Interestingly, someone else had just emailed me about her experience with said company. She had published her first book with Xlibris and will not do it again. She did not elaborate, but clearly it was not a good experience.

In his book, The Fine Print of Self-Publishing: The Contracts & Services of 45 Self-Publishing Companies–Analyzed, Ranked and Exposed, Mark Levine says that XLibris marks up the price of a book by 150%, and makes more than 300% more profit on Amazon sales than the author does, and 225% more on direct sales. XLibris is in Mark’s list of  “publishers to avoid.” I can see why!

Mark’s book is an excellent reference. He did an amazing amount of  “legwork” to put it together. If you’re thinking of going with these self-publishing companies, you must get Mark’s book first.

I myself worked with Intermedia recently. It was overall a positive experience. As the book comes out, I’m eager to see if the marketing and distribution live up to the promises. That’s one of the things that impressed me about the company.

They also  have these “events” that they stage all over the country, and for authors who are willing to go there and at least sign books, it’s great exposure. Also, they really do get into bookstores (of course, that depends on the buyer, but they’re structured such that book buyers might say yes).

Intermedia also acts as a speaker’s bureau for authors, which is a really nice plus. I’m impressed by the way they try to help authors “think outside the book” in terms of marketing. That’s what you’re really paying for (though their services, such as cover design, are very professional as well).

If you’re an author who is willing to take responsibility for marketing your book (and all authors must), I think Intermedia provides some of the best support. Listen to my interview with Terry Whalin on this–it’s quite extensive. You can even ask a question!

As far as I can tell, yes, they are.  (Which is more than most if not all other “publishing services” companies can say.)

However, you must understand that huge changes are happening in the retail sales world. The Barnes & Noble store in my area closed down a few months ago, for instance. I just read that Banes & Noble laid off a number of employees recently.  Also read that Ingrams, the big book distributor, laid off 75 employees. I don’t know what’s going to happen ultimately, but it’s safe to say that authors and publishers need to look to other outlets to sell books, as retailers are less and less a significant factor.

In fact, no matter whom you publish with, you will make of a profit through direct sales than retail sales. All distributors require a 55% discount (so they can have a profit margin), so you’re only going to get 45% of those sales. Actually, less, because IM (or any publisher) takes their 15% wholesaler cut. So you only make 30% of the retail price on your book, and your profit is that less your publishing and printing costs. Whereas with direct sales, you don’t have that hefty distributors discount to contend with.

By the way, I’m personally shepherding a book through the IM process for a client, and so far, so good! (It is a LOT of work, though–don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise! It’s a 300-page book and just faxing the 161 pages of corrections for first proof took more than 2 hours!)

One of the things I like about Intermedia is the way they help authors with their marketing. Larry Davis is a great “think outside the box” person who loves to help authors think up creative ways to sell their books. Terry is amazing in the way he shepherds authors through the publishing process.

Another plus for IM is that they hold events throughout the US and invite authors to come, free of charge, to sign books and network. An event they are planning in Denver soon will get 5-10,000 attendees, and IM is inviting their authors from that area to attend for any amount of time they want, to sign books. This can become a PR event that can be promoted through local press releases. Intermedia tells their huge list (35 million) about these events, and even if a person can’t attend, they will hear about the authors present and their books.

I honestly don’t think there’s any idea book publishing option out there (never was, as the traditional model didn’t pay well, either), but Intermedia offers more pluses for the money that I’ve seen. Larry and Terry truly want their authors to succeed; they do not see them merely as a source of income, as publishers like Author House must. (My opinion, but how can they truly serve 21,000 authors a year?)

My favorite cover for Abundant Gifts

Trying to design your own book covers is one of the biggest mistakes I see new authors making, especially if they self publish.

One of the advantages of self-publishing is that you are in control of the whole process. When you work with a company like Intermedia, for instance, you own the rights, and you get to pick the cover, the interior design, everything.

However, there’s a downside to this. Just because you have the final say, that should not mean that you are the best one to judge the cover design, or even the title, for that matter. Having the final say should not mean having the only say–especially when it comes to areas you’re not trained in, such as the interior and exterior design.

Unless you’re an experienced designer yourself, leave this to the professionals. I have seen over and over authors who have a concept that’s so complicated, so esoteric, or so cluttered that I know their design will kill the book sales. I can almost always spot a self-published book right away, just by the look of the cover (the interior as well).

Good designers are trained not only to key into your concept, but to make sure it both fits current trends and also stands out in some way as to be interesting. Not an easy task, and definitely one for the professionals.

I came across a great article on working with a designer I suggest you read, along with Michele’s other posts.  Even if you work with a company that provides a designer, you want to work with that person and allow him or her to take the time to develop a great concept and design. Work with a great designer, and your book won’t scream, “Self-published amateur author!” like I’ve seen so many do. Instead, it will draw the eye and make the potential reader want to pick it up and explore more.

Part of the pleasure of a book is the visual nature of it–the cover.  Someone once told me about my Abundant Gifts book cover (first edition), “My wife keeps it out on the coffee table just because it’s so pretty.” That of course warmed my heart, and is about the best thing a cover can do for an author.

“Independent publishing” can mean a lot of things. It includes what most people think of as using a self-publishing company. It can also include various small presses.

As the lines in publishing models blur, new publishing models are being developed. The most exciting model is what I call “hybrid publishing” that companies like Intermedia use. With this new model,

authors pay upfront for publishing services. The good “hybrid publishers” have the same important infrastructure in place that traditional publishers do: designers, editors, and distribution to the retail outlets.

In my opinion, it is becoming more and more advantageous to the author to publish this way, versus a traditional publisher. (Remember, for 30 years I was in that traditional publishing world, as an author and editor.)

In fact,  I recently advised one of my clients to NOT pursue publishing with a major commercial publisher but instead to go with Intermedia Publishing Group.

The biggest issues were control, ownership, timing, royalties, and distribution.

Intermedia won on all these counts. In fact, I just went over the publishing agreement with a fine-toothed comb, and am extremely happy with its author-friendly terms.

Control: Author has total control over the title and cover. The publisher came up with an outstanding cover design. We surveyed the list (you may have participated) and came up with a winner of a title and subtitle.

Also very important: This is a non-exclusive contract. Meaning if a big publisher came to you and offered you $100,000 to publish you, you could say yes.

Another control issue has to do with what you can put into your book. Traditional publishers often frown on your putting in information to get people to your website, say to “register” the book so you can begin a relationship with a reader. You can put whatever you want into your book when you publish this way.

Ownership: The author owns everything, including the cover (with Intermedia, it’s a work for hire, and the author owns the images etc.). I had to PAY the publisher AND get an agreement to use the cover for my Abundant Gifts book from the first edition, and never could get anything on the cover for the second. This can be huge–to own the cover rights.

With Intermedia (and other good self-publishing companies), you own everything.

Timing: The turnaround for the cover and everything else so far has been outstanding.  We were, frankly, amazed at how quickly the designer came up with a great cover. (You’re amazing, Kimberly!)

Royalties: The publisher does not take royalties, but does split for distribution. (More on that below) This is only fair, and the fact that they even have the distribution channels they do is a huge plus and not true of many self-publishing companies.

Author gets 100% of the royalties, and only splits with the publisher if the latter is helping with distribution. If the author sells from his/her own site and fulfills the order, author gets 100% of the profit.

Another big difference:  You get paid every month with Intermedia, as opposed to once or twice a year with traditional publishers.

Distribution: Here’s where it gets juicy. Most self-publishing companies, especially if they’re Print on Demand, can only promise they will make available your title to retailers. They do not have the distribution channels already in place that most traditional publishers do. (Intermedia does both POD and offset printing, by the way.)

Intermedia is unique in that it already has true inroads into Wal-Mart, Target and other big box retailers, as well as amazon, Barnes & Noble and other online retailers, and even airport book buyers.

They also have some 16,000 online bookstores tied into their distribution channels, a mailing list of 35 million, and they include your book at the dozens of events they put on yearly. They are printing a catalog that goes to a mailing list of 70,000.

They will also warehouse (free for a certain period of time) and fulfill orders. There are various splits with the author for the distribution  services, but all are very fair and in line with typical distributors practices.

All in all, in working with them and going over the contract, I’m very happy with what I see.  This “hybrid publisher” offers the best of both worlds, in my opinion.

The only downside? You pay upfront for these services. You need capital for this.

But that is as it should be. Like it or not, becoming an author means opening a business. You are creating and owning an asset (intellectual property), and there are business considerations and great potential rewards, as with any business. You have to learn how to market and sell your asset and protect your rights. (For more about how to become a successful author, get my Author Success Plan 5-part minicourse. For help with no-hype, heart-based marketing, check out the Bridging Heart and Marketing virtual conference.)

I think this model is the wave of the future, and the best way currently to publish. Intermedia offers the best of all publishing worlds. My only concern is that, with the great services they offer,  they may grow too big too fast.

(To eavesdrop on an in-depth dialogue about publisihng between another publishing veteran, Terry Whalin, and myself, go to www.askaboutpublishing.com–you can ask a question about publishing and listen to the replay.)