DeeGospel PR Helpdesk: Should I Use POD to Promote my Book?

Friday, January 23, 2009

On Fridays, we will answer questions you have about literary publicity. You can send your questions via Facebook or Twitter. I will give you a pseudoname to protect your privacy in responding.

Facebook Poet asked me last night three questions, but they all balled down to this one question:

Can I use POD publishing to increase my fanbase? And if so, what's the least expensive method to try?

No. Most POD books sell on average 200 books per title most of which are bought from the author or family and friends of the author, according to the 3 most well known POD companies, LULU, Xlibris & AuthorHouse(Source: New York Times Book Review.) So if that's the case, then are you meeting your objective(to increase your fan base?

No

What you are saying to me is that you are desperate. Just like a woman who chooses a sorry, lazy, no-good man, because she doesn't want to be alone, you are chosing to pay a company to have control of your book, to overprice it, to limit it's visability in the marketplace(most booksellers don't stock vanity press published books,) to greatly decrease your chance of reaching new readers, and to threaten your credibility among your peers, because you want to be an author.

Let me tell you something whether you become published or hide a manuscript under your bed, you are an author. You may not be a great one. You may not have a book fit for the current marketplace, bu, nonetheless, you are an author. No publishing contract or POD company can take that away from you.

Now let me give you one point of book marketing advice in regards to increasing your readership. Produce a very good book that will captivate your readers in such a way that they will share your story with their worlds. And if you've truly done that, then why would you pay a vanity press to keep your book away from those readers?


If you have questions about book marketing and promotion, leave me a comment and I will answer this time Next Friday.