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YouWriteOn.com offers writers free p.o.d.

23.09.08 Catherine Neilan

YouWriteOn.com is offering print-on-demand publication, in conjunction with independent firm Legend Press, to the first 5,000 writers who contact them with publishable manuscripts.

The Arts Council-funded website, which has more than 10,000 members, is
 calling on unpublished writers to send in their manuscripts from today (Tuesday 23rd September). Those who submit work prior to 31st October are guaranteed to have their books made available via POD before Christmas.

But YouWriteOn.com manager Edward Smith said little editing would take place. "Because we want to get everything done by Christmas, what they send in will be very much what we publish," he said. "On the site a lot of members point out grammar and spelling mistakes and so on in other writers work. By going through this process, a lot have their manuscripts in a publish-ready format already."
 Smith, who described it as a "bold experiment", said he would consider 
repeating the initiative if it were a success.

Smith added the initiative would allow authors to promote their own work 
through book signings or other marketing arranged independently. "It gives 
people a tool," he said. "Then they can make what they can of themselves."


Although the p.o.d. publication is free, writers may pay £39.99 to get an
 ISBN and therefore wider distribution to online retailers such as Amazon,
 with Legend Press acting as an assistant.


The books, which will exist only as paperbacks, will retail 
between £5.99-£7.99, although Smith said this would depend on the length of
 the publication. Writers would receive royalties of 60% of sales from the
 first book to be purchased. "Print-on-demand allows royalties to be about
 four times higher than mainstream publishing," said Smith. "They will make
 money from the first copy they sell."

Writers should send manuscripts to youwriteon@legendpress.co.uk.

Print on demand POD Legend Press YouWriteOn.com Catherine Neilan

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Comments on this article

By Anon

This is going to result in a lot of crap, unedited books priced at £7.99 being sold on Amazon, through Legend Press, right? And funded by the Arts Council of all people? Hmm - can't wait!

26 Sep 08 15:50

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By TC

With no copyediting and no proofreading, these books will be virtually worthless. Vanity publishing of the lowest order.

26 Sep 08 15:58

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By MP

The fact is, that there are many books that are published the traditional way that are not very good reading. So, it is very interesting that you would just assume that because a book is POD that it is automatically 'worthless'. The reality is that publishers are less willing to take risks on unpublished authors. Harry Potter scenarios are once in a lifetime situations, and even Scholastic is down over 50% profits since the last book was written. Publishing is very expensive, and I'm sure a lot of that is due to the marketing and advertising involved. It is a shame that there are people out there that are so closed minded.

26 Sep 08 20:32

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By TC

MC - quite right. Though, if you read what I wrote, it is the lack of copyediting and proofreading that I have a problem with, not POD publishing (which certainly does not mean an automomatic lack of editing).

29 Sep 08 08:21

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By HN

I simply don't agree with the notion that more publications is a good thing (and less is bad) or with the cliche that "everyone has a novel in them". This is self-evidently not the case not only because not everyone writes one but also because most novels are not worth reading beyond the first couple of sentences. It is almost as ridiculous (but not quite) as saying that everyone has a symphony in them. This urge to publish, publish, publish when taken to such extremes as this (unedited POD) speaks rather of desperation. To write a great novel that is unpublished is no less an achievment than to write one that is typeset and marketed. So the above annoucement fails to create any enthusiasm in me whatsoever.

29 Sep 08 08:26

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By Jane Smith

I've blogged about this today, and Writer Beware blogged about it yesterday. In my view, this is an offer to be avoided: it gives no advantage that self-publishing provides, and could be damaging to the reputations of all concerned. For more detail on why I, and many others, don't like this offer have a look at my blog www.howpublishingreallyworks.blogspot.com. There's a link in my post to the one from Writer Beware. Apologies for the self-promotion: I just want to ensure that writers know what they're getting themselves into before they sign up.

30 Sep 08 11:27

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