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Old 10-15-2010, 09:42 PM   #1
J. Strnad
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Borders launches its self-publishing service

But it's service with a fee: $89.99 or $199.99.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/b...g-service.html

Jan
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Old 10-17-2010, 09:10 PM   #2
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Wow, this is a white-hot thread, huh? If I were Borders, I'd be looking at the total non-response to their announcement with more than a bit of worry.

My own reaction is: I can self-publish on the #1 bookseller's site for free, and on the #2 bookseller's site for free, and on Smashwords with distribution to B&N, Kobobooks, Diesel, Apple and the Sony store for free. Yet Borders wants ninety bucks for distribution through Borders and...not sure who else.

I really have to wonder what a Borders business meeting looks like. It's like a business run from the Bizarro planet.
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Old 10-17-2010, 09:32 PM   #3
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I found the comment below the article to be interesting.

Quote:
This is a total non-starter for any serious self-published author - and given the fees involved, this will exclude everyone else automatically. Firstly, the interface is cumbersome at best, with no way to upload complete files: cut and paste is the only option, and this is handled poorly. Graphics, for example, apparently have to be inserted manually wherever they occur, as my efforts to copy and paste entire blocks removed all graphics and only inserted the text. Several further attempts met with varying results, from double-spacing of single-spaced text to the deletion of paragraph indents. More importantly, the statement that Barnes & Noble does not provide an author with a copy of the ePub file produced through the PubIt! program is entirely false: there is a button right on the title edit page to download the file to your computer. Not to mention the many free converters available all over the internet. So they're charging you for something you can get for free elsewhere. In addition, an ISBN is unnecessary for selling eBooks anywhere online. Neither Amazon nor Barnes & Noble require one for publishing with them, instead assigning a standard inventory control number to any title without one. This program is dead on arrival.
--by: scotjohns @ 20101016174605
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Old 10-17-2010, 10:15 PM   #4
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Sounds to me like the kind of thing you do when you want people to think you can serve self-publishers, but you really, really don't want to.
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Old 10-17-2010, 11:23 PM   #5
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My opinion is that this is little more than Vanity Press for eBooks. An article recently went on to say (endorsed by Borders) that you can "simply, with one click download your blog and turn it into an ebook).

And they'll simply charge you 90 bucks for doing that - disgraceful attempt. Whoever came up with this stupidity has either been on a very long holiday somewhere really quiet with no media - or they're actually an Employee of Amazon on a mission ...
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Old 10-18-2010, 06:45 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by simonroyle View Post
or they're actually an Employee of Amazon on a mission ...
I don't know, given Borders' track record over the last few years I think they're doing a fine job of it without any help from Amazon!
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Old 10-19-2010, 01:50 AM   #7
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I played around with this thing for a while this evening. I get the impression "BookBrewer" isn't actually a Borders product, but maybe I'm wrong. It felt as though it was a totally separate company which Borders had contracted with to handle their entry into the self-publishing ebook market. I say that because the BookBrewer site refers to making your ebook available at multiple ebook sellers, without ever mentioning Borders by name.

Unfortunately, it's a terrible model, since, as pointed out above, there are several options ebook authors have that are completely free...and not brand-new, untested BETA software that's full of errors. This stuff is totally not ready for prime time, and even when it does run, all it does is turn your formatted file back into a plain jane text file with double-spacing between paragraphs--bleah!

Who thought this was a good business move? Why not just accept pre-formed epub or mobi files? Duh!

--Maria
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Old 10-19-2010, 03:20 PM   #8
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Seems to me that Borders was in bankruptcy? Or headed there?

As others have said above, with both Amazon and B&N offering excellent deals, it seems to me that only the foolish who go with such an offer.

I would suggest that Borders needs to jump on the emerging model train and offer a 79% deal.
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Old 10-19-2010, 10:49 PM   #9
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Honestly, I don't think that Borders is capable of saving itself. I'm not happy about this, as I would dearly love for them to succeed, but absolutely nothing they're doing shows me that anyone in management has a clue about how to buoy up this sinking ship.

Borders is the only retailer in the USA of the Kobo reader, which I love. So it saddens me to see the Kindle, sponsored by the #1 bookseller in America, also available at Target and Best Buy and Staples, while the Kobo's future is tied to that of Borders, which is failing fast. This is a bad sign for epub and open standards in general.
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Old 10-20-2010, 12:55 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by meromana View Post
Who thought this was a good business move?
Some exec who doesn't know jack about ebooks, but wanted to tell some equally-clueless shareholder: "Sure, we do that."
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Old 10-20-2010, 01:26 PM   #11
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Not only is charging the $90 fee for distribution a bad idea (making it a vanity press), but the $199 it's charging to create (but not distribute) e-books far exceeds what other e-book producers cost ($50-$100). Borders doesn't seem likely to survive. Which is too bad, because my local Borders is the only bookstore that has really supported me as an author.
L.J.

The Sex Club is now $.99!
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Old 10-20-2010, 05:03 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rhynedahll View Post
I would suggest that Borders needs to jump on the emerging model train and offer a 79% deal.
Now that would actually make sense. If they just accepted pre-made ebooks, instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, and let authors have a bigger share than the "big guys", like Smashwords does, they would create a competitive edge for themselves.

Raise your hand if you think their execs did any market research on this topic before jumping in...
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Old 10-20-2010, 08:13 PM   #13
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the news is constantly reporting that ebooks are killing stores like borders and barnes and noble, as well as publishers, when in reality they're doing a fine job of finding ways to damage their businesses all by themselves.
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Old 10-23-2010, 11:43 PM   #14
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Huh, Sex Club - and an Oregon author - for 99 cents. How can I resist.
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