Chicken Scratchings

Posts Tagged ‘Experience’

by Bill Ruesch

In many posts, I have been very vocal about the Internet Wolves and Knaves that lay in wait to snare self-publishers. I’ve witnessed what happens to authors hoodwinked into spending their savings with little or no results to show for it. I’ll continue to rant about those dirty rats. You can count on it. I’ve even advised self-publishers to visit Victoria Strauss’s Writer Beware web site because she is doing a reasonably credible job warning us about traps and dangers.

Who has bigger dreams and expectations for your book manuscript than you?

No one. What attracts those who prey on self-publishers, especially new ones, is the rookie author’s general lack of knowledge of the process and their wide-eyed belief in the value of their manuscripts. Getting a book published is a lifetime dream for most. When someone says you can have your dream come true for just (whatever the dollar figure is) you may feel you just won the lottery.

Knowing what to avoid is a good thing, but it doesn’t go far enough. Authors need to know where to find legitimate, competent, and cost effective assistance. I don’t care how brilliant you are, a first-time self-publisher isn’t likely to successfully negotiate the complexities and produce a commercially credible book on their own. Professional help is required.  After all, you wouldn’t set out on a safari through the darkest jungles without guides, would you?

BookWise & Company, BookWise Publishing, and WriteWise Mentoring

Recently I attended a self-publishing boot camp, known as a Book Camp, organized by BookWise Publishing. This isn’t the old BookWise & Company, founded by bestselling authors Richard Paul Evans and Robert G. Allen. BookWise & Company was a multi-level marketing enterprise.

It seemed like a great idea at the time.

The idea was to give 100 new authors the opportunity to learn how to publish or get their books published with the aid of two New York Times bestselling authors as mentors. For a reasonable flat fee, newbies could submit their manuscripts and have them edited by peers of published authors, designed by experienced and talented designers, printed by excellent presses, and marketed by the authors themselves, with hands-on coaching from Richard Paul Evans, Robert G. Allen and other experienced pros. What would it be worth to a green, untested author to be given the attention of people like these instead of just being dumped on some clerk’s desk, in a forest of cubicles, inside a cavernous room, deep in the basement of some publisher’s impenetrable fortress?

The thought was that if a book received very professional treatment from the outset it would garner greater attention should the author wish to go the traditional route, or give them an edge should they decide to self-publish.

No one can guarantee a book’s success. Some felt that their books deserved to be bestsellers because they paid for mentoring. It doesn’t work that way.

Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware panned the old BookWise & Company.

She had a point—when she was talking about the multi-level part of the company. BookWise Publishing is not BookWise & Company. BookWise Publishing owned and operated by Karen K. Christoffersen and Meagan Bunten is carrying on helping the authors and assisting their progress. Currently they have over 200 authors in the pipeline and have completed over 65 books over the last two years.

Despite Ms. Strauss’s good intentions…

the problem with the Internet is like the old story of the woman with a gossiping habit. As a lesson, her minister emptied a feather pillow into the wind. Her impossible task was to retrieve all the feathers. Once something hits the net it spreads like feathers in a breeze, probably further and even more impossible to call back. BookWise Publishing doesn’t deserve the stigma. It is not a multi-level enterprise.  It is a company with the same name but different owners and management.  Karen Christoffersen asked a brilliant young woman, Meagen Bunten, to be her partner in  the new BookWise. They have no relation to the old MLM and are building BookWise Publishing as an independent collaboration of top people in the publishing business who are dedicated to assisting authors with everything they need to effectively produce and market their books. Costs are contained and kept reasonable by the fact that all services are virtual. There is NO overhead and every associate is self-employed.

Experience matters.

The difference between what BookWise is doing and what hundreds, if not thousands of others are doing, is that they have collected many experienced associates with real life publishing skills. They didn’t  hire the brand-new-just-graduated-learn-on-the-job-beginners and let them loose on unknowing customers. They have real-honest-to-goodness experienced experts.

Am I prejudiced in my assessment? You bet.

I came across BookWise Publishing a couple of years ago, sort of. I had written a novel and even though with my print background I can produce a printed book in my sleep, I didn’t have the foggiest idea of how to sell it. I called Karen—and this is where the sort of comes in—because I knew that she had done a lot of marketing work for Richard Paul Evans and his books over the years, I figured that she could help me if I asked nicely. That’s when I learned about BookWise, the old BookWise. Karen was doing a lot of work preparing the books to go to print. She was burning the candle at three ends.

One thing she could sweep off her plate was the print production. Well hey, there I was, an expert print manager walking right through her door. Since that day I have helped her with the printing side, and she’s been helping me with my writing. I tell you this because I have a special interest in BookWise. BookWise sends me business and they like me so much that my bio appears on their website as the printing expert. I don’t mind. I am an expert and I do consult with them on their printing needs, but I am not an employee nor owner of the company.

The question you should be asking right now is, “Is Bill Ruesch’s opinion of BookWise tainted?” The answer is yes, but that doesn’t make it wrong.  I encourage any self-publishing authors reading this to contact BookWise Publishing, compare their expertise, check their prices, and be prepared to be very impressed. They will be happy to give you the names and contact info of some of their authors so you can hear their testimonials. These are real people and they won’t pull any punches. This is a relatively small, intimate group of new authors who love to get together 2 or 3 times a year at Book Camps in Salt Lake City (and once a year at Book Expo America) to rub shoulders with each other and perfect their craft.

Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet.

BookWise Publishing isn’t just another me-too author’s production resource group. It has the talent, connections, and brains to become a real force in the traditional and independent publishing worlds for years to come. Watch them and see for yourselves.

Your current printer may not tell you these things, but I will.

In my day job I am a printing broker. I on December 3, 2009 I marked off 20 years of self-employment. Beyond that I have nearly 20 more years of other experience in the printing business, some of it on press, but mostly in sales. I’ve been there, done that, so you can trust that I know what I’m talking about.

Printing is a very competitive business. To grow and stay viable printers must buy expensive equipment. It isn’t unusual to find a small company with a million dollar investment on the floor. New multi-color presses can easily run between one million to three million dollars. The only way to make this kind of investment payoff is by keeping the presses running. Having an idle press is like making a bonfire out of hundred dollar bills.That’s not something they want to do–would you?

What secrets do I know that you may not know?

1. You are the printer’s greatest asset. Without you the printer will have to close-up shop. Imagine being in their shoes, they are saddled with huge debts and the only way to pay back the banks is to keep their customers happy so they will continue bringing in work to keep those expensive presses running. They want you to be satisfied and will do almost anything to make sure they keep you. Try not to take too much advantage of this knowledge though. If you hold their feet to the fire too often, they won’t have a leg to stand on.
2. Every print shop is equipped differently. What difference does that make? Plenty. Printers buy equipment to meet the needs of their market. If your project is outside of their sweet spot it won’t be as efficient for them and cost you more. Suppose you’ve done a thousand jobs with them and everything was great, but your 1001 job is a little different, do you know when to change?
3. The printer’s employees have different levels of experience. I had this conversation with the owner of a successful printing company in my area, he said, “What would you rather have, a shop with the state-of-the-art equipment and people to run it that were less experienced, or equipment that was a little dated and operators that were the best in the industry?” He opted for the state-of-the-art equipment. It worked out well for him, but they had more rejections than a printer with more experienced personnel. Choose a printer based on your needs and expectations. If the price is good, but they make a lot of mistakes, is it worth it to you? Or, if there are few errors, but the cost is higher are you willing to pay the price? Don’t you think it is important that you know if the printer shares your same philosophy?
4. Much of the profit comes from buyouts. The printer’s markups on paper and other services like die-cutting, foil stamping and the like usually run around 40%. If you provide your own paper, or arrange for other services you can cut your printing bill substantially. WARNING–things happen on press that are not the printer’s fault. Just because a certain amount of paper is budgeted for the job doesn’t mean there won’t be a jam up, or other press problem that could eat your stock. If you provide paper and end up short on the order it will be your problem–not theirs.
5. Small substitutions can make a big difference in price. You don’t necessarily have to change printers or beat them up for a better price. Ask the printer if a small change in the size, or a different paper, or binding on another side would make a difference. You’d be surprised how much money you could save. That doesn’t mean that your printer was gouging you, they may not have focused on the alternatives until you asked. They may have assumed that your specifications were set in stone. Let them know where you are willing to make changes and you both benefit.
6. Quantity is the greatest factor in unit cost. With offset printing particularly, the longer you run the smaller the unit cost gets. That is because the printing estimate is created using two basic components, fixed costs and variable costs. Fixed costs include things like overhead, pre-press, and press set-up. They are the upfront expenses every printer must bear. Variable  costs are paper, ink, and press-time. Variable costs are determined by how much time or materials you use. Fixed costs are set, so the longer the press runs the fixed expenses are amortized. The total cost, however, goes up, but the unit cost goes down. Why does this matter? It matters because of point No.2, your current printer may not be as cost effective at larger quantities.

If you’ve printed a book and need help selling it, you can learn the fundamentals of network marketing with THE AUTHOR PLATFORM. It is an exellent educational tool that will jumpstart your bookselling. After all, what good is a book if no one reads it, and who will read it if they don’t have it? How do they get it–they buy it, of course.