WHY PAY TO PUBLISH?

I remember being a kid excited about my mother's attempts to have her books published. She'd sold over fifty magazine stories and came very close to having her work picked up by a traditional press. I went to writing workshops with her, and I always got autographed novels in my stocking every Christmas from authors she'd met. Her dream became my dream. So the first day I picked up Writer's Digest, I was amazed to see an ad that said she could have her manuscripts printed into book form anytime she wanted. Why didn't she pick up her phone right away?

That's when Mom explained to me the stigma self-publishing has. You weren't a real author unless the publisher paid you. So that's what I grew up believing. And according to her definition, I became a "real" author. I did my homework. I got an agent. I sold two books. But now what do I do? I work for a small-run publisher where authors can pay to have their work printed. And I love it.

I love the creative control our authors have. I love the relevance our books have in the community. I love how so many of the writers give the money they make to charities. I love being a part of their dreams. And while I don't believe Borderline Publishing is right for everyone, there are certainly benefits to what we offer.

Who should pursue short-run publishing? I'll tell you.

1) Authors with community interest. A national publisher would not have been likely to pick up a children's book on the renovation of the Idaho State Capitol, but there is definitely a market for it in Boise. Diana Baird's picture book is sold at the Capitol gift store and used by teachers in local elementary schools.

2) Businessmen and women. One of the toughest things about not going the route of a traditional publisher is the marketing you miss. First of all, Borderline does offer marketing and distribution. (Which separates us from most short-run publishers.) Second, if you have the heart of an entrepreneur, you have the skills to sell your book successfully. Many writers don't want to deal with this process, but honestly, nobody knows your book better than you do and nobody has the passion for your book that you do. You might actually really enjoy this process.

3) Writers with a niche market. One of my favorite publishing personalities is Chip MacGregor. (If you're interested in writing at all, you better be checking out his blog.) And though Chip is listed as the number one agent in America, he self-published his own book on magic tricks. Why? Because he knew there would be a group of people interested, and he knew where to find them. It's not a book with mass market appeal--it's not supposed to be. Borderline has an author who caters to homeschoolers. Same kind of deal.

4) Authors too outside the box. Have you heard of The Shack? It's the New York Times best-seller that has editors going back through their log of submissions to make sure they hadn't rejected it. All it got was rejections because it was either too Christian or too New Age. Yet it met a felt need, and readers often bought more than one copy at a time. I once heard an editor give a list of reasons why he rejects manuscripts--one reason is if it's too inside the box while the next reason is if it's too outside the box. Gotta love the irony. :-) This is the category that one of my manuscripts will fall into and the reason I will publish through Borderline someday.

5) Those who want creative control. Writing is right-brained. We're creative. And it can be hard to let a publishing company take our "baby" and morph it into what the left-brained businessmen think will sell. Their expertise is usually a good thing, but one of our authors just recommended Borderline to a best-selling author who wants to self-publish his next book for this very reason.

6) Speakers. If you are a speaker, you already have a venue for selling your work. It can be an addition to your presentation. I'm so excited about one book I'm editing that the author wants published in time for classes he is teaching this spring. He might not even need to do much marketing because his clients will spread the word. And in return, the books will bring in even more participants to his seminars.

7) Fund-raisers. This is one of the coolest things about working with our authors. I feel like I'm really making a difference. Proceeds from book we print are going to charities that do everything from keep families off the streets to help fund AIDS research. I even called my son's teacher this morning because yesterday he said, "Mom, I wish I could do something to raise money for kids in Haiti." (I'm so proud.) That got me thinking. Jordan's class does an author talk every Wednesday where students read stories they've written, so why not compile their work into a book form and have them sell copies to family and friends? Everybody wins.

8) Money-lovers. Not the best category to fall into, but the truth is that it won't surprise me if in the near future, a famous author leaves his traditional publishers for a bigger piece of the pie. Not only does Borderline Publishing offers higher royalties on books we distribute, but what we try to encourage our authors to do is pre-sale books so that the income from the first few books pays for the entire print run of the book, and then every additional copy they sell from the first printing gives them 100% profit. Not a bad deal.

Just because Borderline Publishing is short-run doesn't mean we are a short cut. Do your research before you sign any contract. And if you find that we best meet your needs (and you fit into one of the above categories) I look forward to helping you get your dreams into print.