What characteristics should I look for in a print-on-demand or self publisher to publish my book?

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James Frey
Owner, American Literary Press
www.americanliterarypress.com  
410-882-7700, 800-873-2003

James V. Frey is the current owner of American Literary Press, a Baltimore, MD-based book publisher that has published books written by more than 1,300 first-time authors during the past 20 years.

Jim is a Cum Laude graduate of Dartmouth College. Following graduation from Dartmouth, he served as a high school teacher in Southern New Hampshire. Subsequently, he spent 15 years with Xerox Corporation in various Sales and Marketing capacities, accountable as a senior manager in his last two assignments. During the 1990’s, he was a General Manager for several large office technology firms and served as a director on five companies’ Board of Directors. Since 1999, he has been an owner of/investor in six entrepreneurial ventures, including American Literary Press. 

In 2001, Jim self-published his own industry-targeted “how to” book, based on his experience with both big and small business, that generated $25,000 in sales. In his estimation, Jim considers the publication of his 86 year-old father’s autobiography by American Literary Press in 2006 to be one of one of his major professional accomplishments.

With nearly two decades of experience, American Literary Press has the knowledge necessary to produce books exactly as our authors envision them. Our ability to adapt to the wishes of our authors is one of the primary reasons our company has been chosen by more than 1,200 aspiring and first-time writers. Not a single book is published unless it is one that we can proudly claim as our own, for we require that our books meet the highest standards for editorial accuracy, design and production.

American Literary Press provides authors with a wide variety of options from which to choose, including author-marketed publishing and programs that include professional marketing services. One of these options is certain to serve your needs. First, let’s evaluate your publishing project.

American Literary Press is your best solution if:

You want a book of first-rate bookstore quality and durability perfectly suited in design and format to your work and its market.

You want to see your work published in an edition you will be proud to present to the literary marketplace.

You want to work with a publisher you can trust to stand behind its commitments.

No other company can do more to satisfy your expectations because publishing is our only business. We are a full-service publisher, not simply a printer or bookseller with a high-tech copy machine.

We can show you how to save money without compromising on quality.

We offer cost-effective alternatives designed for your specific needs.

We use our extensive database of current marketing and sales contacts to ensure that your work will get the kind of exposure you seek.

What characteristics should I look for in a print-on-demand or self publisher to publish my book?

This video shows what characteristics to look for in a print-on-demand or self publisher to publish a book.

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Host: What characteristic should I look for in a print-on-demand or self publisher to publish a book?

Jim Frey: There are several things I suggest -- I am not totally objective because I own a self/publishing company, but I have to look at how long they have been in business as the first category. There are many print-on-demand or self-publishing companies that don't have a whole lot of tenure, so you may want to be assured of the track record of the people that you are paying money to, to get your book in print. I also suggest, you would look at their staff and the experience level of that staff. With many functions in the United States today, those functions are being outsourced. It's not unusual in some publishing companies to have some of the editing design functions being done in countries outside the United States. Again, I am not totally objective, but if I am spending my money to publish my book, I think I'd rather deal with resources that I can. Number one; understand the voice, and number two; that are located somewhere in the United States where they are easily accessible. Third; I would look at that publishers websites and see what kind of books that they have published and what their covers look like on the internet. You could go into bookstores and maybe look at some self published print-on-demand books that maybe there during a local author's night and get an idea for your genre whether this company is a good fit for you.

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