This Publishers Life

Weather Update

2012-01-19T13:00:00.000-08:00

We got 8" of snow here in the past couple of days. Because this is relatively unusual in terms of quantity for our area, the road conditions are treacherous.

The snow, which is heavy, wet and dense, is great for snowball fights and snowmen, but terrible for driving. Additionally, instead of beginning to melt as we'd hoped, the temperatures have stayed right around freezing, so now we've got snow on top of ice on the roads and heavy snow on trees near power lines.

At this point, we still have power and Internet, but I suspect that we will lose both before this is over. I will update our status through the blog as often as possible, but if we go dark for a few days, that's what's happened.

Cris

Some Numbers

2012-01-19T10:40:00.000-08:00

Finished compiling sales numbers for 2011 and wanted to share a few interesting ones.

Of all the books we shipped to Amazon.com, 30% went missing between the time the box arrived at the warehouse and the time the books were put into the inventory. We were reimbursed for the ones they could not account for. Makes me wonder where all of our books go.

Across the board, returns were very low last year, coming in at an average of less than 5%.

Sales at Amazon.com remained about the same in 2011 as they had been in 2010.

Sales through Baker & Taylor and Barnes & Noble online rose 2% this past year.

Sales through Follett Book Company rose 5% last year.

Our fulfillment turnaround time rose at the beginning of 2011 and remained steady throughout the year. Books shipped within two business days of the order's receipt.

We were able to keep more titles in stock this year, which helped tremendously in terms of shipping orders quickly.

It had been my hope, at the beginning of 2011, that we would see an increase in sales. Like many other people, I thought the economy was going to turn around a bit more than it did and I was disappointed in the book market overall. However, we all managed to weather another year and that's saying something.

Thanks to everyone for their continued support.

Cris

1099 Forms

2012-01-16T19:33:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

Happy New Year. I hope you are all had a happy holiday season. We were able to take a few days off and spend it with friends and family. We're grateful to still be here and operating in 2012.

If you were paid during 2011, you will be receiving a 1099 by the end of January 2012. If you deferred your royalty or were paid in copies of your book, you will not receive a 1099.

If you have not received your 1099 by the end of the first week of February, please contact me via email and let me know.

Don't forget that we will be using PayPal exclusively from now own to pay authors and artists and all royalty statements will be delivered via email. If you have not sent me your PayPal information, please send it to legal at orchardhousepress.com. In the subject heading please put PayPal information. All I need from you is the email address associated with your PayPal account.

Thank you!

Cris

Thank you, Clem!

2011-12-28T21:37:00.000-08:00

Thank you, Clem!!

Clemson Page, author of Up Home, Stedman, pledged at Ghost Sniffers' KickStarter campaign.

Clem probably already figured out what Jennifer just explained to me in detail today, our campaign goal is one of the lowest (by about $5,000.00) in the film and television category. But if we don't meet our goal of $1,600.00, we aren't given a penny. The backers will never even be charged.

Nine more days! The campaign ends the same day that Episode 2 posts online.

Thank you again, Clem. You made our day.

Cris

The Cost of a Latte

2011-12-27T19:54:00.000-08:00

Even though it's a month past Thanksgiving. I wanted to blog about what I'm thankful for.

In the month of December, Ghost Sniffers (www.ghostsniffers.com) paid the first and second mortgage on the property where the OHP office sits. Ghost Sniffers paid for electricity, water, garbage, internet and phone. Since distributors pay in 120 days, if there was any uptick in holiday book sales, we won't see it for several months. Ghost Sniffers was our knight in shining armor.

The promise behind Ghost Sniffers was to create a dramedy, an on-going series that chronicled the adventures of two kids with auto-immune disorders. who--despite their conditions, or perhaps because of them--have been gifted with super powers. Built around the framework of a light-hearted ghost hunting parody, these two siblings, Forge and Maxo, face impossible odds and investigate outrageous locations all to track down the elusive "sniff."

I needed a way to be creative. Faith needed a way to channel her creativity. Brianne wanted to work with Jennifer and Maxwell missed his Mama. So Jennifer wrote a script; I composed the music; Max and Faith starred and Brianne managed the entire production. What was going to be a family project for the weekend turned into OHP's saving grace.

And one of the truly amazing things is that it all came to be with donations from strangers of no more than the cost of a latte. Jennifer even issued a press release: Skip a Latte, Buy a Ghost. I want to say thank you to Jennifer and all the Ghost Sniffers fans who have watched the episode for free and who find this blog for keeping this company alive and this family together.

OHP authors, find out more at www.ghostsniffers.com. Or skip a latte and donate yourself at Kickstarter; they're only raising funds for 10 more days.

Changes in Royalty Payment

2011-12-14T22:15:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

This month, Orchard House Press paid more than $350.00 in overdraft fees to our bank. This was the result of royalty checks being cashed as late as this past week.

It was our hope that authors and artists would cash their royalty checks within 30 days of receiving them.

In this economy, OHP is still struggling and these fees have had enormous impact on our operating capital. We cannot afford for this to happen again, so we will be changing to a PayPal payment system for all royalty payments beginning in March 2012. If you do not have a PayPal account, you will need to establish one prior to March of next year.

Once you've done this, please send me the email address which is connected to your PayPal account so that a royalty payment can be sent to you. If you already have a PayPal account, please send me that information at your earliest convenience so I can make sure my records are correct.

Thank you.

Cris

Cleanup Update

2011-11-30T20:48:00.001-08:00

The cleanup of the drywall and rain soaked carpet has taken up a good chunk of my time this week, but I wanted to thank those of you who emailed with suggestions and helpful hints.

I am still on track for hardback delivery as of today, so those of you with outstanding hardback orders should receive them by the end of the month.

I'll send email notifications out when the books ship, so you can keep an eye out for them.

Cris

Rain Through the Roof

2011-11-26T17:47:00.001-08:00

After nearly twenty years, Jennifer convinced me to take a couple of days off this Thanksgiving. I wasn't crazy about the idea since I have always worked on Black Friday and generally on the Saturday after Thanksgiving as well so I can hit the ground running on the following Monday.

UPS takes a very long weekend this time of year and jams up our shipments, and since we received a large order of hardback cases and children's book interiors and covers, I wanted to make sure that the 150+ books I'd bound last Tuesday were ready to go out on Monday.

When I walked into the office this morning, water was streaming down the inside of the windows.

We've had heavy wind and rain the past few days and a two-foot piece of flashing, tar paper and composition was torn off the roof allowing water to pour directly into the wall. Once it had sufficiently soaked the drywall, it started pooling on every available surface from the window sills to the floor. Two storage and assembly tables which were flushed against this wall were drenched with rain water, destroying nearly all of the books which were waiting to be packed for shipping.

I've already filed an insurance claim via fax, cleaned up the office and taken out my frustration over this by ripping down not-so drywall. The clean-up effort is going to take some time. The books will have to be reprinted.

I wanted to let people know as soon as possible.

These titles were destroyed and will have to be reprinted: When Flamingos Fly, Emma and the Mashed Potato Monster, I'm Not Afraid of That, Bock Bock's Rock, A,B, C... X, Yoga Z and The Four Friends. I'll keep you informed about the revised time line for shipment.

I've posted some pictures below. --Cris

Rain water pooled on the interior window sill.

The ceiling.

The ceiling and adjoining bubbled wall.

Children's Hardbacks

2011-10-12T22:01:00.000-07:00

I had hoped that this blog would have an announcement regarding the publication of our children's books in hardback. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like we're going to be moving forward with hardbacks at this time.

Although we did get responses from several authors and/or artists, there simply wasn't enough interest to make the printer's minimum requirements.

For many of us, myself included, this is an incredible let down. For a number of years, I had been getting requests for hardbacks from many authors and artists, but when it came right down to the number crunching, the majority opted for paperback copies rather than hardback ones.

I find myself, daily, in a position of having to pick and choose what are the items I'm going to spend my money on. Many times it's not a question of what, but if. I believe that the media and the government are downplaying the "recession" and that most of us are still really struggling to make ends meet. In time, I think we'll look back on this as a depression as devastating economically as the one following the 1929 Wall Street crash. Then, as now, some people will not be affected at all. A friend of mine that I've known for more than 30 years has felt nary a ripple in terms of her income, but most of us have not been so lucky. So while I was disappointed in the end result, I understand that investing in hardbacks for a lot of people was simply beyond their means at this point in time.

My hope is that we will be able to revisit this option again in the future, but for now, we will continue to offer paperbacks of all our children's books in the 8 x 8 size.

If any of you would like to share marketing strategies, please email me and I will compile suggestions and post them here. I think that despite the economy, people need and want to read to their children and they want timeless stories for those special moments. We have an incredible selection of books; I'm incredibly proud of each one and I have never given up on any of them--nor should you. Believe in the product we have right now and I'll keep working on opening our options for the future.

Cris

September Royalties

2011-09-28T23:14:00.000-07:00

All of the September royalty statements have been sent via email. If any of your books were paid for during the last six months, you will receive an attachment in the form of a PDF. This is your statement.

If your payment preferences have changed, or if you are interested in a royalty exchange, please let me know. Otherwise, you can expect to hear from us before the end of the month regarding payment arrangements. This only applies to individuals whose royalty total is over $50.00. If your royalty total is under $50.00, the amount will carry over to the next period.

Beginning in March 2012, all authors and artists will get a yearly statement in March of each year. This will help ensure that everyone is up to date.

As always, if you have questions about your statement, please feel free to contact me.

Cris

Childrens' Book Hardback Decisions

2011-09-22T14:35:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

Thank you for weighing in on the childrens' hardbacks. We are ready to move forward on this project and have taken all the comments and questions into consideration when making our decision. Although some of you preferred Option 2, the majority of authors and artists preferred Option 1, which does not grant a discount, but does ensure that both authors and artists are paid a royalty. It also comes with a lower SRP (Suggested Retail Price).

We will be printing dust jackets rather than using a raised stamp, but there will not be a price printed on the dust jackets. This will allow authors and artists to set their own SRPs.

We encourage authors and artists to "add value" to the book by signing copies. Additionally, authors or artists who wish to sell their books with a CD can download the files from the website, burn and insert them into the books or offer them to potential buyers as a no-cost extra. This helps customers feel as though they're getting something extra, which makes hand selling easier on you.

If you've been considering ordering hardbacks, but haven't done so, please make sure your order is in by tomorrow at midnight (Friday). I will be placing the order on Monday morning.

Thanks!

Cris

Oregon Hardback Printer Meeting Results

2011-09-05T14:20:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone

I met with the hardback press in Oregon. They are willing to function as OHP's printer for all our childrens' books. The incredible news is that the books will be 10 x 10! Huge compared to the 6 x 6 we were considering. They will not include a CD so they don't have to be shrink-wrapped (which will allow browsing) but will link to a download of the audio book. OHP would continue to handle the paperbacks in color.

Books will be sold from the OHP website and active there for Christmas sales (in October).

Still undecided is whether the books will have a traditional dust jacket or a raised front and back plate. I'll keep everyone informed on those developments.

There are two offers, in terms of their payment agreements, being made to us. One option includes a lower SRP for the books, a $0.90 per book royalty to both the author and illustrator, but no discount for resale. The other option has a higher SRP per book, the same royalty for the author and illustrator, but a 20% discount for resale. Basic numbers would look like this:

Option 1
Royalty at $0.90 per unit. No discount granted.

Page count of 24 would retail for $19.99
Page count of 28 would retail for $21.99
Page count of 32 would retail for $21.99
Page count of 36 would retail for $22.99
Page count of 44 would retail for $24.99

Option 2
No royalty. Discount of 20% granted.
Page count of 24 would retail for $21.99
Page count of 28 would retail for $22.99
Page count of 32 would retail for $24.99
Page count of 36 would retail for $24.99
Page count of 44 would retail for $27.99

Childrens' book authors and illustrators are welcome to email me and weigh in!

Cris

Stress Relief

2011-08-31T22:00:00.000-07:00

This was sent to me by a friend and I thought I'd repost it here. Yes, we use UPS...mostly because their ground crew has a sense of humor. These are complaints logged by UPS pilots and given to the ground crew to fix. The pilots then review the sheet before flying that plane again.

P = Pilot and S = Service Crew

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cockpit
S: Something tightened in cockpit

P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That's what friction locks are for.

P: IFF inoperative in OFF mode.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you're right.

P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search

P: Aircraft handles funny.
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right and be serious.

P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

P : Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget.

Thanks, Becky!

Cris

Childrens' Books: Bad News, Good News

2011-08-30T15:36:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone. Here's the most recent update on the children's books in hardback.

I'll give you the bad news first.

Unfortunately, we didn't make the minimum order requirement for the 6x6 hard case shells. Jennifer was willing to take 100 and I convinced friends and family to buy her an additional 100 for her birthday, but even with 200 to Jennifer, other orders didn't bring our total to 500. I called the manufacturer and canceled our preliminary order.

Fortunately, neither Jennifer nor I are defeated that easily. I know that Jennifer can sell 200 copies of a hardback; I want her to have this opportunity and she has always dreamed of hardback editions of her childrens' books, just like many of you. So, at 7 A.M. Wednesday morning, I'll be leaving for Oregon to meet face to face with a specialty press that exclusively publishes hardbacks. They publish in 10x10, 11x11, and 12x12 sizes with dust jackets and audio CDs.

If I can interest the press in our catalog of childrens' titles, OHP would continue to produce 8x8 paperbacks, but they would publish our hardbacks. This would be a subsidiary sale and every author would be paid 60% of any advance and/or a royalty, set by the press, according to their standard business arrangement.

Is this good news? Yes, it is. Is it great news? No. Great would have been if we could have met the 500 minimum because these can be purchased at a 50% discount and then resold for sizeable profit. This will not be an option working with an outside press who sets their own discount and may or may not be willing to sell directly to bookstores or individuals at discount (as opposed to selling to a wholesalers or distributor). We'll see what I can negotiate.

I'll debrief Jennifer Wednesday night, then write everyone with details on Thursday. Send good thoughts and prayers, everyone. I feel hopeful.

Cris

Hurricane Irene

2011-08-29T10:00:00.000-07:00

Please keep our East Coast authors and artists in your thoughts and prayers this week as they recover from the aftermath of Hurricane Irene.

Cris

Hardback Children's Book Update

2011-08-25T13:33:00.001-07:00

We've talked a lot about the quality of our materials lately. The other crucial element to keeping prices low is quantity. To get a significant price break for printing paperback books, for example, you have to print 10,000 copies.

In the past two years, in more than half of the books we've published, the author has come back after the initial print run and either requested changes or in two cases a complete relayout of an updated version of the story.

We're able to accommodate these requests, though the latter was a difficult sell to the layout team, because we don't print 10,000 copies at a time.

This morning, I found myself faced with the unpleasant task of going to Jennifer and telling her that we only have orders for 113 hardback children's books. In order to get the price quoted in the blog, we need a minimum of 500.

Out of all the authors and artists I emailed, I've heard back from 4. One of them is Jennifer, whose order for her own books is the bulk of this initial order.

I feel a little frustrated at this point because the whole reason we started this inquiry into hardback children's books was at the request of the authors and illustrators. I have to make or cancel this order on Monday, August 29.

This is where we stand right now:

If your book has black and white interiors (e.g. ABC of Hidden Heroines and Bok Bok's rock) your SRP will be $21.99. (I'm Nocturnal, due to the intense black color saturation, counts as a color book).

The case cost for a minimum of 100 cases is going to be $6.25 rather than $5.55. If we can reach the 200 case minimum, the individual case cost will go down to $6.10.

It seems unlikely that we're going to hit our 500 case minimum. I understand that once the numbers are laid out, it becomes a daunting prospect.

That said, I am still hopeful that those of you who have not yet responded will let me know one way or the other about how you'd like to proceed. I'll keep everyone posted about the status of the order over the next few days.

Thank you,
Cris

Additional Children's Books

2011-08-23T16:36:00.000-07:00

A few books that have not been laid out yet or are waiting to be relaid out were accidentally left off yesterday's list:

Bok Bok's Rock: 24 pages
I'm Not Afraid of That: 32 pages
Little T and the Bully: 30 pages
I Know a Rhino: 40 pages

Thanks!
Cris

Children's Book Page Counts

2011-08-22T16:14:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the delay in getting this posted. As soon as I sent out the email to the children's book authors and illustrators, we lost our Internet and it's just come back on.

Here are the page counts for each of the children's books. You can figure out your cost by using the formula set out in the blog that detailed the costs for the books from the July 24th post.

The size will be 6 x 6. The covers will be dark, probably black, and all books will have a dust jacket and also an inserted CD (unless you specify that you don't want it and deduct that cost from your overall cost).

Please email me if you have questions. All children's books authors and artists should have received an email from me with additional details. If you did not, please let me know.

ABC… X, Yoga Z 54
ABCs of Hidden Heroines 56
Apples & Oranges 28
Basilisk's Crest 32
Clarence 26
Emma & Mashed Potato Monster 26
Grandma's Wonderful Rock 32
Helmets & Hoses 26
I Love You with My Heart 24
I'm Nocturnal 26
Little T & The Egg 30
Very Sad Story of Betty O'Dare 38
When Flamingos Fly 28
Miss Panda (all except Greece) 36

Cris

eBook Update

2011-08-16T16:02:00.000-07:00

I've had some queries regarding eBook versions.

Additional eBook versions (Kindle & Nook) will be uploaded beginning in September. The following titles will be included in the first wave:

Robert Black: Lunar Pioneers & The Real Life Channel
John Morano: Don't Tell Me the Ending, A Wing and a Prayer, Makoona and Out There, Somewhere

Cris

Children's Full-color Hardbacks

2011-07-24T00:04:00.000-07:00

Before we delve into the world of hardback, full-color children's books, let me assure everyone that the paperback, black and white editions of all the children's books have received a final bid check and all of them will be able to retail for $9.99, whether your book is 54 or 24 pages in length. All titles can be purchased for the full, standard discount of 50% off the Suggested Retail Price (SRP) and the full royalty of 15% will be paid to the author and the full royalty of 15% will be paid to the illustrator.

That is the great news. Now let's move into tougher territory.

After all is said and done, after all the bids are in and the numbers are crunched, Jennifer was satisfied we got the best bids for the highest quality materials for the new line of children's full-color hardbacks. The 6 x 6 books will feature wrap-around dust jackets and ship (all year round, no matter the weather) with audio CDs. Interior pages will be full-color on heavy, high gloss stock. All paper will be recycled and all inks will be non-toxic. But in the same breath that she told me all of this, she also said that most of our authors won't be happy.

Writing under a nom de plume for more than two decades, Jennifer has published both paperback and hardback children's stories. All of them have been published by either OHP (in the 1980s) or other small, independent presses. Her SRPs range from $14.99 to $28.99. She doesn't have a problem selling copy. As a matter of fact, her royalties from other presses are gifted to OHP every year, helping us stay in business. How does she do it? How does she sell copies of books that are priced so much higher than her competitors at the big presses? In a couple of ways.

1) She sells at charity events. Jennifer teams with charities that she believes in and sells the books for the full SRP. $2 to $4 from each book goes to the charity. People like this feeling and don't compare her books to mass market, big label books.

2) She sells after dynamic performances. Jennifer stages mini plays based on scenes from her books or reads from the book while the audience interacts with her with crafts (such as masks of the characters, or call and response). The cost of the book appears to include the cost of admission to the show and people see value in this.

3) Other than the books that Jennifer buys for resale from OHP, no other press gives her a royalty on the books she buys from them. She usually gets a 30% discount. Having paid only 70% of the SRP, she resells the books for 80% of the SRP. This way she makes her money back, makes a profit roughly equal to a 5 to 10% royalty on gross received, and the buyer gets a 20% discount that they love.

This list actually goes on. But since Jennifer has been actively writing and selling her own books since she was sixteen years old, this isn't surprising. Of course, any of our authors can do any of these things that Jennifer does, especially #3 because OHP grants a 50% discount which allows a lot more play room when passing on the savings to end buyers. However, there's something that Jennifer has that most authors don't have: An inside view of the bottom line. In this blog, I'd like to change that.

If we move forward with the bids we have, our full-color, hardback children's books will have SRPs ranging from $22.99 to $26.99. If your book is naturally black and white already, and so the hardback would stay black and white, you'd be looking at a SRP of $21.99. This includes the audio CD included with the book and all the quality materials and details I outlined above. But let's go a step further. Let's actually try for absolute transparency.

Interior full-color pages are $0.06 each.

Dustjackets are $0.22 each.

Hardback cases are $5.55 each.

Binding is $0.21 per book.

Shrink wrapping is $0.20 per book.

Audio CDs are $0.25 each.

So, this means that if your book is an average 38 pages long, the interior pages cost $2.28. The pages are printed on huge sheets so you don't get a discount if some of the 38 pages are black and white. They all cost $0.06 each. Add the $2.28 to the other costs of $6.43 for a total of $8.71 per book. $8.71 is what OHP has to pay upfront for each book.

Fine details: Our hardcases are solid black so dustjackets must be used. Cases and binding are mandatory for obvious reasons. Shrink wrapping must be done if we include CDs. Jennifer prefers to have audio downloadable only but almost all of our authors have voiced a preference for a included CD.

Most presses (and lots of self-publishing guides) like to use the ratio: Cost x 3 = SRP rounded to the nearest industry standard price. Let's use that formula: $8.71 x 3 = $26.13. Now let's go look at the shelves at the Barnes & Noble Super Store. There are hardbacks with SRPs of $16.99, $18.99, $19.99, $21.99, $24.99 and $26.99. There are even some gorgeous editions that are signed for $28.99. There's no $17.99, $20.99, or $25.99 that I could find. So I guess we're looking at a $26.99 SRP for a full-color, heavy gloss stock, dustjacketed children's book with an enclosed CD.

Let's run with that for now.

So we have a SRP of $26.99. Take a 50% discount right off the top and that leaves $13.49. So a bookstore buys the book for $13.49. But wait! First remove the royalty. 15% for the author and 15% for the illustrator. A 30% royalty deducts $4.04. This leaves $9.45 to OHP. Minus the $8.71 material cost for a remaining profit of $0.74. Yes, for the layout, design, packing, ISBN, etc. etc. to produce the book, OHP nets $0.74.

And guess what? Jennifer is fine with that. Sure, she'd rather make a whole dollar profit, but that simply isn't possible here.

However, I would be willing to bet that we lost many of our authors as soon as I said, 38 page book for $26.99.

Now, how can you sell a book with a $26.99 SRP? Well, you get the book from OHP for 65% off the SRP (that's your standard 50% discount plus your 15% royalty right off the top). So you pay $11.47 per book. How much do you want to profit? If you only want to profit what OHP does, than resell the book for $12.21 and make a $0.74 profit. Or, resell the book for $14.99 and make a $3.52 profit! The choice is yours. Imagine the deal your buyers are going to see when they can buy a $26.99 book for half off!

So, shall we dialogue from here? What do we have to talk about? Well, if you want your audio to be download-only and no CD included, than minus $0.45 from your cost. Calculate your SRP with the formula above and round it *up* to the nearest industry standard. Does that SRP work for you if you can order the books for 65% off and resell them for whatever you like? Think about it. Then email me :)

Cris

Why China is not an Option

2011-07-20T16:50:00.000-07:00

I received a letter recently from one of our authors concerned with the cost of our books. This is an issue that we have wrestled with as a company since our inception. Both Jennifer and I understand the challenges inherent in hand-selling a book that’s priced higher than other books on the shelf. As authors, we have experienced the same resistance and reluctance from bookstore owners.

The question of cost is always uppermost in my mind when evaluating methods, vendors and materials for book printing. Since arriving on the Olympic Peninsula in 1997, Jennifer and I have been keenly aware of the impact our business has on the environment. Color book printing has always been the most difficult aspect of our business to balance in terms of cost versus environmental impact.

Look at any book on the shelves in a bookstore and you will notice that they were printed in China. Most book publishers print their books in China, whether they are color books or not. Printing in China is much cheaper than printing in the United States and the quality is just as good, if not better. So why doesn’t OHP print their books in China?

Our decision not to print in China comes from one of the core values of our company. Our commitment to the environment is a fundamental aspect of our business. I wanted to share with you the reasons why we have decided not to print in China and have compiled some information to help you understand this decision.

China’s Contribution to Global Warming and Air Pollution in the Western United States

Several years ago, The New York Times ran a series of articles about China’s booming economy and the resulting environmental impact. The Chinese government’s desire to lift its citizens out of poverty and make their country an economic force to be reckoned with has, unfortunately, resulted in environmental catastrophe. According to this article, “Environmental degradation is now so severe, with such stark domestic and international repercussions, that pollution poses not only a major long-term burden on the Chinese public but also an acute political challenge to the ruling Communist Party. … Pollution has made cancer China’s leading cause of death, the Ministry of Health says. Ambient air pollution alone is blamed for hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. Nearly 500 million people lack access to safe drinking water. … Chinese cities often seem wrapped in a toxic gray shroud. Only 1 percent of the country’s 560 million city dwellers breathe air considered safe by the European Union.” This article, published in 2008, shed light on the growing problem of pollution in China.

According to Dan Jaffe, a professor of Environmental Science at the University of Washington, who has studied global pollution for more than 20 years, China’s “emissions will likely increase 50-200% by 2020. But the good news is that China could keep the growth in emissions to modest levels or even see slight decreases for some pollutants, if advanced control technologies are employed. If this is not done, these large emission increases will be a major assault on the global environment.” To date, China has not been willing to commit to cutting their emissions, and according to a reporter present at the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, China sabotaged the negotiations.

All attempts to rein in China’s massive dependence of fossil fuels and the resulting pollution put into the air—which consists mainly of ozone, particulate matter, mercury, sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide—have been unsuccessful. Some of you may remember the controversy over the air quality that plagued the 2008 Olympics, held in Bejing. This has a lot to do with the fact that the Chinese government is less concerned with the environmental well-being of the planet and the health of their people than it is with economic growth

Professor Jaffe first detected transport of pollutants from Asia to the United States in 1997. These pollutants affect the entire west coast of America from Alaska to California. “The Asian industrial contribution [of mercury] is approximately 10-30% of the total deposition across the US, with the highest contributions in Alaska and the western U.S.”

The New York Times states, “China’s problem has become the world’s problem. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides spewed by China’s coal-fired power plants fall as acid rain on Seoul, South Korea, and Tokyo. Much of the particulate pollution over Los Angeles originates in China, according to the Journal of Geophysical Research.”

To Jennifer and myself, the fact that the Chinese government is willing to let its citizens live and work under these conditions, to knowingly continue to expand industry at the expense its people and the citizens of other countries and to essentially turn a blind eye to the fact that their country is actively and without regard contributing nearly half of the toxins that enhance global warming is unconscionable.

Given all this, printing in China is simply not an option. The higher cost of a book does not outweigh the environmental destruction that is being allowed to occur. As Americans, I think we often look for the easy fix—just find a cheaper printer. It’s not that simple. Nor is it the responsible thing to do.

China’s Printing Processes

While US ink and paper manufacturers take great pride in their recycled papers and soy-based inks, the same does not hold true for the inks, solvents and paper used by China’s printers. HP, the company from which we purchase our cartridges, uses soy-based toner and each cartridge comes with a label for the empty cartridge return. We recycle all of our cartridges for all four of our in-house printers. Additionally, the paper we use is purchased from companies that are environmentally friendly and offer recycled papers as a matter of course. Most US-based paper companies actively participate in tree replanting, and the local PNW paper companies are particularly pro-active about promoting and participating in replanting and recycling efforts.

There are no restrictions on the inks, solvents or paper used in China. The inks used for color printing, in particular, are highly toxic and recycled paper is simply not an option. The methodology used to print books is illegal in the US. This is part of the reason that books printed in the US are more expensive—US printers have to adhere to environmental regulations which are non-existent in China.

Quantity Versus Cost

OHP, as an independent press, prints books in short runs. This is an industry term for books printed in quantities between 100 and 500 copies at a time. Printing 500 copies of a single book at one time is carries an enormous cost. On three different occasions, we printed books (2 series and 1 single title) in quantities ranging from 2,000 to 10,000, which cost us between $8,000.00 and $40,000.00 for the printing alone.

We made this choice to ensure that the choices we were making were the most beneficial to both the authors and artists as well as to the company. On these three occasions, we were trying to find a way to work with Ingram Distributor’s corporate model. They require shipments of between 500 and 1,000 copies of a title all at one time. The books are then shipped to bookstores and are available for 24-hour order fulfillment turnaround. For 30 days.

One might argue that without a substantial marketing campaign to ensure public awareness this experiment would be pointless. One of the books had a $100,000.00 marketing campaign. The books still came back 30 days later and sales from that period did not even begin to approximate the money put into the production of this single title.

Books which do not sell within the 30 day period are then returned to the publisher, at our expense. The books are then reordered. Sometimes they are reordered in the same quantity and I didn’t even have to unpack them. All I had to do was pay for shipping them to Ingram a second time. The books are made available for 30 days. And then returned again, at the publisher’s expense. This continues until Ingram no longer feels there are enough ongoing orders for the title and then titles are shifted to Ingram’s version of the backlist.

Even working within this model and providing 24-hour turnaround time on our end for orders, there is a 2-week lag time between when the books are reshipped and when the book is listed once again as “available” to their vendors. This has nothing to do with us. Ingram won’t keep any of our titles in their warehouse, so the title is unavailable during it’s time in transit from Washington to Tennessee and then the time the Ingram warehouse staff takes to unpack, scan and shelve the titles. Sometimes, during this 2-week period, demand for the title falls off or disappears.

In the year we published the book with the $100,000.00 marketing campaign, we lost $50,000.00 to Ingram’s business model. That does not included the marketing campaign money. After many years of trying to work within their system, it became apparent that there was no way to work their system to our advantage. When we work with Ingram, we lost money. Period.

How does this tie into printing in China? It’s simple. In order to get a price break for printing in China, the minimum print run for a single title is 10,000 copies. The cost of the order includes freight shipping and customs/duty fees. It does not include insurance in the event that your books, in their metal freight containers, are washed overboard during their journey from China to Seattle. This is actually more common that one might think. Every year between 2,000 and 10,000 containers are lost at sea during fierce ocean storms.

Patriotism and National Morals

We have always prided ourselves on the fact that all of our books are made in the USA. All of our materials are sourced in the here as well. Any work that is not done in-house is completed at one of two different printers we have worked with for a number of years. One of these is in Washington State; the other is located in New York. Both are American owned and operated. As you all know, OHP has struggled financially over the past few years. Given the figures I’ve shared with above and the sudden, unexpected downturn in the economy, we were faced with enormous debts that twice almost cost us our home and have make it necessary for both Jennifer and I to take outside jobs. Because we know first-hand how hard it is to find work, it only makes sense for us to make the choice to employ American workers.

Finally, there is the simple fact that China is a communist country. Their history of human rights violations coupled with their complete lack of disregard for the effect their economic choices have on the world has made this a n0-brainer. We spend $100,000.00 a year on printing. We’re certainly not going to pour that money into the Chinese economy.

We both understand that it’s difficult to sell a book that is significantly more expensive that a similar book on the shelf. It takes more effort a lot of drive and some creative thinking outside the box to make your book a must-have, whether you’re presenting it to an individual or negotiating a commission sale through a bookstore. But given the alternative, we are as confident in our decision to stay with our US-based printers as we are in your abilities to use this information to educate and engage people about why OHP is so firmly committed to these ideals.

Children's Book Update

2011-07-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

In addition to explaining the information about printing in China, I wanted to update everyone on the progress we're making on the color book issue.

I am waiting a final quote from the company which sources hardback covers and will have that tomorrow. On Friday, I'll post the rest of the information about the changes we're making to the color books, including price breakdowns and size.

Thank you for your patience while we try and find the best possible deal on covers so that we can offer you the best prices for these books.

Cris

June Update

2011-06-24T22:27:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone.

It's been bit of a crazy month. Certainly weather-wise it's been a roller coaster of a massive downpour one minute and then sun. My sister on the East coast had 100 degree temperatures and we've had about 5 days of suitable beach weather. People out here are joking about the spring that wasn't and the summer that probably won't be. But everything is green! The prairie grass that we planted last year in the orchard quickly grew to more than 5 feet tall, rendering my push mower completely useless. I repaired an old electric weedwacker that was designed for someone who's about six inches shorter than I am, but I've made a bit of progress on the overgrown yard.

I've been working as many extra shifts as I could pick up at Starbucks to make a real dent in the back royalties. I'm happy to report than nearly half of all back royalties owed have been paid off. I'll continue to work extra shifts in July to get everyone paid off as quickly as I can.

Most of the hardbacks are finished. I still have to cut and collate some of the Blackhope Scaur Trilogy and reprint The Real Life Channel, which had a formatting error. The Brute, Cracks and part of the Blackhope Scaur Trilogy are going to be bound by Jennifer within a week. Brianne will put on the covers and shrink wrap the books as soon as Jennifer's done. I'm hoping to have all of the backlog cleared out very soon.

Some of you have taken advantage of the offer to take hurt copies of your books. If you haven't thought about it, please take a moment to think about whether or not you'd like them. I will donate all the ones that authors don't want, but I want to make sure everyone has had a chance to think about this before I do. I will hold onto them through the summer.

Kindle and Nook sales continue to be solid. Kindle totally revamped their guidelines and Brianne had to go in and reformat every single Kindle book that had already been uploaded. She's done this, though, and all the books are updated.

The office remodel is going very well. Most of the cleaning and rearranging has been done. I still need to do a complete inventory of covers and bound copies but the space itself is looking good.

Our various multiple jobs have settled now into a kind of routine that works for everyone here and it doesn't feel as chaotic--but we're all extremely busy.

I have cleared out all my email. So if you have an outstanding question and haven't heard from me, please resend it. Orders are all caught up and are shipping in a timely manner. I'm working on royalty exchanges as well.

I am committed to do right by all of our authors and working hard to prove it to all of you. When I pick up extra shifts, I won't necessarily have anything to report about OHP that day, but if you don't see a blog for a while, it doesn't mean I'm not working for all of you. I will blog on the days I devote to OHP and update as tasks are accomplished.

Thank you all for your patience and encouragement. It means a lot to all of us.

Cris

CFO

2011-06-08T22:54:00.000-07:00

I asked Jennifer to step into the CFO shoes for OHP to help delegate how the money that comes into OHP is allocated among the company's needs--supplies and royalties primarily--and also how much of my salary from my other jobs will go into OHP.

I'm grateful for the help as it allows me to focus on email, production, printing and orders more fully.

Third Job

2011-06-07T22:48:00.000-07:00

It's official. I have been hired as a writer an editor for an online company that provides content to a variety of websites. I can't say that it's easy... most of the topics I'm writing about are way outside of experience--What are Forssman Antibodies was a recent one--but the job pays pretty well and it pays twice a week. Squishing all of my Starbucks' hours into three days has also made a difference in terms of the money spent on gas and I actually got change back when I filled the tank today--that's a first in a long time.

The good news is that on the days I don't work for Starbucks, I will be able to put close to six hours into OHP and then work my 6 hours shift writing and editing. Just this past week, I saw a difference in how many books I was able to get ready to ship, so I am feeling more positive than I have in a while.

Hardback: Blumer

2011-06-06T22:40:00.000-07:00

Mike Blumer--all hardbacks of all titles will ship on June 13, 2011.

Hardbacks: Masterman

2011-06-05T22:33:00.000-07:00

Fred Masterman
10 copies Death by Dolphin (paperback)
All hardback copies of Death by Dolphin and the Jewels of Stonehenge will ship on June 13.

Hardbacks: Dennis

2011-06-04T22:28:00.000-07:00

Mark Dennis, all hardback and paperback copies, will ship on June 13th.

Hardbacks: Downs

2011-06-03T22:27:00.000-07:00

Robert Downs, Cape May Stores, all copies will ship on June 13, 2011.

Hardback Shipment

2011-06-02T22:26:00.000-07:00

Over the next few days I'll be posting the hardbacks which will ship during the week of June 13th.

Just for Fun

2011-06-01T12:26:00.000-07:00

Carol DiMarco, Jennifer's mom, sent me this through email. Thought you might find this amusing.

If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in Washington.

If you've worn shorts, sandals and a parka at the same time, you live in Washington.

If you measure distance in hours, you live in Washington.

If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in Washington.

If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C' and back again in the same day, you live in Washington.

If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in Central, Southern or Eastern Washington.

If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over 2 layers of clothes or under a raincoat, you live in Washington.

If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow and ice, you live in Washington.

If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction, you live in Washington.

If you feel guilty throwing aluminum cans or paper in the trash, you live in Washington.

If you know more than 10 ways to order coffee, you live in Washington.

If you stand on a deserted corner in the rain waiting for the "Walk" signal, you live in Washington.

If you can taste the difference between Starbucks, Seattle's Best, and Tully's, you live in Washington.

If you know the difference between Chinook, Coho and Sockeye salmon, you live in Washington.

If you know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup, Abiqua, Issaquah, Snoqualmie, Wenatchee, Spokane, Umpqua, Yakima and Willamette, you live in Washington.

If you consider swimming an indoor sport, you live in Washington.

If you can tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese and Thai food, you live in Washington.

If you never go camping without waterproof matches and a poncho, you live in Washington.

If you have actually used your mountain bike on a mountain, you live in Washington.

If you think people who use umbrellas are either wimps or tourists, you live in Washington.

If you buy new sunglasses every year because you cannot find the old ones after such a long time, you live in Washington.

Happy Spring (?)

Cris

Third Job

2011-05-31T22:49:00.000-07:00

Have applied for a third job doing blue-pencil editing and maybe some writing for a tech-company. Should know in a few days.

Email

2011-05-30T22:48:00.000-07:00

My time has been so fragmented this month that I've been trying to slip in email as I can. I'm hoping to get back to setting aside one day a week for only email, but right now it's still a bit here and there. Thanks for your patience with this.

Inventory

2011-05-29T22:44:00.000-07:00

Working on the book inventory. Am making progress on getting copies of all of our titles in stock so that order turnaround is faster. We've cut our turnaround time down a lot this month--just by running a few extra copies of books when we have spare toner and paper. I'm feeling hopeful about getting everything in stock and available for 24 hour turnaround.

Juggling Hours

2011-05-28T22:37:00.000-07:00

With the current gas prices, I'm spending half of my Starbuck's earnings just on getting there and back again. It's a 45 minute ride each way and though most of it is freeway driving, it's still a long haul. This is the closest store that has hours available--I applied to the store in Port Orchard lat year, but they ended up hiring a slender 20-something blond who "seemed to fit in better with their current crew."

I am lucky in that I do like the store I'm working at--both the customers and my co-workers are great and the store manager is sensitive to my driving plight. We're working on trying to schedule me for longer shifts fewer times a week--coming in three days instead of six--but there's no guarantee that it'll be every week as most everyone will be taking vacation this summer and the rest of us will be working around that.

This has put a real damper--both emotionally and financially--on where I wanted to be by this time. I am struggling just to contribute my share of the household bills. It looks like I'm going to have to try and find additional work.

Inventory

2011-05-27T22:36:00.000-07:00

Spent four hours on cover inventory today. I want to make a new cover order by the end of the month.

Repairs and Renovation

2011-05-26T22:33:00.000-07:00

Working on repairing the planters in the orchard for the next day or so. They really took a beating this year--not to mention that one of the delivery trucks backed into one and sent an entire side into the driveway.

Still working on the office renovation. Would love to have that done, but there's so much else that also needs my attention.

Cleanup

2011-05-25T22:28:00.000-07:00

This has been a long and cold spring--about 10 degrees colder than usual for the Pacific Northwest--and we've had so much rain that our driveway is just covered in mud, leaves and sticks.

Our UPS driver has requested that we do some serious cleanup because he's having trouble managing the hand truck for deliveries and pick ups so I've been out there before work and after (thank goodness for the longer days) shoveling, sweeping and moving mud.

I hope he doesn't complain about the potholes in the easement leading up to our driveway. We've filled the holes three times now, but none of our neighbors are willing to contribute to the upkeep--even though the easement leads to all 4 houses--and there's only so much we can do.

31 October Nights

2011-05-24T22:21:00.000-07:00

Jennifer's new book and CD collection, 31 October Nights, is finished. She started this project last autumn and composed one piece of original harp music each night during October. Since then, she's been working on the essays and photographs for the book--one essay about her inspiration for each of the pieces.

The book and 4 CDs of music are now available from her website . We started with a print run of 500 and have less than 20 left. There are 100 full-color photos in the book and over 3 hours of music. This is our first use of the eco-case she designed, which looks just fantastic.

Who would have thought a harp I build several years ago as a vacation project would turn out to be such an inspiration to her? She's now built several of her own and we're working on four more currently. She's also built several upright harps out of different materials. Be sure to check out her website for more information about these as well.

Binding.... again

2011-05-23T22:20:00.000-07:00

Working on some of the last sets.

Binding, Redux

2011-05-22T22:19:00.000-07:00

More hardback binding tonight. A time consuming process, but the results are looking great.

Binding

2011-05-21T22:18:00.000-07:00

Hardback binding tonight.

Cut/Collate

2011-05-20T22:17:00.000-07:00

While the interiors are printing, I'm cutting and collating the books I printed yesterday.

Printing

2011-05-19T22:16:00.000-07:00

Working on printing the last of the hardback interiors. Can't leave the printers unattended for too long because they tend to overheat and then the fusers burn out more quickly than if the printers are monitored. Should have them finished with a few days.

Shrink Wrapping

2011-05-18T22:14:00.000-07:00

All the books we wrapped yesterday were shrink wrapped tonight. Thanks to Brianne's help, it went pretty quickly.

Dust Jackets

2011-05-17T22:12:00.000-07:00

Not quite half of the hardbacks have now been bound. Jennifer and I spent four hours this evening cutting down, folding and wrapping the dust jackets around the hardbacks that were finished.

Hurts by Title: Letters R-Z

2011-05-16T22:52:00.000-07:00

Road to Kotaishi, Part 1 -- 3
Road to Kotaishi, Part 2 -- 7
Roses & Thorns -- 1
Royal Threat -- 14
Rumors of War -- 1

Sands of Sabakuchi -- 1
Season of the Plant -- 1
Secret in the Forest -- 3
Shadows of Aggar -- 5
Shards (GemQuest) -- 1
Skeleton Key -- 1
Soul of Flesh -- 6

This New Breed -- 5
Truth About Aging (The) -- 2
Twins (GemQuest) -- 11

Undying Machine -- 5

Voodu Dawgz -- 1

Weddings & Courtships in Ireland -- 1
Widdicomb Fair -- 3
Wild Words -- 1
Wing & A Prayer -- 3
Woman's Sigh Wolf's Song -- 70

Hurts by Title: Letters L-Q

2011-05-15T22:01:00.000-07:00

Long Way Home -- 3
Lord of the Machine -- 5

Machine Goddess -- 10
Maybe Tomorrow -- 21
Menace Beyond the Moon -- 16
Missing Persons 101 -- 6
Moonlight in the Forest -- 1
Mud-hut -- 4

New Star Tarot Journal -- 1
Northwest Passages -- 3

On a Bus to St. Cloud -- 10

Paladin's Choice (The) -- 1
Pandora Project -- 6
Pirate Queen -- 39
Present from the Past -- 1
Puzzle from the Past -- 3

Hurts by Title: Letters D-K

2011-05-14T21:56:00.000-07:00

Delayed Paradise -- 1

Elder Worlds -- 1
Enchanted Jungle -- 9
Every Last Detail -- 7

Farscape Episode Guide Season One -- 5
Farscape Episode Guide Season Two -- 7
Farscape Episode Guide Season Three -- 3
Firefly Episode Guide -- 13
Fires of Aggar -- 1

Guardian Devils -- 2

Hand Percussion -- 3

Journey of a Thousand Miles -- 18

Keeper of the Piece -- 4
Keepers -- 10
King's First Journey -- 1
Krndija -- 1

Hurts By Title: Letters A-C

2011-05-13T21:47:00.000-07:00

2176: Birth of the Belt Republic -- 16
After Hours -- 4
Always (DOL edition) -- 3
And Featuring Bailey Wellcom as the Biscult -- 13
Annabel & I -- 1
Artist's Life (The) -- 9
Assault of Laughter (The) -- 4
Awakening (GemQuest) -- 3

Babylon 5 Crusade Episode Guide -- 9
Babylon 5 Season One Episode Guide -- 2
Barnston Life -- 1
Becoming a Nanny -- 1
Big Five-O Cafe -- 3
Book of Broken Promises -- 2
Broccoli Eaters -- 1
Brute (The) -- 56

Constellations of the Heart -- 2
Continuum -- 1
Crossing the Center Line -- 30

Hurts and How to Get Them

2011-05-12T21:44:00.000-07:00

Hurts can be given to readers as an incentive to read other books in your series or sent to potential reviewers. Consider sending copies to Amazon.com's professional reviewers who will then post the reviews at the site.

If you are interested in getting copies of any of your books which are hurts, please let me know by May 31, 2011. I will bill and ship all books within the first 2 weeks of June.

If your book is over 100 pages, the cost will be $2.00 per book. If your book is under 100 pages, the cost is $1.00 per books. Books will ship media mail. I'll bill you exact cost after the books are packed and ready to go. Payments through PayPal are preferred.

You are not required to take any of these books. Any books not claimed will be donated as we simply don't have the space to store them here.

Hurts

2011-05-11T21:36:00.000-07:00

I have finished compiling the list of "hurts" which I'll be listing here.

A hurt book is a book that has one of the following features:

1. Bent or scuffed covers
2. Worn covers (toner may be missing in places)
3. Has been read and returned (spine might show wear and tear)
4. The final trimming on one or more sides is crooked enough to be noticeable
5. Is a first edition with different cover art or a different cover design

These are mostly books which have been returned from distributors, bookstores or other sources. We cannot resell them because they look shelf-worn, but they're perfectly usable for promotion and/or giveaways.

Baby Squirrel in Wonderland

2011-05-10T21:33:00.000-07:00

Spent 6 hours hand collating the last 100 copies of Baby Squirrel in Wonderland--the last book that will have to be done this way. Mind numbing.

It reminded me of my first summer job where I hand collated reports for AT&T. This is before copy machines had collating as part of their regular features. I spent 8 hours a day for 10 weeks walking in a big circle in a room putting reports together one page at a time.

At least this time I could listen to music and the news. Back then, a Walkman was still a gleam in someone's eye.

Graphic Layout Problem Fixed

2011-05-09T21:29:00.000-07:00

We finally solved one of the problems that's plagued us regarding color books. In the past children's books and comics have had to be hand collated, but Jennifer has figured out how to lay them out so they can be collated like the other books--which will save us a lot of time. The Mardi Gras 3000 Battle Anthology had sections which had to be hand collated and inserted as did several other books.

Demonstrating Results

2011-05-08T21:21:00.000-07:00

Happy Mothers Day to all of you mothers out there. I ended up with an 8 hour shift at Starbucks. Lost track of time and didn't ask for the day off :(

After I got home, I demonstrated to Jennifer how to take a toner cartridge apart, clean and replace the pieces and refill the cartridge.

Looking at the costs of replacement parts--unfortunately you can't just refill the toner without cleaning and replacing some of the other parts--it doesn't look like it will save us much money in the long run. And we also have to factor in the time it takes to do this.

The upside of all this is that I now know a lot more about troubleshooting cartridges and fixing some of the problems we've run in to before. However, I don't think it's going to work as an alternative to purchasing cartridges.

Toner Class

2011-05-07T17:19:00.000-07:00

Day two of toner class. Finding the process is extremely messy. Feel like I've been working in a coal mine all day. I've got toner underneath my fingernails and up my nose, despite the protective mask.

Remanufacturing Toners

2011-05-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

Using my two days off from Starbucks to take a class in how to rebuild, remanufacture and refill toner cartridges. The toner itself isn't actually that expensive so I'm hoping that it might be possible to refill some of the cartridges we have and save some money.

Preparing Interiors

2011-05-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

Spent the day cutting, collating and face trimming some of the hardback interiors. The face trimming has to be done in advance as (obviously) you can't do it after the book is bound as you can with paperbacks.

Hard Covers

2011-05-04T21:14:00.000-07:00

I believe that I mentioned that the hard cover cases have arrived. They're really nice and I'm extremely pleased with our new supplier. These cases have black end papers (rather than white ones) and have are pre-creased which helps to create a very tight binding.

Amazon Kindle in Germany

2011-05-02T22:55:00.000-07:00

Good news! All of our Kindle books are new available to German readers at the new Amazon store in Germany. They are available in English.

.... Can a Woodchuck Chuck?

2011-05-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

Soooo glad this day is finally over. Bone tired and facing a 9 hour shift tomorrow. Have earned the money for the cover order, though, which is a good feeling.

How Much Wood...

2011-04-30T20:00:00.000-07:00

The first of two days I'll spent splitting and stacking wood is finally finished. I get paid both in wood and in cash. But geez, it's backbreaking work.

Email

2011-04-29T19:00:00.000-07:00

Don't have another day off until next week, so I'll be slipping in email over the next few days as I have time.

Cut/Collate/Bind Redux

2011-04-28T19:37:00.000-07:00

Took the trip to Bremerton in the rain/hail/snow weirdness that's become out spring. Running 15 degrees below normal has not made for a lot of happy people in Washington who are darn sick of the endless winter. Saturday was beautiful, though, and reminded me that there actually is blue sky behind those ever-present clouds.

At least it's still light when I get done at Starbucks these days.

Finished the pre-production work on the hardbacks and outstanding distributor orders.

Cut/Collate/Bind

2011-04-27T22:30:00.001-07:00

Spent most of the day today working on production. There are still around 200 books that need to be printed from the second hardback order and there are also weekly orders from distributors.

Today I printed both hardback interiors and also distributor orders as both of our printers are up and running right now. I also cut and collated paperback interiors in preparation for binding and cut/collated and face trimmed the hardback interiors. There are still about 100 books left for tomorrow, give or take, and I am planning to finish those.

My food handlers license has gone missing so I have to get a replacement one tomorrow which means a trip to Bremerton and a $10.00 fee. I'd rather be putting that money into my gas tank, though I can't say it'll get me very far. If my license isn't on file at the store and QASA shows up--they're like the food police--I can't work until I get it replaced.

Can't figure out where the heck it went. I guess the same place all those socks and loose change end up.

Extra Hours

2011-04-26T22:23:00.000-07:00

Picked up several extra shifts to help with royalty payments as well as getting us some needed supplies. Now, after something like 10 days in a row of working retail, I have a day "off" tomorrow which means I won't come home smelling of coffee. ...I'm sure I'll be happy when my paycheck comes, but tonight I'm exhausted from the physical exertion of scrubbing floors, toilets and drains and the mental exhaustion of dealing with grumpy people all day.

Caffeine is, after all, an addictive substance, and when people come in, they haven't had their fix yet.

Although ... I have observed one woman who is so incredibly mellow I wonder whether coffee has the opposite effect on her. She drinks 16 shots a day, in two 8 shot beverages--one in the morning and one in the late afternoon.

KromeCote

2011-04-25T22:18:00.000-07:00

For a number of years, we've wanted to try a kind of cover stock called KromeCote. When it was first introduced, it was heralded as the best possible stock for covers because of the dense saturation. Our printer was offering a special on the paper, so we thought we'd give it a try.

While I agree that the color saturation was intense, it wasn't necessarily better--just different--and it had a tendency to catch in the cutter's blade giving some covers a slightly ragged edge.

I'm glad we tried it, but ultimately, it wasn't worth the extra cost and definitely not worth sacrificing the clean cut edge of the face edge of our books.

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter to everyone. Hope those of you who celebrate this holiday had an uplifting spiritual experience, a nice dinner, and a fabulously outrageous egg hunt. I was able to pick up some extra hours at Starbucks because so many people wanted it off. I though it might be quiet, but it was crazy busy! Glad it's over and I'm home again with my family. Had a chance to work on the office this morning between the egg hunt and going to work--dinner will have to wait for another day since I was gone during that time. Rose with the sun, as is my own personal tradition, to remember and rejoice.

Counting Returns

2011-04-23T09:30:00.000-07:00

It looks like all of the first quarter book returns are now in. I'm working on the inventory this morning before I got to Starbucks and will pick it up when I return home tonight.

Email

2011-04-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

I will be answering email today (Friday) and tomorrow (Saturday).

EcoCases

2011-04-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

We're big origami fans here. We're also fans of Escher boxes, which are boxes covered with M.C. Escher's drawings that have to be assembled--without instructions. Which is pretty much what origami feels like until you get the hang of it. This love of paper crafts has allowed us to create a lot of boxes for products and other items that aren't easy to find--or don't seem to exist at all. The latest of these is an EcoCase.

I mentioned that Jennifer had recorded five full-length CDs of her original harp compositions--I was actually wrong. There are seven. They've been like hotcakes online and around town and in Seattle but we were using plastic cases and we wanted the cases to be eco-friendly. So, just in time for Earth Day, we now can offer her CDs in an EcoCase. For a link to Jennifer's music, just go here. You can also download her music one song at a time or an entire album.

And for all you coffee and tea lovers out there, Starbucks will give you a free cup of brewed coffee or tea if you bring in your own tumbler or personal mug on Friday, April 22. Earth Day 2011. And if you don't have a travel mug, tomorrow would be a great day to get one as they will be offered at 20% off.

In Memoriam

2011-04-20T14:00:00.000-07:00

I got word today that our poet Vytautas Pliura died on March 30. He came into our lives several years ago looking for a publisher to reprint his collection of poems called Tenderness in Hell, which had been widely banned after its initial publication because of the graphic nature of the poems.

When I read the manuscript, I was taken with the eloquent mixture of tenderness and tenaciousness Vytautas portrayed in his autobiographical poetry.

He was also a prolific artist and sent numerous paintings to us. He was a unique and complex individual, a gentle soul. He will be missed.

Line of Credit

2011-04-19T22:30:00.000-07:00

Great news. Finally, after applying continually for more than two years, I got a credit card from my bank. It's a tiny limit, but handled correctly, it will turn into a line of credit for OHP. The card is designated only for back royalties--as opposed to paper or other supplies. This takes a great weight from my shoulders.

... And Working Overtime

2011-04-18T22:00:00.000-07:00

Picked up a bunch of extra shifts at Starbucks and will be getting my first day off in more than two weeks on Friday. I mean my first day off from Starbucks. Am really looking forward to being able to stay home and NOT have to drive 45 minutes (one way). But the best part is that I'll be able to put more into paying back royalties.

Requiem for a Bandsaw and the Copper Chicken

2011-04-17T23:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I wrote about Jennifer's harps. While we were cutting some wood this morning, we noticed that the wood was starting to burn and the blade on our bandsaw was turning with the wood instead of cutting it, which was closely followed by jamming and a few choice curse words.

Christopher, who is a friend of the family and a life-long carpenter-handyman, came over and took a look at our bandsaw and pronounced it officially dead. He confirmed what I had suspected--it only has a .5 horsepower and what we really need is one that has at least a 1.0 horsepower engine--a stallion rather than a party pony. Since these cost in the neighborhood of $500.00, we're going to have to save our pennies for a while until we can replace it. Not to worry, though, we've got several harps in process and I think we just might be able to find a used one.

Jennifer, of course, always has about a hundred irons in the fire. When I first met her, I thought she was terminally overextended, but I soon came to realize that if one project stalled--for whatever reason--we could always work on another. That's also why she never has writer's block. If one genre is problematic, she just shifts to another.

So while we're finishing the harps we have, she landed a commission to build a giant copper chicken. Yes, that's right, a bird that will be about four feet in diameter and about two feet high covered with hand cut copper feathers. The frame is already completed. I have a funny feeling that I'm going to be cutting feathers until my hand falls off... but how can anyone say no when presented with the opportunity to create a giant copper chicken?

Teardrop Harps... Just One More Service We Offer

2011-04-16T22:40:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago, I made Jennifer a teardrop shaped harp. It was my vacation project and since the only power tool I brought with me was a drill (for setting the pins), it ended up being a beautifully time-intensive, lovingly made harp that she adored. In fact, she ended up recording 5 albums worth of music on it--more about that tomorrow.

As we were brainstorming ideas to bring more money into the company, we thought we would give harp building on a larger scale a try. Jennifer has always been a terrific idea person and has a fine artistic eye. I brought some woodworking expertise and a fully-equipped woodworking room as well as moral support and "can you play Mario Kart with the kids while I work on the harps?"

She's created a number of prototypes and now we're moving into regular production. I wanted to share a couple of photographs of her work because I'm extremely proud of her achievement, her vision and her drive and also because they're just beautiful. The photo on the left is of a slightly smaller harp in the Steampunk series. The gears set into the harp's top are all brass and originally were used in clocks. The photo on the right is of the prototype harp called "The Holly and the Ivy." The ivy you see on the top of the harp was wood burned into the top and then painted.

I'll keep you posted about when they'll be for sale. They are open tuned--which means they're tuned to a single or two separate but complementary chords--and so anyone can play them.

Cris

An Open Source Universe--The Value of Sourcebooks

2011-04-15T22:14:00.000-07:00

For a time, OHP had a division called Fandom. This division was created with the idea that writers could create a universe and then encourage other people to write in it. This isn't a new idea--popular television shows such as Star Trek, Dark Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer as well as novel-based worlds such as Forgotten Realms have been doing this for some time. Our take on it, however, was that it was open to any writer who was willing to follow the basic universe's "bible," which includes the general rules for the universe, character backgrounds and some boundries for what will work and what won't. The division also published anthologies including Northwest Passages and Tales of the Slug and after the reorganization, all these books were folded into the fiction line.

Frederick Masterman's PlanetCare series includes the novels Season of the Plant, The Jewels of Stonehenge and Death by Dolphin as well as a Sourcebook. Charles Phipps' Machines Unbound Universe has a Sourcebook that accompanies each volume as his work as it's not only hard science fiction, but also futuristic.

While these Sourcebooks are perfect bound, David Kennedy McCulloch has gone a different route with his. He's written two trilogies for young adult readers (The Blackhope Scaur Trilogy and The Twilight Cave Trilogy) featuring a grumpy, but likable gome (don't call him a gnome--as in the garden variety or you'll pay the price--he's a "gome," which rhymes with "home") named Wully who manages to get himself and his human companions in and out of trouble in nearly every chapter. David's Sourcebooks, which include his original drawings, and geared for middle school readers and writers. They're saddle stitched, which means they're staple bound, with a heavy stock cover, then folded in half, creased and trimmed. He's given out about 600 of the first Sourcebook and I spent part of my day today, bone folder in hand, folding and creasing the last of the 400 Sourcebooks for his second trilogy which he'll take into middle schools to encourage aspiring writers to write some Wully adventures of their own. David also writes a blog geared toward young writers which is both fun and inspiring. His homepage will guide you, but if you want to jump right to the adventures of the rude, bad-tempered and scruffy Wully, just click here.

This is a great way to get kids involved in reading and writing and also to introduce readers to your work. Think about creating a blog of your own--either from your own webpage or by using one of the many services available for free on the web.

If you've got a series or a series of stories that are thematically related such as ecology, nature, oceanography or other ideas, creating a Sourcebook is a great idea.

Foot in the Door: Libraries

2011-04-14T20:13:00.000-07:00

Two of our distributors, Follett and Baker & Taylor work closely with libraries. Most of the books ordered by these two distributors go directly into libraries around the country, but there are other ways to get your books into the libraries--both locally and nationally.

At the Public Libraries website, there is a state-by-state listing of all the libraries in the country. If you click in to your state, you'll find a list of libraries including a link to each library's website. Use the "Contact Us" or "Suggest a Book for Purchase" tabs on the home page to pitch your book.

Make the email short and sweet. Tell them they can order from Follett and Baker & Taylor as well as directly from us. We offer a 50% discount to libraries.

Describe your book in a few short sentences and, if you can, insert a small cover image. Don't make the image too large or the email will be hard to open.

Additionally at the Public Libraries site, you can click on the link next to the "Authors Share Your Book" heading. While the initial setup fee ($50) is a bit steep, you can join this group for $49.00 a year. This gives you an author page and an About My Book page for free.

Cris

Hardback Update

2011-04-13T20:00:00.000-07:00

I received an email from our supplier this morning. He expects the cases to ship by the end of this week, which means that we should get them by the end of the month at the latest.

At this point, we will be binding all of the books from the initial batch first including books for Mike Blumer, Robert Downs and Mark Dennis. Then we'll bind the second set of books.

In terms of children's books, this is where we're at.

We are using a new supplier. Once I see the quality of these cases--which I expect will be great--I'll talk to our contact there and find out what our options are for children's books. He says that he may have, in stock, a number of different sizes which may work for us. They may be black cases, they may be other colors. What we're hoping to do is be able to buy some of his existing stock which would cut the turnaround time down to practically nothing.

So, for right now, the children's hardbacks are on hold. I'll take this up again in early May and we'll go from there.

The Fifth Goal: Quality

2011-04-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

In terms of the quality of our product, I am in general pleased with both the hardbacks and the paperbacks.

The hardbacks have been well received by the authors and the cover printer we have found for paperback covers is first rate. They're turnaround time is excellent and their shipping reasonable. You will notice slight differences on the covers in terms of saturation and lightness/darkness from time to time. That just comes with the territory, but I think that more of the nuances of the colors and details come through with this printer than we've seen with others in the past.

There is still, as always, the possibility of human error. On a day when I cut and collated five hundred books, there were about 15 that had problems. If you find a book in your shipment that has an obvious problem such as the second half being upside down, please let me know asap so that we can replace them.

The Fourth Goal: Visibility

2011-04-11T20:00:00.000-07:00

In terms of visibility, we are doing much better. I have been able to create a list of all the books at Amazon.com which are missing cover images. My first set of uploads (of which there were quite a number) all failed, so I am rescanning and resizing to try again. I expect to have all the covers uploaded by the end of April and have all new releases available for sale as well.

At that point, I'll take the title list and check Barnes & Noble online, upload and correct.

Bowker will be next as everyone pulls from them and I'll be uploading descriptions, cover images and other materials to their website on both current and new titles. This will dovetail with the update of our title list which will then be sent in an excel format to all of our other distributors. This should make it easier for bookstores to special order any of our books. This will also help libraries get our titles as well.

I've already spent quite a bit of time correcting ISBNs and information at Bowker and making sure that books which are no longer available are listed properly. We have discontinued our Direct Hits! Series. With so many great search engines available now, the Internet guides are too cumbersome to maintain and have become obsolete.

There were a lot of errors with the My Adventure ISBNs which created quite a mess at Bowker and elsewhere. I've done a lot of untangling, but there may still be errors. We have more than thirty new My Adventure titles ready to be printed and I'm looking forward to taking that series to the next level.

The Third Goal: Credibility

2011-04-10T19:19:00.000-07:00

There are three sections in the credibility department: The website, a catalogue and a subrights agent.

The website is a massive project. The design is being handled by Jennifer. She has one volunteer helping her with some of the coding. She has received all the materials from me that she asked for and the work is progressing and on schedule. The new website is still on track to launch within the next four months. It will be easier to navigate and we are discussing the option of offering free shipping as an incentive to buyers. I'll let you know when we've made a decision on that.

The catalogue will be completed after we have a finalized website and title list, the latter of which is still in flux. As most of you know, I suspended outside submissions until January of next year in order to give us a chance to clear out the ones we had and to work with authors on new projects or projects not yet completed. The catalogue will go very quickly once the website is done.

The same is true for the subrights agent. I've spoken to a number of people at several different presses regarding buying subrights to our books. Working with sets of books in different genres, we created a package deals, but have had no takers. My next approach will be to find someone to handle all the inquiries for me, but a catalogue is necessary first.

The Second Goal: Expediency

2011-04-09T19:02:00.000-07:00

In turns of turnaround time for orders, we're doing much better. Amazon's orders are being filled well within their required window and have also dramatically cut down on the turnaround time on orders for other vendors.

The Kindle and Nook books which are already available are evaluated monthly for new keyword options to help readers find them.

In terms of author orders, the initial hardback order stalled when our original supplier hiked the case prices suddenly at the end of two months of negotiations. However, as I mentioned, we did find another supplier.

Authors from the first group including will be given first priority when the cases arrive--I'm waiting for an update from our supplier regarding delivery date--and we are well into the interior printing of the second set of books. I am hopeful that all of the interiors will be printed by the time the cases arrive. All of the dust jackets, paper and toner are already here and in stock. We have also been able to order shipping boxes and we are receiving donated boxes and packing material as well.

We are still running behind on some older orders for paperbacks, but I am slipping these into the books which are printed for vendor stock. All partial orders and royalty exchanges will be finished within the probation period.

The office remodel is going more slowly. Since the time invested in this is enormous compared against the immediate return, I have been working on this in fits and starts. My next goal is to create an inventory of returns and hurts as we received our first quarter returns at the end of March. We are still up in the air about what will be done with some of these titles. We may offer them at a greatly discounted rate through the new website, or we may partner with Amazon sellers of Half.com.

If you're interested in using returns and/or hurts for promotion, let me know. We are willing to give authors a hefty discount on these copies as well as ship media mail as long as payments are made through PayPal (which allows us to run trackable media mail labels).

Two Month Checkpoint: The First Goal Communication

2011-04-08T18:52:00.000-07:00

I am going to devote this blog and the following four to an update of the five goals I laid out in February.

I am one-third of the way through my probationary period and after a meeting with Jennifer over the weekend, I wanted to let everyone know how I am making (or not) the goals set out for me in February.

The first goal we set was better communication. Although I have not been as diligent as I should be about posting the day on which I will answer email. I have been answering mail every week. The only exception to this has been during the last week or so of March, when I was working on royalties. I will be catching up with email this week, including all royalty questions.

The blog. Some of you have commented that the blog does not appear to post every day. I try and blog every day, but I have found that difficult especially if I'm in the middle of a project and don't feel I have anything noteworthy to say. When I have extra time, I will often write several blogs ahead of time or, when I fall behind, I will post the blogs one for each day rather than one long one. I think this makes it easier to find information.

This is why you will sometimes see blogs appearing on groups. I am constantly reworking my schedule to make blogging every day possible and keeping the blogs as concise and informative as possible. I have also begun to highlight some of our writers so that we can become familiar with each others' work as I believe that will promote a sense of unity among the authors and artists.

I appreciate the feedback that I've had on the blogs and I'm glad you are finding them useful.

Email Day

2011-04-07T18:49:00.000-07:00

I will be answering email on Wednesday, April 11. I generally receive a lot more email during the first few weeks after royalties, so I will also be allocating additional time for any mail that is not answered on that day. I'll post the additional days next week.

Mini RPG with 18 Cards

2011-04-06T18:59:00.000-07:00

The Stacked Gaming System, which Jennifer designed for the Mardi Gras 3000 Collectible Card Game is an incredibly versatile system. She has created a "generic" form of the system called Epis X, which can be used to create Role Playing Games (RPG) based on any universe imaginable.

Although many different books lend themselves to the RPG idea, fantasy and science fiction in the young adult or adult genre are more likely to hit. Jennifer is willing to donate her time and create an 18-card deck that includes characters and other essential playing cards for any author. If you'd like to do this, you would need to commit to an order of $175.00 which would cover 50 sets and include not only the 18 cards, but also a basic RPG storytelling system using the smaller version of Epic X called Micro Epic X. As before, the cost covers printing.

These mini games could be sold or given away, at your discretion. Please let me know if you're interested.

Graphic Novel Sampler

2011-04-05T20:51:00.000-07:00

Here's another idea to consider:

If you would like to have a scene from your book made into a graphic novel-style sampler, we would be willing to provide the work for free. You would choose a scene--no longer than 10 pages--that is dramatic and would lend itself to a visual interpretation. Send me the scene as a Word document and tell me where it's located in your book so I can reference it for the artist/s who will be working on the project.

If you'd like this done, you would need to commit to purchasing 100 copies of the finished comic. They will cost $4.00 each. You can sell them or give them away at events. The cost covers what it will cost us to print them.

Make a Book Trailer

2011-04-04T17:18:00.000-07:00

YouTube has spawned many a video that goes "viral" --a phrase commonly used to describe when a random video strikes a chord with the public and ends up getting thousands or millions of hits. Unique videos, such as Eric Whiteacre's Virtual Choir 2.0, have been featured on NPR.

I know that some of you are computer savvy and would like to try your hand at this. If you do, here are some ideas and links to get you started.

What does a book trailer look like?

Here are some examples, both professional and home made.

The Alchemist by Michael Scott. The first book in The Notebooks of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel.

Here's an interview with author Michael Scott. If you're not camera shy and can look directly into the lens, talk articulately about your book/s, this is a great option. This is a low budget video, but a chance to see and hear the author.

The Heroes of Olympus Book 1: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan. A new series from the author of the Percy Jackson novels.

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. This one was made by the publisher. However, doing something like this is very possible with a little help from a costume shop. Other than that, all you need is a location.

The Last Martin. A young adult book coming out this month.

The Two Bobbies. This one was done by the author. It's a picture book based on a true story, but notice that you can make a trailer highlighting the artwork in your book with a voice over.

Snowflake Obsidian. This video is for a book published by iUniverse. The trailer is pretty low budget, but it has lots of images that will appeal to young readers. Be forewarned there is also the use of the F-word as well as cocaine use and lots of kissing. No nudity, though.
published through iUniverse Has swearing and drug use in the video.

Gone. A thriller aimed at young adult readers.

Here's an interview with an artist about how he came to make the creatures and pictures for a new book. If the story of how you came to write your book or illustrate it has some of these aspects, considering doing this kind of video. Art and Max by David Wiesner

If I want to use still images, where can I get them?
Both Getty Images and Dreamstime have thousands of images for sale. We have used both of these sites and both are trustworthy.

Dreamstime allows you to create portfolios where you can hold images until you're ready to purchase them and also recommends other artists with similar style. They have everything from cartoons to professional quality photographs.

Getty Images provides images from newscasts to print ads and more. They tend to be a little more expensive.

Remember, you don't need super high quality for a trailer because it's meant to be viewed on a screen, rather than being used in print. Also, make sure the images you choose are royalty free.

Where do I get music?
You want to find royalty free music. You'll have to pay a small fee to use the music in your video, but you won't have to pay a royalty to the artist. Melody Loops is a great place to get all kinds of music and it's broken out by instrument, genres, mood and more. Single tracks sell for around $6.99, but there are also deals with 12 or more tracks for 19.99.

Remember, you cannot use just any song. If you do, you may be served with a cease and desist order and the video will be taken down.

How do I make a video?
Most PCs that have Vista (and some versions of XP) will have video creation and editing software called Microsoft Movie Maker. If you don't have this kind of software or are working on a Mac, check with your local Staples or look for recommendations online.

Marketing Help: The Ground Rules

2011-04-03T17:03:00.000-07:00

Jennifer and I sat down on yesterday to talk about some marketing tools for authors and artists who are actively engaged in marketing. Over the next few days, I'm going to lay out these options and costs (if applicable).

However, there are some ground rules.

1. You have to be actively engaged in marketing your book/s. This means you have purchased 20 or more copies of your book/s since the beginning of the year. Everyone who has purchased hardbacks in quantities of 10 or more is also eligible.

2. You have a concrete plan for how you are going to sell, distribute or otherwise get your books into the hands of readers.

3. You will be ordering copies of your book within the next 6 weeks and are interested in coupling this with promotional materials.

Jenn and I will review all of the requests together and get back to people individually.

National Poetry Month

2011-04-02T17:02:00.000-07:00

Don't forget, April is National Poetry Month. We have a number of wonderful poets. Including Jason Roush, Donna Pucciani, Chris Hoffman and Rudy Kikel. If you'd like to purchase any of their books, remember that you get a 50% discount on all books from OHP, not just your own.

Work for Today

2011-04-01T23:01:00.000-07:00

Working in email today. I will definitely work through all of the email I've received with royalty questions, but I'm going to address the oldest email first.

Royalties Complete

2011-03-31T17:01:00.000-07:00

Royalties finally finished. All of the reports have been sent out. Please remember that if you did not have any paid sales this season, you will not get a report. If you feel that you should have received a report but did not, email me and I will look into it.

Royalty Update 4

2011-03-30T19:00:00.000-07:00

Finally finished with the individual Excel forms. Began to send them out tonight.

Royalty Update 3

2011-03-29T21:00:00.000-07:00

Calculations complete. Filling out forms today.

Royalty Update 2

2011-03-28T17:00:00.000-07:00

Jenn's suggestions have made some nice changes in the process.

Royalty Update

2011-03-27T16:59:00.000-07:00

Working with Jenn to further streamline royalty process.

MobiReaders and Kindle Upload

2011-03-26T22:27:00.000-07:00

Any authors who are interested in having their eBooks also available in the MobiReader format should know that the MobiReader can read .prc files which is what the Kindle reads.

Gazing at Angels by Jennifer DiMarco and photos by yours truly is now available on Kindle and Nook.

TGIF

2011-03-25T19:11:00.000-07:00

Hope you all are celebrating your Friday evening by doing something restful. Here's a quick update: Spent the morning cutting and collating interiors then went off to Starbucks for my afternoon shift. Am subbing at the store I returned to in December. It was nice to see folks there. I had forgotten how quiet their store is compared to College Market Place in Poulsbo, which is my "home store" now.

Arrived back a few minutes ago. The physical exhausting of the week is catching up with me so rather than work on royalties tonight, I'm going to be answering email. I have two more work days, then a full day off on Monday and I'll be finishing the royalties then.

Looking forward to watching Fringe tonight, then it's back to work.

Royalty Work Continues

2011-03-24T18:15:00.000-07:00

Just got back from an 8 hour shift at Starbucks and am back to work on royalties. Going to be making the spreadsheet, bringing forward the carryover and compiling sales from all of our vendors.

My plan is to begin to send out statements tonight or tomorrow.

Remember... if you have no paid sales you will not get a statement. If you have purchased books from us which have the royalty discount already applied, you will not get a statement. The only people who are getting statements this season are those who have paid sales from our vendors.

LGBT Writers in the Classroom and It Gets Better Project

2011-03-23T20:02:00.000-07:00

Lambda Literary, which publishes the Lambda Book Review, hosts the Lambda Literary Awards and is a clearing house for pretty much anything that has to do with LGBT authors and their books, is launching a new program.

Called LGBT Writers in Schools, it offers lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgendered writers an opportunity to talk to student groups either during a live classroom visit or via Skype.

If you're interested, here's a link with more information.

On a parallel note, the It Gets Better Project has published a book and you can still contribute videos on You Tube. Launched in response to the rising number of suicides among GLBT teens, it's aimed at kids who just can't imagine that the bullying and isolation they're experiencing now will ever end. You don't have to be GLBT to contribute a video and if you know what it feels like to feel like an outsider, to feel confused and isolated, to have been bullied--especially during high school--please consider adding your voice to this important project.

It Gets Better Project by Dan Savage and Terry Miller. The founders of the project, Dan and Terry were interviewed by Terry Gross on Fresh Air today.