What is a good free publishing group?

Question

I am writing a short book that i want to publish when i am finished. I also have written a few poems and some songs. They are very good and many people have said they love them. So i wanted to publish those as well. I need a free publishing group that i can just send my book to and they will just do it for you and send it back. Please Please Please i need help with this. If you know any publishing groups please answer and give me the name, there site and address as well as other information. Thank you all for any incoming answers!

Answer 1

There is no such thing as a free publisher. Don't let any of them tell you otherwise. There are always hidden charges that amount to several hundred dollars and that is just for starters.

All a self publisher does is sell you a box of books with your name on the cover. Usually poor quality books with horrible covers. That is IT. If you are lucky, they have a distribution deal with Ingram or Baker and Taylor and your books can be purchased online. But only to people who know about them, right?

They do not go on shelves in bookstores - and that is where the action is. To do that you will have to hit the road. You will have to visit every bookstore you can reach by car (paying 3 bucks or so a gallon for gas and wearing out your car) and beg them to stock your book. You will have to send out thousands of letters to other bookstores asking them the same thing. You will have to purchase copies and send them out to critics and beg them to read your book and review it. If you are fortunate enough to get a library or bookstore to give you a book signing, you will have to buy a batch of books and then pray enough people show up and purchase them to cover your costs. You will need to buy advertising space online. Basically you will have to devote your entire life to promoting this book. You will miss family dinners and nights out with friends. You will cause a lot of family rifts.

And for what? The average sales of self published books is less than 100 copies. Maybe if you are lucky you will double that. At that rate, you are in the hole - big time.

If you consider your work to be good, you owe it to yourself and your work to spend a year to 18 months trying traditional publishing.

Major publishers don't buy poetry books. They make their money selling high body count thrillers by people like Dean Koontz. Go to any bookstore and check it out. Where is the poetry section? Are there many books there published by Harper Collins? Doubleday? Little Brown? Or any of the other major publishers? No, there aren't.

However while you are there buy yourself a copy of Writers Market. There are many small presses that publish what is called "literary works" and that is what you are seeking. Find a few and read their submission guidelines and prepare a packet for them.

BUT before you send anything to anyone, you should know a lot of these small presses are not recommended due to previous problems with authors. Visit the websites Preditors and Editors, Absolute Write Water Cooler Bewares and Background Checks, Writers Wall, Writers Weekly, Anne Crispin's site and several others like Writers Beware. They have lists of the ones you should avoid. Follow their advice. If you are still unsure, write to Dave K at Preditors and Editors or Victoria Strauss or James Macdonald at Absolute Write. They will be more than happy to assist you.

Hope that helps. Pax- C

Answer 2

Get a copy of "Writer's Market" if you want to go through a traditional publisher. But be prepared for rejection. A "free" publisher is a business that will only publish books that are professionally written, and even a lot of THOSE get rejected simply because there are so many of them.

If you just want a few copies of your book, there is a service called Lulu.com that will print your book and make it available for purchase through their website to anyone who wants to buy it---including you. This is what is called a "print on demand" publisher. They will accept any quality of writing---even really bad stuff---so it's not going to impress many people that you've published your book through them.
But I have seen their finished product--a friend of mine had his book printed by them--and it is very good quality printing and binding.

Whatever you do, research it thoroughly before committing to anything. Also, don't just take my advice, check with writer's websites to investigate any publisher before sending anything.

Good luck
James

P.S. you don't have to make money to consider yourself a writer. There's nothing wrong with writing just for the joy of writing.

Answer 3

Sci-Fi Magazine always has ads in the back and throughout the mag. telling about different free publishing companies. You might want to check it out.