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Thank you and God bless.

I am not a fan of these kinds of book projects. I do not think they really do much for an author who is involved. To me it’s more of a money-making scheme for the one putting together the book. They get paid for someone else creating the content, their publishing costs are covered, but for the author participants–I just don’t think it’s all that impressive to people to be given a collaborative book that you wrote a chapter for.

You might get mileage out of coauthoring one of the Chicken Soup for the Soul derivatives, but that’s a different kind of thing. If you’re going to put down $5000, do it for your own book, with Intermedia. You’ll get a lot more out of it. I don’t even know how many of the collaborative authors actually mail to their lists about the book. It’s a nice idea, but … the price tag too high for a good ROI, in my opinion.

I think it’s a good idea to hire a good content editor. I just finished doing that for a client, as well as shepherding the book through the IM process. You definitely need an experienced, objective eye to help you shape your material.

Intermedia can help you find a person (but only if you become a client, which I can’t blame them for). Or you can ask other authors for referrals. Look in the Acknoledgments pages of books that are similar to yours; often editors are mentioned. Even if they work for traditional publishers, they might freelance on the side or be able to recommend a good freelancer. I have some people I can recommend, depending on your project.

If you go through email/skype, that’s fine. Just make sure you get the editor’s credentials and ask for references of authors who have worked with them. Ask about how much they edited, whether they faithfully preserved the author’s “voice,” and how timely they were in turning the project around. (Don’t ask me, by the way–I don’t do editing. This latest case was an exception.)

I want my book taken seriously, and i’ve heard from many authors that if you want your book taken seriously, you need to get some serious editing done. This is something i agree with, but i wonder which is the less expensive? Letting a self-publishing company do the edit, or hiring someone else to do it?

I just cant seem to finger out the math of it (i was never very good at math).

Also, is there a site where authors or anyone with expreience can look over your book, and tell you if it needs more work, is good as is, or is simply not worth publishing? I think i have a good story, and that i cant write it well. But, i’m a new writer, and what i think is good might not be for readers or publishers. I was hoping to find an author to help me, give some much needed advice sort of thing. But i have no idea where to start, having no contacts in this business. Any advice? I would really love for someone who know’s what they’re doing to read at least part of my book.

One thing to keep in mind is that, with publishers like Intermedia, the author has final say in eerything–including the covers.

I can’t disclose too much, but suffice it to say that the previous blog post was inspired in part by seeing covers authors chose for themselves, rather than go with what professional book designers suggested.

I can tell you that the cover for the book I’ve been working on for my client, which was designed by the Intermedia designer, is stunning. You’ll see when I can share it with the world.

The foreign language/rights question is a good one. However, I know that numerous authors hire agents just to handle foreign rights. So that’s an option, even if you publish with someone like Intermedia. In fact, it may be a question I’ll be dealing with for my client, as their audience is international. Glad you brought it up. I’ll keep you posted!

Comment?

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If my book is going to need to be translated into different languages and sold abroad, do I need a traditional publisher? I can’t imagine how to oversee that.