another shop with data recovery experience, and it looks like I should have everything back. Will know by this weekend.

Looks like I'm going to need to order some new ISBNs, also. Those are expensive; was planning to buy a thousand this next time, which will last me as long as I'll ever need, but may have to stick to 100 depending on how much this computer issue is going to cost me.

Ordered an upgrade to my page layout software... Finally leaping to InDesign (years after everyone else switched over, admittedly). Hopefully will result in more professional layouts in the books.

A Few More Reprints

Besides the other material, I'm working on several other reprints as I get time.

1) John Milton's Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes, collected together (with Gustave Doré's illustrations for the first).

2) A collection of two short books on the Mount Mica, Maine, tourmaline deposits, by A. C. Hamlin, with his full-color illustrations.

3) Almost finished with the eight earliest novels and collections of the old Hamilton Cleek mysteries.

A copy more I'm scanning, may or may not get to anytime soon: Moore's Ancient Mineralogy, and The Book of Buried Treasure.

Still Working On...

Still waiting on images for Bill Gibbons' Mokele-mbembe book. Haven't got too much more done on the Varmints book, though have recently picked up a few more interesting stories.

Looks like I'll be working with one well-known cryptozoologist to put out a new edition of one of his books. (With a few more possibly down the line.) Working through contract details on that.

Talking to a guy with an interesting anomalous archaeology manuscript (ironworks sites too early for colonial period in Ohio and region). Also have been discussing a possible manuscript with another individual on little people folklore in Iceland from an anthropological perspective.

Working a collection of volumes with the old Hamilton Cleek mysteries.

Currently Working On...

Received the text for Bill Gibbons' mokele-mbembe book. Doing the final edit now, then layout when I receive the images. This will have details on several of the most recent expeditions, adventure-travelogue style. Some interesting nuggets... plenty of eyewitness sightings by Congo and Cameroonian folk...

Received the text for Raptors of the Northeast, by Dwight Smith and Thomas Bosakowski. This will be a small-format full color guide. Will be editing that soon; slides have been sent out for scanning, and need to locate some additional images, but this shouldn't take too long to put out.

Still working on Varmints, lots left to do, but it's coming together. (Biggest problem is my part-time job schedule is taking up too much time this month, as I cover for vacationers.)

End of Month Update

Or, maybe better as a beginning of month update: Finishing up another 3-volume set of Chesterton's material, mostly his essays. Also, just waiting for one more image for the back cover of Foolish Questions. Scanned the two books that make up the Darby O'Gill stories, will work on that this month. Still working on Varmints; I have the bulk of the sightings portion done. Planning to scan a text on medieval dyes. Still waiting on a few texts by a few other authors.

Espresso Distribution

I'll be signing up this week for distribution of my books through the Espresso network that LSI is partnering with. Right now, it looks like that will just entail the US, Canada, UK, and Europe, but hopefully it will open up in Australia, Asian countries, etc. It's an excellent opportunity for distributing books to a wider audience.

Good News for POD

An interview with the president of Lightning Source shows that the print on demand model is still going strong.

Copyright Registration News

Just saw pointed out on a publishing list that the US Copyright Office has a major backlog; so if you register a book now, it will be considered registered as soon as they receive the complete registration, but you may not receive the paperwork for sixteen to eighteen months.

Opted Out

Not big news, but decided to opt out of Google's Book Settlement. Google has done such a poor job of clarifying the issues and their future intentions (and obscuring any real benefit to publishers) that it isn't worth being part of it.

What's Happening Now

OK, this is a slower month than I expected, progress-wise. Non-publishing matters have taken their toll on my time, etc. But, a few quick things:

1) The Chesterton volumes (three volumes, three novels/collections each) are laid out; I'm just waiting to get the image for the covers, which I have to special order. As I've mentioned, I'm not good with covers, as I'm not a graphic artist, but I think this classic image will look great.

2) Spent a couple days chatting with the prospective author, on Canadian mystery animals, very interesting material, just have to wait for him to finish the manuscript.

3) I really should look for someone in the UK with access to the old Blackwood's Magazine to track down some stories for me.

Currently Working On...

I'm still working on Varmints, but am taking a few days off until I get a new microphone for the PC (using Dragon NaturallySpeaking for some article transcription). I'm still trying to decide whether to include cougar-type reports... not cryptozoological, so am leaning against. Of course, some "black panther" accounts may be cougar-related (gray phase) but for the most part, those seem to indicate smaller felines (whether domestic or smaller wild cats).

Setting up some volumes for the early novels of G. K. Chesterton, don't know if I'll include short stories yet or not.

Will be meeting with a potential cryptozoology author later this week.

Update

I've just about finished up a few more reprints. The text block for The Legend of Croquemitaine is finished, and the omnibus containing The Jewel of Seven Stars and The Beetle. Just need to do the covers for those this weekend. Almost finished with the dinosaur/pterosaur/whatevermasaur anthology of early scifi/fantasy, just waiting to hear back on a possible reprint permission. Shouldn't be too much longer on the two book omnibus of The Queen of Atlantis and The Devil-Tree of El Dorado. Devil-Tree is a bit of a sequel to the former, at least in regards to one character.

I've been surprised by how few early saurian-type creature stories there are (pre-1920s); right now, the collection includes 14 short stories and the classic novel, The Lost World. Actually, one of the short stories is more of a novella, written by Ivan T. Sanderson.

Regarding my personal cryptozoology-related texts, still working (slowly) on the Varmints book; also, am thinking that when I start working on the cryptozoology atlas, I may break that up into multiple smaller volumes. Given that it will be in color POD, it could get expensive for a larger atlas. Breaking it up into sections will allow individuals to acquire those that are of greatest interest at a cheaper price. I plan to start utilizing color POD for more books, including a few future volumes by other cryptozoology writers (in discussions). It is certainly a bit more expensive, but it does look much better to have full color images.

Update

I'm still plugging away at several mystery titles, hoping to have them finished by January 1.

I've been fooling around with Facebook, created a page for Coachwhip, (only a few covers on it right now), but haven't added a link from the main site yet. Maybe this weekend.

Thematic Strategy

I have a range of books I am working on in different stages. One thing I particularly am looking for are small groups of thematically related books. The idea being, similar books help sell each other, and of course a customer who likes one book may be more willing to buy another from the same publisher.

I haven't done much with Lancaster County material, though I've been back in the area for about seven years. I should have a few books coming out by a local author/speaker that are of some regional interest (and he'll be selling direct, which will be the bulk of sales). He has a few local natural history subjects, another on the county's covered bridges, and I'm trying to talk him (and his wife) into an authentic Pennsylvania Dutch cookbook.

I'm a bit behind in my personal cryptozoology titles, but I need to bolster my monthly sales first before spending all that time putting together titles with a limited market.

Index Page Covers

OK -- turns out I prefer all the covers on the index page. I reorganized it a little bit, but after looking over a few other sites with decent SEO, it doesn't appear that numerous small images on the front page are a problem. People don't mind scrolling, apparently.

Other news -- I got sidetracked again on another theme... Looks like I'll be putting out a few single-author anthologies of classic mysteries. (Raffles, the Thinking Machine, Poe's Dupin, maybe a few more.)

LSI Interview

For those keeping up with the POD industry, here's an interesting interview with Lightning Source President David Taylor. Changes are par for the course with print-on-demand, and it looks like publishers will have more options in the future.

Stories

The problem with trying to put out reasonably thorough anthologies is that three months later, I'm going to run across a story I wish I had included. Thus, I guess I've started on my second cryptobotanical fiction anthology. A bit more difficult, though, as I'm only a few stories in, and it's unlikely I'll find many more public domain stories. At present, I'm trying not to spend money on licensing stories, but I suppose that's always a possibility in the future. (The market at present is a bit small...)

Don't Buy Invertebrata...Yet

I'm probably a day or two from approving Invertebrata for sales, but if it shows up on Amazon in a week, don't buy it yet unless you want to pay a premium... I forgot I was planning to rearrange my anthology prices, and set it at $19.95. I've got a price change request (it'll be $14.95), but that probably won't take place until after January 1st. I'm trying to finish up the sea monster anthology soon, and will make sure that is priced correctly when it comes out (before Christmas).

I originally had these anthologies set up with a bit of a higher discount for retailers, with the intent that they might show some discounting for buyers, but that's not happening often enough, so I'm shooting for a lower discount and lower overall pricing now.

Coming to Australia?

There have been rumors that LSI might build a plant in Australia or Hong Kong (or was it Singapore?), which would allow easier (less expensive) distribution to that region of the world. More recently, a print-on-demand book machine has launched efforts in Australia, and LSI appears to have agreements with that company. So, it's possible that publishers that work with LSI might just have reasonable access to the Australian market fairly soon.

Beyond the obvious (making my titles available to a large English-speaking market), it also means I can publish titles specifically for the Australian market (i.e., public domain there, even if still copyright in the US & UK). They wouldn't have direct marketing outside of the Australian market, of course, but would be available there (and could always be shipped...).

Potential Books

I've been discussing the potential for POD with a possible author here in Lancaster Co. His books would include Lancaster County or Pennsylvania history (covered bridges, etc.), regional nature studies, and a few other subjects of local interest. He has his own distribution (stands at Roots and Green Dragon, speaking engagements, and the like), so it could work out.

Also, trying to nudge Bill Rebsamen into publishing his full-color crypto-art book. That was originally going to be published with another company, but fell through.

And, I'm now "digitally certified" with LSI, which means nothing to book buyers or authors, but will help me out substantially: should lower my upfront costs to put out a book, and possibly make the turnaround time much quicker.

Am going to try and send the invertebrate sci-fi/fantasy anthology to the printer this weekend, and possibly the sea monster anthology as well.

Translation is a Pain

I have two short stories (not so short) by classic (pseudonymous) French writer J.-H. Rosny (sr.), that I'll be including in some future cryptofiction anthologies. One is about an African explorer encountering some strange gorillas, the other involves giant intelligent vampire-bats and other creatures in an underground realm. (There may be a few more stories in this collection I'm using, but as I can't read French, I'll have to translate first and determine later.)

I've started on the gorilla/wild man story, but of course, mechanical translation devices (I'm using Google translator) only give the words, not the sense of what is being expressed. So I'm sure it will take me a little while to figure out how to convey it correctly. I do think it's odd nobody has translated these previously.

Also, I'm going to have to ditch the G. K. Chesterton story that involves a scientist and his bias against sea serpents, which I was planning to use from his posthumous collection The Coloured Lands. Copyright again rears its ugly head, though I'm not convinced that it is copyright here in the states. I've discussed this briefly with the literary agent, and she is not certain whether there was a simultaneous publication in the US and UK in 1938. If there was, then the collection is public domain here in the US, as it was not copyright renewed. If it was published in the UK more than 30 days prior to the US publication, then it is copyright protected here in the US, and will be until 1933. Either way, the collection goes into the public domain in the UK in 2009. (I'll say it again: US copyright rules are absurd.) From book notices in both the London Times and the New York Times, it appears the book may have been published simultaneously in December 1938, but I can't prove it.

I'd really like to include a few more sea monster/ aquatic creature stories in the anthology, so any story suggestions would be of interest.

Slight Delay

I'm trying to get digitally certified with LSI right now, which basically means I've got enough experience with their pdf submission requirements that I'll be able to submit new titles without undergoing their normal departmental checks. That should a) decrease the time it takes for a title to be approved and ready for print, and b) decrease my per-title submission fees.

In order to go through the certification process, I have to stick to a single title for submission this week, and that's going to end up being a book I'm doing for a friend of a friend; I'm doing the printing services (creating the files so that I can print copies for her as needed), rather than the full-scale publishing through Coachwhip. I don't usually offer this for self-publishers, but in this case it didn't take too much time. Once this is done, and hopefully it won't take more than a week, I'll be able to send Invertebrata Enigmatica (insects, arachnids, and other invertebrates in science fiction and fantasy) to the printer. Should be available, then, in a few weeks.

Current Projects

I've been a tad busy putting together a book for an author that she will be "self-publishing" (I'll just be providing printing services). Not my usual gig, but she's a friend of a friend.

In any case, for that and other scheduling issues, I haven't had much time for my straight cryptozoology texts. Those will probably get back on track after the end of the year.

I just found the last story I need for my sci-fi/fantasy bugs collection. Amazingly, found a great story involving the old legends of "gold-digging ants" (See Karl Shuker's writings for a cryptozoological perspective) and it doesn't appear in any of the sci-fi indexes that I have access to via Google books, apparently long-forgotten. So, will see if I can put this anthology together by end of week.

Omnibus vs Anthology

Yeah, have a few more anthologies on the way, but also some omnibuses... similar to Pym, will collect similar-themed fiction by different authors (usually). I just finished the ocr correction for The Devil-Tree of El Dorado, and am almost done with Vampires of the Andes, so will publish them together, I think. With separate books, I'd have to ask $13.95 minimum for the fiction, while I can put two novels together for $19.95 and save the reader some money (and still make a profit). The omnibus also allows me to market more effectively on Amazon, as the book won't be automatically shuttled as an alternative paperback for a current title by another publisher.

Current News

Assuming no major problems, I'll have two books finished by end of next week: Bog-trotting for Orchids and Archaeology and False Antiquities. I haven't decided whether to go ahead and send them to the printer or hold off.

I really need to go ahead and try and finish up the first volume of Varmints, which will deal with the mystery felines of North America. That'll probably take a month or two.

POD's Big Jump

PW is noting that while there was a 1% increase in traditional book publishing in 2007, there was a 39% increase in POD, short run, and other titles. I suspect that trend will continue in 2008.

I'm not sure, though, that traditional publishers really "get" what's going on here. Here's a quote from an associate publisher for editorial at a traditional Christian publisher, InterVarsity Press:

"On the one hand, obviously, it makes it easier for authors to get their books in print on their own or through a publisher that specializes in print-on-demand books. On the other hand, it increases the competition and makes it more difficult for any particular book to get noticed and have significant sales."

This may be true for generic titles or perhaps fiction, but it's not that difficult for a specialty title in a well-defined niche to be marketed effectively. "Significant" sales for a POD book is different from a traditionally published book. My first cryptozoology title, for example, has done better for me than it would ever have done with a traditional publisher, even if it sold there in greater numbers. There are so many niches where competition is lacking, that a publisher just needs to find an author who can produce quality work in that area. (Of course, that's a problem for both traditionals and PODs.)

Ebooks Again

I've decided to integrate ebooks into the publishing again, just added 10 titles as printable PDFs, using Payloadz for payment/delivery. Of particular interest, included both Historical Bigfoot and Boss Snakes, at $9.95 each, and included a $3.00 affiliate referral fee.

Color in the UK

LSI now has their color printing available in the UK, so that will help my titles from being so "one-sided" distribution-wise. This means that as of June (I've just submitted the changes, so it takes a little while before it comes into effect), the color plates volume of American Spiders and Their Spinningwork and Forged Egyptian Antiquities will both be available in the UK. Several more color books are on the way.

Something To Look Forward To (In 2019)

Sad to say, but I've postponed my edition of Gould's Case for the Sea-Serpent due to copyright reasons. While going over a last-minute consideration, I ran across mention that when a book is published outside the US more than 30 days before the US edition, the copyright policy must follow the first country's rules. Drat it all. The US edition was published 4 years after the UK edition, with no substantial changes as far as I know. This means my edition can't be published until 2019. (Unless I can track down and make arrangements with the Gould estate; unlikely, but I'll make inquiries.) [To the lucky few who ordered copies prior to my cancellation, you've got a very, very limited edition.] What's killing me is there is a Singing Tree reprint from the 1960s or so, and I'm pretty sure they considered the text public domain. But... that's the way it goes.

UK vs US Copyright

I'm trying to finish up my reprint of Gould's Case for the Sea-Serpent this evening, and after a little investigation realized that I'll only be able to offer US distribution of the title, rather than US/UK as with most of my books. UK copyright is life of author + 70 years, which means this book won't be public domain in the UK until 2018, another ten years. Because it had a US printing in 1934, without copyright renewal, it is public domain here. While my UK sales are trifling, I was expecting to sell at least a few copies over there, so this is a little annoying, but not much I can do about it. (Technically, my books would be "published" in the US, and "printed" in the UK, but I'm too uncertain of legal liability in this instance to take a chance.)

Gould's Loch Ness book would also have the same copyright period in the UK, but it never had a US printing (as far as I know). So, in the US, it won't be in the public domain until 2029, 95 years after publication in the UK. So, we won't be seeing reprints of those (legal ones, at least), unless the Gould estate gives permission.

Similarly, I would love to reprint Gandar-Dower's The Spotted Lion, but it's not in the public domain, and I have no idea how to get hold of his estate.

A Suggestion for Lightning Source

Given the recent Amazon attack on POD publishing, specifically LSI clients, I'm wondering if there isn't a (relatively) simple solution. After all, Lightning Source stands to lose some significant earnings (from both present and future clients) if Amazon forces a shift in the primary POD publishing arena. LSI has spent significant money already in expansions and upgrades, and they're looking outside the North American and European markets, so this can't really be seen as anything but a direct challenge.

So, why doesn't LSI set up a direct ordering site (opt-in for client-publishers) that integrates the drop-shipping capabilities they already have in place for Amazon and other retailers. Cut out the middle man. Sure, Amazon's got market share, but if a book-selling site is set up right, and seriously promoted by the many LSI client-publishers, it stands a chance of taking back some of the lost profits to both LSI and the individual publishers.

As it stands, if the Amazon rampage continues, POD publishers that don't migrate to Booksurge will only be offered by third-party sellers, with no discounts, no free shipping option, and probably an increase to the price by the third-party seller. POD publishers that do migrate face lower profits via a higher forced wholesale discount, or through increased retail pricing that decreases the number of books sold.

If LSI set up a direct-buy website for its client-publishers, they wouldn't have to give the wholesale discount to a retailer -- they could keep that as retail-side profit. There'd be no need to discount titles (which is only done by Amazon as a gimmick, anyway), but there'd also not be a tacked-on increase to retail pricing, so it would be a good site for authors to direct potential buyers. I'm sure a viable and economical shipping solution could be arranged.

With as many titles as are in the LSI system, if it were set up correctly it could help even out the POD retail playing field. Amazon's only getting away with this because of the lack of direct competition. Someone else needs to show up to play.

Amazon Sends Mixed Signals

I'm not sure what Amazon's up to right now. First, comes the news that Amazon's Booksurge department is strong-arming several large POD publishers into joining them (at a substantial profit loss) rather than sticking with Lightning Source or other printers. This has a lot of the smaller POD publishers in a frenzy, as it could pretty much ruin our business, forcing much higher retail pricing to accommodate the required wholesale discount. Or we might just need to funnel our book buyers to online stores like Barnes & Noble as our primary distributors.

Now, though, I see that Amazon has most of my titles at a 10% discount to buyers, even with the minimal wholesale discount I offer. That's a bit strange, and seems unnecessary. But, if you've been waiting to buy a POD book, now might be the time to save a few bucks...

Update

Scanned another classic cryptofiction/lost race novel (Vampires of the Andes), so should have six of that genre ready to go in a month or so. I'm trying to decide whether to publish these novels separately, or perhaps pair them up...

Madge the Magician's Daughter didn't come out well, when I looked at a proof, so it's out of circulation until I get time to revise it. These are old newspaper comics that were scanned by another source, so I'm limited in my ability to fool with it too much. It came out a bit too faded in parts.

The editing for Al Spoo's Pearly Mussels of Pennsylvania (working title) is coming along nicely. I'm pleased with how the color images are looking.

Am thinking about doing a short booklet, color images, of scorpions of eastern North America... if I have time...

I'm going to put out Gould's Case for the Sea-Serpent, but only recently got around to ordering a copy to get the inside cover map scans. (My previous working copy didn't have those.) Figures, the book dealer mistakenly switched books and sent it to another book buyer, so have to wait however much longer before I get the book now.

What's New?

Currently, am editing Gary & Dwight's Atlantic sea serpent manuscript, which is about 90% complete. This may take a few weeks to finish for editing, then will need final additions.

Picked up a number of "lost race / living dinosaur or some other strange creature" type classic novels for scanning.

Still trying to finish up my spider book, Eight-Legged Marvels; got stuck on the final chapter, and need to pick up a few specific spider images yet.

Need to figure out a way to subsidize putting out more manuscripts...

February has been a good sales month so far, would like to keep that up.

Upgraded (SEO-wise) CoachwhipBooks.com and StrangeArk.com. Might be a while before I have time to work on Herper.com.

Evaluated a submitted summary and sample chapters by a potential author on Bigfoot, but decided the book wasn't a good match for my publishing goals.

Naturalist Bob Chance should be getting his manuscript to me (a compilation of his Maryland newspaper columns) within a short time.

LSI News

Well, I didn't get anything on my Lightning Source wishlist this year, but LSI has just made a couple of new changes. First, they've added some new color book trim sizes. Frankly, I'd call that irrelevant until they decrease the price of color pages. I think they're trying to get publishers to put out more color books by offering a wider range of sizes, but until the books are economically feasible, it's not going to happen on the scale they're looking for. Second, they've flattened the publication fee. Now, regardless of b/w or color, and no matter how many pages, it is $75 to set up a new title (US pricing). This makes it a little cheaper to set up books with high page counts, but makes it more expensive for shorter books. This will offer some minor savings, but I wouldn't say it's a big deal.

On a different subject, the NY Times has an article discussing why it takes so long for a traditionally published book to come to market. The answer? Mostly, marketing. I'll stick to POD.

Coming in 2008

Technically, this is more of a "wish list," as it depends on several factors. But, I'm planning to put out 5-10 reprints on various subjects, starting an "urban wildlife" series authored by Dwight Smith, a two-volume set on Pacific and Atlantic sea serpents by Smith & Mangiacopra, possibly a "sight-seeing guide" to Lake Champlain by Dwight Smith, Bob Chance's Earthline column anthology, Bill Gibbons' Mokele-Mbembe book, and (as far as my own projects go) possibly a sequel to Historical Bigfoot dedicated to the 1950s through the 1970s, and a guide to cryptozoological canines/felines/other predators in North America. I'd also like to start a series of 20 or 40 page color books on North American snake genera.

Boss Snakes Finished

OK, Boss Snakes is finished, and available from Amazon, though the data hasn't yet propagated to Amazon UK or Barnes & Noble. (Oddly, my last title also isn't on B&N yet; I'm thinking it needed to be entered into Bowker first, for some reason, so have done that and will wait and see.)

Next up, trying to finish Eight-Legged Marvels.

Caught It (A Little Late)

Being a one-man shop, I can always look forward to seeing some dumb editing problem in a newly published book. It's due to a sort of word-blindness, where I can look at a phrase, read it, and completely overlook an incongruency. Usually, it involves prepositions on my covers. I'll put one preposition on the title page, and a different one on the cover. Almost put "Sightings and Stories" on the new Boss Snakes cover, when it was "Stories and Sightings." Quickly caught that before I sent it. But, last night, several days after uploading the book to the printer, was going over a few things in my head, and thought, 'I did use Mark Chorvinsky's name, right?' I mention the late Strange Magazine publisher briefly... and a quick check confirmed I had, of course, inserted Mark Opsasnick's name instead. Well, they're both from Maryland. A few choice words, a quick change and re-upload, another $40 down the drain, and the book will be bumped back a few days, but will have the correct name in it.

And, noting some odd little comment elsewhere about the use of a black racer on the cover of Boss Snakes, it's a bit sad to see that cryptids as social (ethnozoological) constructs has taken such a turn in popular culture that we are so certain that they must in fact be strictly based on unknown species. That's one reason I dislike over-generalizations in the attempt to name or describe a mystery animal prior to physical confirmative evidence. (Or rather, the effort to make specific claims about a generalized far-flung topic.) The giant snake phenomena in North America is based on a wide range of folklore: hoaxes, misidentifications, exaggerations, tall tales, as well as credible sightings involving larger than expected specimens of native species, introduced or feral exotics, and maybe (just maybe...) unrecognized variations or species.

Online Sales Categories

I'm still in procrastination mode (need to tie down some final text edits and photo licensing for Eight-Legged Marvels, and haven't quite gotten in the mood to finish Boss Snakes, though I've got the sightings layout done), so just a quick glance (generic musings) at how I think we can categorize online booksales, particularly with POD.

Directed (informed) purchases: running along a scale from low need to high need, these are the niche-specific sales for someone who has done their homework and is specifically looking for a book on a certain topic. The higher the need (along with other factors, like few competing titles), the better the chance for an online sale.

Casual (recognized) purchases: running along a scale of low value to high value, these are the sales within a community-based niche, where any new title will have a decent chance of being noted, and where purchases are based on past experience (how well previous titles were written), market saturation or over-saturation, and similar factors.

Impulse (triggered) purchases: these sales run along a scale from low stimulus to high stimulus, and involve individuals who might otherwise have no real interest in the subject. Factors include cover appeal, and marketing approaches to the title, subject, and scope of the book.

A single book can be marketed to each of these purchase categories, but the methods are different. And, of course, a given title may not appeal to certain categories.

A Hurdle for POD

Just thinking this over... One of the most commonly listed problems with POD books (from traditional publishers) is the lax editing most receive. Now, you'll still see errors in traditional publishing (oddly enough, I recently noted two separate uses of the number 1, when a capital letter I was called for, in Harper Publishing's edition of Making Money, by Terry Pratchett), but it is true that micropublishers rarely hire professional editors.

Generally, I'm not sure this matters so much if the publisher isn't targeting millions of buyers. Still, poor editing can grate, particularly if combined with poor layout design. (I stick to my own preferred template, created from trial-and-error, and follow a few basic rules: no orphans, no widows, etc.) But the cost of adding a professional editor on staff (or even hiring on a line-by-line basis) is too expensive with books that might take 5 years to reach 1,000 copies.

So, there's a potential market for alternatives here. It probably wouldn't be worth it for an editor to offer "quick edits" for a lower fee. Perhaps there is opportunity, though, for small community-oriented editing groups. Set up a sort of private wiki for 5-10 interested people with a background in writing/editing, and an interest in the subject, and give them the ability to make basic edits. Not sure how that would offer compensation, but it's one possible angle.

Lightning Source: 10 Years

LSI is celebrating ten years in the print-on-demand business. Overall, I've had a great experience with this company. They've done a good job of keeping up with trends, and pushing forward in new areas. But, as Christmas is coming up, here's my wish list for Lightning Source, things (from a small publisher's perspective) I think would really help this business grow and compete with "mainstream" publishers.

1. Print books with horizontal (landscape) layouts, also, rather than just vertical (portrait) layouts.

2. Cheaper color printing. Even coming down to 6 cents a page would drastically improve pricing and distribution capabilities.

3. Drop the annual title "catalog" fees. With 500,000 titles, do you really need $12 a title a year? (Did I just answer my own question?)

4. Allow digital certification after 25 titles, rather than 50.

5. Bring the publisher-ordered print costs down to the same price as vendor-ordered books.

6. Develop the capability for color inserts, rather than just full-color versus black-and-white books.

7. Work with Ingram to create a marketing catalog for libraries and bookstores that doesn't discriminate against POD books

8. Convince Amazon to accept LSI ebooks again. It's not like their own ebook program has taken off.

9. Make the discount program for higher-quantity orders standard, not just the occasional promotion.

10. Decrease the cover replacement "correction fee." $50 a shot is a bit high.

Reprints: Paperback or HTML?

Looking forward, I have many more potential reprints than actual new material, in the pipeline. This is mostly because it's only a few days' or a weeks' work to get the scanning and OCR done, while months of research may go into a brand new title.

But, of course, not all reprints have a ready-made audience. Just because I find them interesting doesn't mean that anyone else will (or that my low-key low-cost marketing will attract anyone who might). Take for instance a reprint of a small booklet of philatelic cartoons from 1916 (I used to collect stamps, so still carry a slight interest in the subject); there might possibly be two or three philatelic historians who'd shell out for a copy (the cartoons are only mildly amusing today, as they appear to be riffing on people long gone...), but there wouldn't be much else. So, should I forego the print copy (which would cost me about $75 to produce via normal methods) and just reprint it on some pages on the CoachwhipBooks site? Maybe publish it as a paperback through Lulu, where there are no upfront costs, but wouldn't be distributable elsewhere and would have a higher print cost...

There are a few possible titles for alternative publishing routes, but will have to decide what's worth spending time on and what should be left to other salvagers.

Philip Henry Gosse

One of my favorite classic natural history writers is Philip Henry Gosse. He wrote several books in the mid- to late 1800s, including a few titles in which he discusses mystery animals (sea serpents and the like). He was the first naturalist to create (and write about) the salt-water aquarium, and had a particular interest in marine life.
I've spent the day scanning the text and color plates for Gosse's A Year at the Shore. I'll put it in line to reprint in a few months, if I have time. Lots of other books I need to keep working on, but I would like to start reprinting a few more of his books. I did have an ebook for his text, The Romance of Natural History (American version), which was fairly popular as a free download.