Thursday, August 14, 2014

Writer's Digest Tries Self-Publishing Again With BookBaby; RosettaBooks Expands Into Print; and More

Publishers Lunch


Writer's Digest quietly severed ties with Author Solutions, which provided the back-end to its self-publishing service Abbott Press , earlier this year. Now the company has teamed up with BookBaby for a different self-publishing program under the name Blue Ash Publishing. The new program takes pain to distinguish itself from the earlier one, touting "100 percent net earnings" once retailers are paid their percentages, and "no commission" taken by BookBaby, "total creative control" including full rights ownership to the author, "exclusive education programs" that include weekly newsletters, and for those who pay more, access to Writers Market, and other digital subscriptions, and extra promotional tools. The cheapest package costs $417, which includes ebook publishing and distribution services. Other more comprehensive packages range from $825 (Basic) to $3137 (Ultimate) and factors in paperback or hardcover production and distribution.

Writer's Digest publisher Phil Sexton said in a statement: "This new venture powered by BookBaby is grounded in what Writer's Digest does best: educating writers." BookBaby president Steven Spatz added: "Blue Ash Publishing authors are truly getting the best of both worlds in self-publishing. In addition to the education resources of Writer’s Digest, authors will get the advantages of worldwide distribution through BookBaby's sales network, plus, inclusive access to a powerful suite of promotional tools through our BookPromo program. It's a perfect marriage between two leading companies in the self-publishing space, and authors will reap the benefits."

RosettaBooks will publish physical editions of select frontlist titles beginning in October 2014 with former Apple and Pepsi ceo John Sculley's MOONSHOT! Game-Changing Strategies to Build Billion Dollar Businesses. The publisher plans to release an additional 15 titles throughout the rest of the year and into 2015. Ingram Publishing Services is handling sales and distribution.

Vintage has begun releasing titles in its new ebook series Vintage Shorts, including Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's WE SHOULD ALL BE FEMINISTS and Eli Saslow's AMERICAN HUNGER, with plans to mine Vintage and Anchor's backlist for appropriate 5,000 to 30,000-word excerpts that work well as digital books. Vintage Shorts will be priced at $.99 for backlist and up to $3.99 for some originals. "We are offering readers an entry point to discover exciting writers. Vintage Shorts will provide a high-quality and timely interaction with the reader in the best format for their needs," said Vintage/Anchor director of digital publishing & business development Laura Crisp in the announcement.

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