A Mac/PC Print-on-Demand Service

Richard Lewis

Here is a website that might be of interest to members.

http://www.blurb.com

It's a print-on-demand service, which offers free page layout and book creation software for Mac and PC. It works very nicely. You download the software for free and take your time creating your book. I've used it to self-publish books of photos and was pleased with the result. There is a text-only format offered at a lower price.

Then, if you play the game their way, you upload your book and offer it for sale at your own price via their site. They take a cut and pay you the difference. You can, however, have them print and send to you, so you can sell from some other place, without giving them a cut. I'm not sure how well the economics of that work out, as the printed books are not really cheap enough to give you a useful margin and you have to factor in shipping. Anyway, it's worth looking at perhaps.

Following the launch of Apple's iPad and the Apple Book Store, I reiterate how important it is for authors and their agents not to give away digital rights in exchange for (increasingly irrelevant) royalty escalators on HB copies etc. Digital rights are the ones most worth fighting for at this stage and into the future.

More local networking in France: Grand Ouest Authors (GOA)

Steve Mansfield-Devine

Steve Mansfield-Devine reports on yet another networking site in France designed to bring authors together. It is informative and looks like fun.

A new group in North-West France hopes to bring an end to the isolation felt by many English-language book authors living in France. Grand Ouest Authors (GOA) provides a free network for writers in Brittany, Normandy and the Pays de la Loire, and it’s seeking new members who are interested in joining forces to promote themselves and their books.

The GOA website provides a shop window for authors and their books, a group blog, an online shop and a forum to exchange ideas and organise events. The group also plans to have a presence in the real world, with authors collaborating on activities such as group book signings, attendance at cultural events and marketing to local retail outlets.

For more information, go to: www.grandouestauthors.com

'Rural Writers', Survive France

Nick Inman


Nick Inman announces a new site of service to many of our members.

As part of a project to link up dispersed freelance writers/photographers in France I have started a group called "Rural Writers" on the Survive France networking site:

http://survivefrance.ning.com

I'm not sure what we are going to achieve but I thought it might be a useful first step for us to know of each other's existence and see if there is information we can usefully share. As isolation is a common freelance problem, it may just be useful to have a means of sharing concerns and ideas.

I have deliberately done this outside the framework of the Society of Authors and the NUJ because I know there are many writers who are not members of either organisation but who share similar professional interests. Who knows, perhaps we will attract one or two new people to join the formal structures.