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More than 100,000 readers throughout Greater Baltimore
Do-it-yourself publishing arrives PHOTO COURTESY OF LARRY AND ROSEMARY MILD
By Carol Sorgen It used to be that if you wanted to become a published author, you had few options. You could try to get your manuscript into the hands of an editor at a publishing house, with or without an agent’s help, hoping they could whip it into shape, get it into some book stores, and drum up enough interest to sell a few copies and earn you some modest royalties. Or you could go to a “vanity press” that would churn out a few thousand copies at your own expense. You’d then store them in your basement and give them away to friends and family, while trying to get local papers and book stores to give you some publicity. Today, however, things are changing — and fast. While traditional publishers are facing financial issues, making it even more difficult to get a toehold in a major publishing house, technology — including the ability to print books on demand and to sell them worldwide via the Internet — has transformed the self-publishing industry. And in the process, the stigma formerly attached to a self-published book has all but disappeared.
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Chilling with the celebrities on Martha’s Vineyard; plus, simple jetlag cures, from sunlight to melatonin page 19
A technological revolution According to Sue Collier, co-author of The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing, print-on-demand technology — which now makes it cost-effective to print one book at a time — has “revolutionized” the industry. “Previously, authors…risked having a couple of thousand books languishing in their garage. Now, orders can be filled when they come in — no garage storage needed and no big printing bill. “Or authors can skip the printing altogether and publish an e-book” which is sold and downloaded online for reading on your computer or an e-reader like a Kindle. These technologies make self-publishing rather simple, whether your masterpiece is a mystery — like the work of Rosemary and Larry Mild of Severna Park — or a how-to book for professionals — like that of Tom Dezell of Belair. Dezell, 53, a career advisor with the Maryland Department of Labor, was interested in writing a book on the importance of networking in finding a job. He wrote a manuscript and approached several traditional publishing houses that
ARTS & STYLE
Larry and Rosemary Mild have written a series of mysteries, some printed and distributed by traditional publishing houses and some self-published. Technology that permits books to be printed one at a time has revolutionized publishing, leading to rapid growth in self-published looks and services for authors.
A local playwright’s darkly comic work about two Baltimore con artists; plus, Baltimore Museum of Art offers two wildly divergent exhibits page 22
focused on career-related books, but “never got anywhere.” “I think my major shortcoming,” he said, “was that I just wasn’t known to them.” Frustrated, Dezell eventually heard about the concept of “supported” or “subsidy” publishing, in which an author pays money to a publisher but is then guided through the publishing process. After exploring various subsidy publishers, Dezell chose to have his book, Networking for the Novice, Nervous or Naive Job Seeker, published by iUniverse. iUniverse offers dozens of professional services — from content and copy editing (even ghostwriting), to book design, index-
ing, printing, public relations, Internet marketing and more — at package prices ranging from $600 to more than $4,000 per title. Dezell’s package came to around $2,000, but included help with marketing the book, and he has recently been featured on MSNBC.com, ABC.com and in the Washington Post. Now that he has more name recognition, Dezell said he might try a traditional publisher for his next book, so he wouldn’t have to lay out any money of his own. But he also says he wouldn’t be at all opposed to self-publishing again. See SELF-PUBLISHING page 7
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CAREERS & VOLUNTEERS 17 k A new career in nursing PLUS CROSSWORD, BEACON BITS, CLASSIFIEDS & MORE