LLBR Returns to the Academy with Mick Rooney

To start this month off, LLBR caught up with Mick Rooney, author of  Academy which we reviewed earlier this year.  Mick returned to Lulu this month with a new book, Filigree & Shadow.  His author blog has always been a wealth of information covering not just his Lulu experiences, but also other news and events about other mainstream POD publishers.

1. First, tell us about your overall experience with publishing The Academy through Lulu.

In the summer of 2006 I completed the final draft of ‘Academy’, this encompassed some re-writing suggested to me by publishers I had submitted to over a period of ten or more years. Around this time I began to look again at the publishing options for the book. I picked up my old ‘Artist & Writer’s Yearbook of 2001’ and after a quick browse through it I realized how much the publishing landscape had changed. So many publishers I’d previously earmarked as potentially suitable to approach had either gone under or been subsumed by larger publishers. When I bought an updated yearbook I found an even greater amount of publishers unwilling to entertain unsolicited submissions. What staggered me most was that many large publishers had not even begun to embrace the electronic and digital age. It seemed that publishers were still stuck in the print media ideas and business models of the 1970’s and 1980’s. I decided to research the whole area of publishing and ultimately came upon POD and subsidy presses.

From the 1980’s, I’d been aware of ‘old style’ vanity press publishers like Dorrance and Vantage, who even back then were charging authors tens of thousands of dollars to be published. I had no time for these kinds of publishers, but let me be clear; I draw a distinct line between vanity and subsidy publishers. There is far too much nonsense written about this subject which has only resulted in the waters being muddied and authors left more confused. Some of this confusion is actually perpetrated by professional authors who themselves previously used vanity presses. It’s like being beaten over the head while you are having a quiet cigarette by a non-smoker who you discover had a 60 a day habit a couple of years back. I’m all for advice and guidance for authors, but not when it comes from authors who feel threatened and elitist about a publishing industry which remains far too rigid in its business model traditions. I researched into publishing and came across POD digital publishing and publishers like Lulu, iUniverse and AuthorHouse. But Lulu seemed to stand out from many other Subsidy presses.

In effect, Lulu struck me as a DIY publisher, I suppose like publishing with stabilizers! All the nuts and bolts are there, and how well you use the tools provided, reflects ultimately on the quality of the final printed book. I had worked throughout the 1990’s in music management and promotion, so the notion of an artist writing or creating something and using their own financial investment to bring that product to the public’s attention was nothing new. I’m still amazed at how entrenched the traditional publishing industry is. I self published my own first five books and companies like Lulu weren’t around then. Lulu seemed the ideal choice to get ‘Academy’ to print. I simply did not want to spend the next two years hawking the typescript around when I knew it hadn’t got a mass market appeal for a traditional publisher. What also appealed to me about Lulu was they are not what I would call an ‘active’ subsidy publisher, rather a printer where authors go of their own accord to utilize the author publishing services. They don’t bombard you with ‘Hi, I’m Hank, your author representative. You recently visited our site and enquired about publishing your book and we at XXXXXX are gonna nail you.’

Using Lulu took a little time and some practice. I suppose for some authors not PC confident, they might be put off and rather pay some other subsidy publisher $500 to $1000 to do it all for them. You’re not going to get too much more with another subsidy publisher than you get with Lulu, but I discovered the slight learning curve and the ‘trial & error’ approach with Lulu’s widgets and online tools is actually worth all the effort. I came in at the time just before Lulu started offering their ‘Publish by Lulu’ distribution package for free, though I did later use this for a paperback edition to add to the original hardback edition. To do what I did earlier this year to publish ‘Academy’ in hardback and paperback would cost me absolutely nothing bar the single proof copies now.

2. How have sales been?

My target was quite small with ‘Academy’. It only became fully available through all the online channels in July of this year. So after four months, I’ve sold 50 to 60 copies outside of my own 40 copies I bought to sell myself and for review and promotional purposes.

3. Did you sell more copies through Lulu or through another bookseller like Amazon?

Most of my sales went through Lulu. In fact after reviewing the online prices and the whole Amazon/Booksurge debacle earlier this year, I directed people to my blogsite and the Lulu Store Front and told them to avoid Amazon in particular.

4. Next, tell us about the poll you conducted to find out which POD companies were preferred. What was the outcome? How many people participated?

The poll was run over two months but it was never intended as an exact barometer or science into POD publishers, but instead a guide as to which publishers authors had experience of, and considered to be reputable. Overall 150+ votes were cast.

Xlibris topped the poll with 25% of the overall vote. Lulu was second with 19%, IUniverse third with 12% and tied in joint fourth, Booklocker and Outskirts Press. Honorable mentions went to Authors-Online UK and Mill City Press in fifth and sixth place.

What motivated me to conduct the poll were the horror stories I came across from authors who directly contacted me and also the experiences I came across on many writer’s forums. I wasn’t so much looking to find out who is the best, because, quite frankly, that’s entirely relative to what an author’s expectations are, what kind of services are offered by a publisher, and how much money the author pays. What I was after is if the author found the publisher to be reputable and a positive experience for them.

In hindsight, the poll was only ever going to highlight those POD publishers who’d made a positive impact on authors, and the publishers who did come out on top didn’t surprise me. For all the thousands of books published by AuthorHouse, Trafford, for example, neither of these polled a single vote.

5. You also recently highlighted the top companies on your blog. What were your findings? How does Lulu stack up to the competition?

In general terms, the longer a POD publisher is around, the stronger they appeal to authors wanting to use a publishing service. With more and more expansion and growth in digital POD publishing, and consumer focused website and blogsite information in this area, authors are slowly learning and becoming more discernible about choosing the right POD publisher. But the subsidy industry still remains an easy breathing ground for scammers and fraudsters.

Specifically, POD publishing is far better suited to non-fiction and the few books that become ‘best sellers’ mostly come from the area of self-help, business, relationships and how-to books. There are rare exceptions, but that is exactly what they are – rare. Many authors who have made a moderate or strong success in POD publishing have very strong business and marketing acumen and often have professional skills in these areas. In effect, the books they publish are simply a side product to compliment their success rather than make it.

The more astute POD publishers, in particular, publishers like Xlibris, Infinity, and to a lesser extent iUniverse, do seem to be strong in one or more of the above genres at guiding/executing their author’s paid marketing service. In fact iUniverse fiction authors do seem to be with a publisher who has sold those rare ‘high sellers’ in the fiction genre.

The strength the better POD companies have is keeping their authors beyond the first title and not being afraid to trumpet those they lose to commercial publishing. This month, Matador, a reputable UK subsidy publisher had two of their authors sign contracts with HarperCollins’ Acorn imprint. Whatever traditional publishers may say about subsidy publishing in public and at publisher industry conferences, they are not only looking carefully at the authors who do succeed, but there are also signs that some of them are seriously considering adapting their business models to consider ‘partnership/no advance’ contracts. Cold Tree Press in the US, a subsidy press, has now switched to being a traditional publisher.

Ultimately, I see Lulu more as a printer than publisher, though it can offer all that as well with its add-on services. Again, as I said above, Lulu’s greatest strength is that more authors go to them rather than Lulu having to advertise and chase the potential author on an upsell. Its message is plain and simple and not shrouded in ‘vanity promises’, so in many ways, because of the way Lulu presents itself as printer/publisher, it does not have to directly compete with the AuthorHouses of the industry. Lulu authors won’t ever go dashing to another POD to get a calendar or brochure printed.

6. What was the ultimate decision for choosing Lulu again for your next book?

Flexibility for one. Speed and product turnaround from file load up to getting the first proof to approving and signing off a book. My next book is a collection of my previously self-published books. They were originally published under my own imprint and publishing them through Lulu is no different to what I did with the individual 5 books many years ago, except with Lulu, I know I’m going to get a good quality book. The previous self published books were offset printed and they are long out of print. Also the fact that the actual set up of the book on Lulu will cost me nothing at the moment and I have both paperback and hardback editions available at once.

7. What did you learn from publishing Academy that has helped with your 2nd book? Has it been easier? What have you done differently? Were there any reoccurring challenges?

Yes, it has been easier. I have learned a lot from publishing through Lulu. In fact, I’m going to say something which may not sit easy with many other aspiring and experienced authors. I think the whole experience would far more ‘ground’ an author in what the business of publishing is actually all about. In this day and age, there are more authors signing for small publishing presses, whose owners and editors expect more input from the author than has ever happened before.

There are a multitude of websites and promotional sites on the web which are free and can be utilized by any author publishing through Lulu or anywhere. What it does take is time. There is also only so much you can do online for your book. Online sales only represent about 30% at most for publishing sales, and the balance has to be done either through proper brick and mortar distribution or literally hawking your wares around bookstore to bookstore.

No, ultimately, first book or tenth book, if you subsidy or self publish, then it doesn’t get necessarily any easier.

8. Tell us about Filigree and Shadow?

Filigree and Shadow is a collection of prose, short and long, that examines the themes of cruelty and beauty, shadow and light, and the influence of fairytale and myth on our lives.

9. Have you thought about approaching traditional publishing? Why or why not?

Yes, I have approached a number of traditional publishers over a period of time. In essence, while my work has been praised for its literary merit, it has been seen as non-mainstream, too challenging, and daring to merge poetry with standard fiction. What all my work has done is certainly challenge, but actually examine, what we as readers expect and enjoy from a book. My books are experiences of every sensation, and not merely movements from one page to another for the sake of a story.

10. Lastly, any advice for other authors out there considering the POD route? Would you recommend Lulu to them? Why or why not?

Lulu, ultimately, like any POD publisher/printer, is for the experienced writer, the unpublished writer, and the emerging small press publisher, who can utilize the tools to launch a business. Lulu is for the writer or publisher who has tried the traditional route and who has fully understood why their work/books have been rejected by mainstream publishers and the buying public. Lulu is also for the casual writer who perhaps only has one book in them, a personal experience; they are happy simply to see it in print, available for friends and family online to purchase. Lulu is a digital publishing tool, a means to take the first steps in publishing. Lulu is not a publishing answer to a writer who believes they have a unique voice that deserves to be heard, and will be heard by the masses. Lulu, for both small publisher and writer, is a means and not an end to their endeavors whatever they may be.

POD publishing, in general, is an answer to the rigidness of traditional publishing and the predicament it has placed itself in. The publishing world is changing, has been changing, and the future over the next five years will continue to vastly change. Whatever platforms and opportunities a writer is given, it will always fall upon the strength and quality of the writers written word, whatever means it reaches the readers eyes.

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