Here's the press release I paid $300 for (along with a long list of email addresses to "editors" and "contacts" that were completely useless. I actually feel somewhat misled by iUniverse on the effectiveness of the email campaign).
**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
EDITORS: For review copies or interview requests, contact:
Promotional Services Department
Tel: 1-800-AUTHORS
Fax: 812-355-4078
Email: promotions@iuniverse.com
(When requesting a review copy, please provide a street address.)
Waiting for Appa
Will young girl find the father she so desperately longs for?
MILPITAS, CA - When Eunhae is 9 years old, she says a tearful farewell to her father, an ex-Korean Navy captain, as he leaves for America. He promises to come back for her and her mother in three years, but fear grips her as time passes and it becomes difficult to remember his face.
Two years later, she and her mother receive visas to immigrate to America. Eunhae’s heart pounds with the great expectation of seeing her father as she lands at San Francisco, but Auntie Soona instead greets her and her mother, and they discover that he is in a coma after an accident on the job. At the hospital, Eunhae and her mother meet Sunwoo, who was her father’s roommate. There is puzzling hostility from Uncle Chul toward Sunwoo, but Eunhae finds him a kindred spirit as she spies him crying over her father.
In Waiting for Appa, (published by iUniverse) author Jennifer R. Kim traces the pain and confusion of Eunhae, who continues to clutch to her dead father's memory like the ashes she refuses to toss into the sea during his memorial. When she catches Sunwoo and her mother in an embrace she withdraws from everyone who seeks to love her, and as she grows to womanhood, her confusion over her feelings and the actions of her relatives deepens. On a return trip home to Korea, she discovers that she herself holds a secret, and finding the answer to it will eventually unlock her heart.
About the Author
Jennifer R. Kim was born in 1968 in Chinhae, Korea, and immigrated with her family to the United States in 1978, settling in Newark, Calif. In 1985, she participated in NASA Ames Summer High School Apprentice Research Program working on the Space Station program. In 1986, she was at Lockheed’s research and development office in Palo Alto working on the Gravity Probe B program. Kim graduated from UC Berkeley with a mechanical engineering degree and went to work for Bechtel in San Francisco, and later in Silicon Valley, working in the semiconductor industry. An acclaimed writer during high school and college, she had an essay published in the San Francisco Chronicle and a short story published in The Literary Realm. This is her first book.
Waiting for Appa
Available from: www.iUniverse.com, www.bn.com, and www.amazon.com
###
So, save your $300 and use it for something else, like buying books you'd like to read.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Publishing packages
I've been very busy with some other things and I haven't been able to blog as often as I'd hoped. I'm sorry about the long gaps. I'll try to be more diligent in updating the blog.
All the self-publishing info below pertains to my experience with iUniverse only.
Self-Publishing Timeline:
I called iUniverse on 2/3/09. My book didn't get "published" until 6/29/09 and I didn't get a review copy until the end of July'09. But I really didn't get much sales activity going until November'09 because my books weren't returnable until late October'09.
In between 02/09 and 06/09, I had to edit and proof my manuscript one more time and I thought I couldn't handle this "one more time." It's very difficult to capture mistakes on a manuscript which you've read over a hundred times in the last several years.
Things to keep in mind from the beginning:
1. Returnability. Without this, you can't get the books into the stores. Do this early. It takes almost 8 weeks to get this set up if you miss the monthly window of opportunity. ($599 for a year. $300 for each additional years)
2. Copy Right. Just get it when you get the package. You can definitely get discounts at that time, but not very likely later. (was included in $999 package I purchased. I think it was additional $100 or something like that.)
3. Library of Congress #. I didn't get this one, but I regret it. I would get it next time. (I think this was additional $100 or something like that).
4. Cover Copy Polish. I bought this, but I'm not sure how useful it was to me. The cover copy came back very close to what I had already. I'm not sure I'd do that again. OK. I wouldn't do it again. ($199)
5. Press Release/Email Marketing campaign. I bought the cheapest package and it didn't work at all. I think cheap had nothing to do with it. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS OPTION. It was nice to get a copy of a press release a publishing house like iUniverse would write for their authors, but I would definitely not do this again. You can do it on your own. ($300)
6. "Customized" editing package. They wanted to charge $2400 for this. I turned it down. I had enough confidence in my writing/grammar/etc. to just go without it. You may go with one of the cheapest packages if you're confident about your material. I think that's what Lisa Genova did through iUniverse. If you don't know about her, you might want to google her name or Still Alice. That's her book. Her story will inspire you.
I know you can copy right your book and get the library of congress # on your own, but with a POD, I wasn't sure how I can time it so that my book would be published with those #s (I think you have to submit two copies of your book with each request).
I was utterly disappointed with the press release/email marketing campaign. It was completely useless in that it's basically a SPAM when it gets sent out like that. I've contacted some of the editors on my own and they've told me to contact them when I've sold ~1000 books, at least.
THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION - would I go with iUniverse again?
I would if I was going the POD (print-on-demand) way. It's amazingly easy to have your books available on Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com. With Borders.com, it took a little work. This is incredibly valuable. So, this alone would make me go back to iUniverse.
I still can't schedule book signings at Borders. And as much as people talk about supporting independent booksellers, Barnes and Noble makes it so easy to schedule book signings at multiple locations. I tried to schedule events at independent booksellers, but I was discouraged by the sellers themselves. Maybe I need to try again with them at a different location. The bottom line - I am so grateful to Barnes and Noble for giving me a fair shake in this arena.
In the next blog, I'll post the $300 press release I've purchased along with the list of email contacts.
All the self-publishing info below pertains to my experience with iUniverse only.
Self-Publishing Timeline:
I called iUniverse on 2/3/09. My book didn't get "published" until 6/29/09 and I didn't get a review copy until the end of July'09. But I really didn't get much sales activity going until November'09 because my books weren't returnable until late October'09.
In between 02/09 and 06/09, I had to edit and proof my manuscript one more time and I thought I couldn't handle this "one more time." It's very difficult to capture mistakes on a manuscript which you've read over a hundred times in the last several years.
Things to keep in mind from the beginning:
1. Returnability. Without this, you can't get the books into the stores. Do this early. It takes almost 8 weeks to get this set up if you miss the monthly window of opportunity. ($599 for a year. $300 for each additional years)
2. Copy Right. Just get it when you get the package. You can definitely get discounts at that time, but not very likely later. (was included in $999 package I purchased. I think it was additional $100 or something like that.)
3. Library of Congress #. I didn't get this one, but I regret it. I would get it next time. (I think this was additional $100 or something like that).
4. Cover Copy Polish. I bought this, but I'm not sure how useful it was to me. The cover copy came back very close to what I had already. I'm not sure I'd do that again. OK. I wouldn't do it again. ($199)
5. Press Release/Email Marketing campaign. I bought the cheapest package and it didn't work at all. I think cheap had nothing to do with it. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS OPTION. It was nice to get a copy of a press release a publishing house like iUniverse would write for their authors, but I would definitely not do this again. You can do it on your own. ($300)
6. "Customized" editing package. They wanted to charge $2400 for this. I turned it down. I had enough confidence in my writing/grammar/etc. to just go without it. You may go with one of the cheapest packages if you're confident about your material. I think that's what Lisa Genova did through iUniverse. If you don't know about her, you might want to google her name or Still Alice. That's her book. Her story will inspire you.
I know you can copy right your book and get the library of congress # on your own, but with a POD, I wasn't sure how I can time it so that my book would be published with those #s (I think you have to submit two copies of your book with each request).
I was utterly disappointed with the press release/email marketing campaign. It was completely useless in that it's basically a SPAM when it gets sent out like that. I've contacted some of the editors on my own and they've told me to contact them when I've sold ~1000 books, at least.
THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION - would I go with iUniverse again?
I would if I was going the POD (print-on-demand) way. It's amazingly easy to have your books available on Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com. With Borders.com, it took a little work. This is incredibly valuable. So, this alone would make me go back to iUniverse.
I still can't schedule book signings at Borders. And as much as people talk about supporting independent booksellers, Barnes and Noble makes it so easy to schedule book signings at multiple locations. I tried to schedule events at independent booksellers, but I was discouraged by the sellers themselves. Maybe I need to try again with them at a different location. The bottom line - I am so grateful to Barnes and Noble for giving me a fair shake in this arena.
In the next blog, I'll post the $300 press release I've purchased along with the list of email contacts.
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