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December 2004

Self-Publish with ASJA Press

Do you have an old book you'd love to see back in print -- or an original manuscript you've had no luck selling to mainstream publishers? If so, consider ASJA Press, the ASJA/iUniverse.com program for writers who want to self-publish. This member benefit just got better, thanks to Jack El-Hai and Brett Harvey, who recently renegotiated our participating authors' agreement. Here's a look at what the program offers:

* A special ASJA publishing agreement with more favorable terms than those available to nonmembers, or through any other group. The grant of license is now non-exclusive, and iUniverse's right to sell your book ends when the author's agreement is terminated, instead of a year later, as was formerly the case. You'll also get higher royalties than most publishers offer (but no advance).

* Your work will be published as a trade paperback, on a print-on-demand basis. It will have a four-color cover, designed by you or iUniverse. Marie Bartlett, author of the ASJA Press title, Gifts from Shane, recommends the former option. "The only money I spent was having a cover professionally designed, instead of getting whatever they give you, which might not be all that creative, from what I've seen of POD publishers."

* Readers can order your book from thousands of online booksellers, including Barnesandnoble.com and Amazon.com. And we now have a special ASJA Bookstore that you'll find online at http://corppub.iuniverse.com/marketplace/asja, which currently features over 30 titles, including The Fifties: A Women's Oral History, by ASJA executive director Brett Harvey. "It's nice to have it back in print, and I get a steady trickle of royalties," she says.

* After iUniverse receives an edited and proofread manuscript from you, your book will be published in fewer than 90 days -- far faster then the industry norm. Before publication, you'll receive an electronic proof to approve. The book will have a unique ISBN, and be in listed in "Books In Print" and the databases of major wholesalers, such as Ingram.

Former ASJA president Sally Wendkos Olds turned to ASJA Press when her agent couldn't sell her tenth book, A Balcony in Nepal. Although she's only made a few hundred dollars in royalties, there were other payoffs. Not only did its publication land her paid speaking engagements at libraries, she made a reprint deal with an Asian publisher. "Most of all," she says, "the story of these people was put before the public, which was more important to me than making money."

Sally is delighted with her book's appearance and the promotional materials iUniverse.com provided. "They sent me a nice publicity kit with a big poster, bookmarks, and postcards by e-mail. I downloaded it and had everything printed at Kinko's." She also notes that even though her own sales were modest, iUniverse is the publisher of a current bestseller, If I Knew Then..., the autobiography of notorious "Long Island Lolita," Amy Fisher.

Marie Bartlett was attracted to self-publishing because her book, which she wrote after her son's death, is targeted to a niche market: grieving parents. "It's on all the Web sites where I want it to be, including the American Hospice Association and the Starlight Children's Foundation," says the writer, who also sells the book at aplastic anemia conferences, and donates all proceeds to researching the disease that killed her child.

ASJA member Cassandra Langer wasn't as successful in finding an audience for What's Right About Feminism. After the book's hardcover publisher, HarperCollins, decided against a paperback edition, she went to iUniverse, hoping that her book might become a textbook for women's studies courses. "They did a good job publishing it, but the book didn't exactly set the world on fire," says Cassandra. "I think you have to have a phenomenal platform to make any real money."

Alma Bond, Ph.D., on the other hand, has gotten some nice royalty checks. "However, the only time I get sales is when I do some marketing, such as running an ad or doing a book signing," she notes. Even though the program doesn't include marketing or publicity services, she's published four books through ASJA Press. "It's a great alternative to having your book out of print, or a manuscript sitting in the closet. The people there are as nice as can be, and my books look lovely."

LISA COLLIER COOL of Pelham, New York, is president of ASJA. E-mail the president through www.asja.org/contact.php.