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cwilson26
Literary Master
Posts: 3521
Registered: 1/17/2008
Location: Ohio
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Mood: Excited about the New Year!
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Sent you an email, Michy. Let me know if you got it. 
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Michy
Boss(y) Lady / Site Owner / Admin
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Location: Texas
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Mood: Peaceful
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To give everyone an update on Unsent Letters....
I believe out of all our books, Unsent Letters has the best potential to be picked up by mainstream brick and mortar bookstores. To do that, we have
to have good distribution in place. If we get UL picked up, it increases our likelihood of all TTM books being picked up eventually and then given
automatic shelf placement possibility. We are in the process of trying to secure a distributor for our titles - many of the mid-sized to larger
distributors won't deal with us because we are 1) too new 2) use mostly POD technology to print our books (though not always) and 3) we can't ship
large enough warehouse pallets to them to make it worth their time, because I can't afford to send at least one pallet of books for every title we
own, plus, I doubt that many would sell right away anyway.
So we started looking at smaller distribution and even regional ones - the problem with that is, many of these places are wanting exclusive contracts.
Well, if a place is regional, and I give it exclusive, then that means we only sell books in that geographical area. One of the distributors I spoke
to said I wouldn't be allowed to sell the books on our own website! Unreal.
It's been an interesting, uhm, learning? experience.
Lastly, in order to cover the copies of books I'm giving away for free to the authors included in the books and to have at least 100 review copies and
100 stock copies, I'm looking at having to place an order of over 1000 books on the first order. That's a lot of books. The shipping on 1000 books
along is several hundred dollars. If each books cost just 5 bucks to make, just $5 per book, that is over $5000 bucks just to pay for the books - and
with POD, it's likely the books will cost around $4-5 bucks per book to print.
But if I can get this book to print via offset printer instead of POD, I can potentially lower the cost of the book to between 2-3 bucks, saving me in
this case literally one to three THOUSAND dollars out of my pocket. So, I'm trying to work a deal with a mid-sized publisher -- and there are two of
them we're talking to to see which can get us a better deal -- so that we can offset print Unsent Letters through their contracts and not have to pay
our setup fees. We would give them a cut of each book, but even having to give them a cut of it, a $3 book that we give them even a buck on is still
cheaper than a $5 book - see what I mean? So we're negotiating that.
While we're negotiating that, I'm still seeking a distributor - I THINK we found one. Some of the distributors have flat out just refused to even
respond to me at all - some of them responded very curtly with a 'thanks but no thanks' emails. I've had better luck getting responses from literary
agents than I have from the large distributors! I would imagine with all these little POD companies asking for distribution.... but still, you'd think
they'd at least answer their emails.
Anyway, there is one distributor (and for those who don't know, distributors are the ones who the big bookstores will place their orders with in order
to stock the bookstore shelves - like BAM only uses this one particular distributor (which they happen to sorta own) and B&N uses a couple of them,
but there are several they can't and don't order from). There is one small distributor who seems interested, but they have this big application to
fill out and they wanted copies of all the books sent to them along with a marketing plan and a full catalogue of our expected titles for 2010 and
2011 and 2012. These items take time to create and proof and then get the packet together to send to them - We ARE working on this packet.
I could roll out with Unsent Letters now, but if I do, I feel it will adversely affect the entire project... it would end up being nothing more than
another POD collection or anthology, but I truly believe if we are patient and can get this good stuff in place (stuff I should have had in place
before I ever started Unsent Letters!, mind you - I know, this is my bad - got ahead of myself!) then I believe, honestly, Unsent Letters could become
as big as the Chicken Soup and Cup of Comfort type books, just with its own appeal and genre instead... I believe this is a good project, good idea,
and we just have to be patient and get the steps in place. Everyone involved in it will benefit from it when it's done right!
We have another similar type of project, Recipes & Recovery, that will be launched AFTER all this is in place and we're putting that into our
marketing plan as well - and I haven't told you guys much about it, because I'm trying to do it the right way along with UL at the same time.
We know it's very frustrating to have to wait. I apologize for that immensely, because it's really my fault everyone is having to wait. I jumped
before I really understood everything that was needed to do this the RIGHT way. I had to make a choice - do the wrong way and make a few people happy
by having the book out, but with no distribution and no real sales and a big hit to my pocket - OR piss a few people off making them wait, but reward
everyone in the end with doing it the right way - I have lost some people who have pulled their letters because of the delay - that's sad, but I
respect their decision and don't blame anyone who wants to pull their letter.
But I promise you, Michy doesn't fail - sometimes, I scramble, but I don't fail. Unsent Letters WILL go forward and it will be very, very good when it
does.... so stick with me a little bit longer, and we'll all celebrate the 'real' launch of Unsent Letters very soon!
Love and stuff,
Michy
~~Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations~~
Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again." James R. Cook
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Michy
Boss(y) Lady / Site Owner / Admin
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Nope, I don't have it - what email address did you send it to? Maybe I forgot to add one of them when I had to reset my computer....
Love and stuff,
Michy
~~Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations~~
Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again." James R. Cook
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cwilson26
Literary Master
Posts: 3521
Registered: 1/17/2008
Location: Ohio
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Mood: Excited about the New Year!
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Quote: Originally posted by Michy  |
Nope, I don't have it - what email address did you send it to? Maybe I forgot to add one of them when I had to reset my computer....
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I sent it to michy@twintrinitymedia.com from marissa.m.wilson@gmail.com
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RobertArend
Literary Master
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| Quote: Originally posted by Michy |
But I promise you, Michy doesn't fail - sometimes, I scramble, but I don't fail. Unsent Letters WILL go forward and it will be very, very good when it
does.... so stick with me a little bit longer, and we'll all celebrate the 'real' launch of Unsent Letters very soon!
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I came to this observation quite some time ago that you are a force about to penetrate and even explode the monopolistic barriers of the current
publishing landscape, Michy. I only expected a single anthology to happen before you came to realize you'd bitten off more than you could chew. Then
the second anthology happened, along with Jennifer Walker's "Bubba Goes National" on the Twin Trinity Media list.
As I've declared before, I am astounded by your amazing ability to take a germ of an idea and somehow make it manifest into our reality.
Of course you will not fail. You've already succeeded beyond anything even you might of imagined a few years ago.
For me, it is enough to have accidentally fallen into the lap of one who I know I'll be telling all my family, friends and associates in the years yet
to come: "I knew her when she was just a dreamer before she became a literary and publishing powerhouse.
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Michy
Boss(y) Lady / Site Owner / Admin
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 Awww, thank you, Robert.
Love and stuff,
Michy
~~Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations~~
Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again." James R. Cook
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Lindsay M
Literary Master
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Mood: *Yawn*
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Patience pays off. We wouldn't want to send out a mediocre copy and lose our chance at making a great first impression and possibly zooming us into
the view of many readers.
You're awesome, Michy, thanks for all of your hard work and sacrifice, both financially and physically... and really, emotionally too!
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boatkicker
Accentuate Writer!
Posts: 847
Registered: 6/27/2009
Location: Dennis, Massachusetts!
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Mood: sick of the hiccups!
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I never recieved news about whether mine was accepted or rejected either, and I used gmail. Doesn't much matter to me, but I thought it might be
important to you.
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moonshadow68
Founding Member/Moderator
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Mood: Busy, busy bee
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Michy,
If you need the name of another offset press to possibly work with, let me know. The people who print our writers' guild anthology get the cost down
to about $4 per book and we order them in lots of 50 or so...
they wouldn't work for everything TTM does as they are mostly a Christian publisher and therefore have a sort of PG13 rating on everything they
produce. But I suspect they'd be okay with Unsent Letters and potentially save you lots of money.
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LaurieM
Literary Master
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And to think this all started with a few simple words and ideas. Having a distributor would be awesome. Do you have time to fit in breathing lately?
lol
Won't it be amazing to see our books in stores? I know it is going to happen.
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Laurie's Author Website
The darkness is swallowing me. Bastian where are you? |
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Kim
Accentuate Writer!
Posts: 704
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Just sentb you an email.....please tell me you got it?
Failure is not an option. I will not fail.
I always had stories in my head and thought I was crazy. I now know those stories are called my muse. Just because I have a name for it doesn't
mean I'm not still crazy.
AC
Bukisa
AKLark on Twitter |
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Michy
Boss(y) Lady / Site Owner / Admin
Posts: 7403
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| Quote: Originally posted by moonshadow68 | Michy,
If you need the name of another offset press to possibly work with, let me know. The people who print our writers' guild anthology get the cost down
to about $4 per book and we order them in lots of 50 or so...
they wouldn't work for everything TTM does as they are mostly a Christian publisher and therefore have a sort of PG13 rating on everything they
produce. But I suspect they'd be okay with Unsent Letters and potentially save you lots of money. |
The printer I use has offset options, and they are reasonable and excellent quality - the problem is, the minimum requirement for purchase - this
isn't a problem the FIRST time we do a print run, but after that, it would require a minimum order of 500 for each subsequent run. While I want Unsent
Letters to do well, I'm not sure I want to commit to printing 500 books every time we run out. However, there is the option to go POD digital after
the original offset run - but if I go with this press, I have additional options and we can tie-in with their distribution even if our distribution is
not quite yet in place -- see? I thought if we could piggy back their distribution, we could use that to promote ourselves to distributors...
... but I'll keep the offer in mind if I run out of options!
Love and stuff,
Michy
~~Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations~~
Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again." James R. Cook
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Michy
Boss(y) Lady / Site Owner / Admin
Posts: 7403
Registered: 1/15/2008
Location: Texas
Member Is Offline
Mood: Peaceful
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| Quote: Originally posted by LaurieM | And to think this all started with a few simple words and ideas. Having a distributor would be awesome. Do you have time to fit in breathing lately?
lol
Won't it be amazing to see our books in stores? I know it is going to happen. |
I do too, Laurie, I know it, I've seen it in my visions and I will make it happen!
Breathing is not so bad - I've learned how to do it in between other things (wink)...
Love and stuff,
Michy
~~Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations~~
Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again." James R. Cook
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Kim
Accentuate Writer!
Posts: 704
Registered: 4/1/2009
Location: Ohio
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Mood: Banging my head against the keyboard
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| Quote: Originally posted by Michy | | Quote: Originally posted by LaurieM | And to think this all started with a few simple words and ideas. Having a distributor would be awesome. Do you have time to fit in breathing lately?
lol
Won't it be amazing to see our books in stores? I know it is going to happen. |
I do too, Laurie, I know it, I've seen it in my visions and I will make it happen!
Breathing is not so bad - I've learned how to do it in between other things (wink)...
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Sometimes a vision is all it takes.
Failure is not an option. I will not fail.
I always had stories in my head and thought I was crazy. I now know those stories are called my muse. Just because I have a name for it doesn't
mean I'm not still crazy.
AC
Bukisa
AKLark on Twitter |
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unwirklich
New Member (Welcome me!)
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Though I'm not horridly worried about it but... I submitted more than a year ago now and never received a reply, I also emailed saying I never did
and also never got a reply. lol
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sharkbytes
Master Writer
Posts: 1236
Registered: 1/17/2008
Location: Michigan
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Mood: excited about eBooks, grumpy about Helium
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I'm waiting too... hopefully for good news
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justkat73
Master Writer
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Mood: completely unfocused
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Not that this really matters, and I know I should remember, but do the authors get royalties at all? Just wondering and I'mnot gonna gripe if we
don't.
Personally I have limited patience. I'm working on it though! So, I'm anxious for it to come out. Because of my lack of patience, I'm glad I'm not in
your spot Michy. And since I'm not, I'm glad that you are looking at the long term instead of the short term. I'd much rather that the book has every
potential to take off rather than get in a hurry for it to be published.
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