Authorship on Demand

Kathy Boccella in the Philadelphia Inquirer offers a quick update of the Publishing On Demand scene, where authors can get a book published for a lot less money (about $500, more if you want, like, proofreading) than they could under the old vanity-press rules.

iUniverse, one of three major "personal publishers" (just want one copy printed? No problem!) has now published 17,000 titles, 84 of which have sold 500 copies or more. Xlibris, another such publisher, has had 40 of its 10,000 titles picked up by traditional publishers. One author has sold 20,000 copies of a book she did for her nieces (Natasha Munson's Life Lessons for My Black Girls), and there have even been some movie deals (including Legally Blonde). Best of all, all the authors reporter Boccella talked to seemed pleased.

Thanks to ArtsJournal