Sort of an addendum to the last post. I’ll probably continue to post some more thoughts and advice under the publishing tips tag.

Here are products and services I use for Word Riot and swear by:

1) Offset Paperback Manufacturers
Our wonderful printer is a division of Bertelsmann AG, which also owns Random House. We use their digital printing service. When I received their printing quotes for our first paperback, I was pretty astonished by the low cost. I asked for a sample book to check out the quality and it was fantastic.

You should always do your research on printers and find one your comfortable with. I probably requested quotes and samples from five printers before I decided on OPM. I’ve never looked back.

I know there are a lot of print-on-demand options available and there are ways to use it well (e.g. Electric Literature’s model), but I personally wouldn’t recommend POD. It can be very difficult to get POD books into bookstores and libraries because POD signals “self-published” or “amateur” to them. That’s not to knock self-publishing—I’ve noticed a lot of indie publishing companies have put out books by the publisher that have been very successful and well-received. These books don’t carry a “self-published” stigma because there’s a company behind them with professional printing, distribution and marketing.

POD is cheaper at the outset but I think ultimately you’re not giving your titles an opportunity to be as successful as they could be.

2) Pathway Book Service
Pathway is the only flat-rate distribution service around. What this basically means is that you pay a low monthly fee and they take care of shipping your books to whoever orders them. Pathway makes sure your title is listed in Ingram and Baker & Taylor. You can also go through them for fulfillment to Barnes & Noble and Amazon. Because they’re a distributor, they get a better percentage off of Amazon than you would get on your own with the Amazon Advantage program. Also, because they are fulfilling titles to Amazon for all the publishers they represent, the shipping cost is incredibly cheap.

What I love best about Pathway is their customer service. If I email them, I can expect a response within a few hours. And if I want to know how my titles are selling, their online reports are easy to access and use.

Unlike other distributors, Pathway is not responsible for marketing your title nor do they send out catalogs for the titles they’re distributing. This hasn’t been a problem for me because I feel comfortable handling my own marketing. You might feel differently. I’ve just seen too many distributors close up shop and leave publishers quaking in their boots. With Pathway, I feel comfortable with their years of experience and approach to fulfilling a publisher’s essential need: getting books to stores, libraries and other distributors that order them.

If you are looking for a more traditional distributor that will help with marketing, I’ve heard great things about Small Press Distribution.

3) Submishmash
Submishmash is a free, powerful submissions manager. What’s great about Submishmash is their responsiveness to input from editors and publishers. I think they’ve taken into account every suggestion my editors and I have put forward to them. When literary enthusiasts are software developers, great things happen—Submishmash is one of them.

Check out Adam Robinson’s review of Submishmash on HTMLGIANT.

4) Sigil
Sigil is free, open source ebook design software. If you have basic HTML knowledge, it should be a piece of cake to figure out how to create an EPUB file on Sigil.

5) Google Docs
I use a Google Doc spreadsheet to share sales and royalty information with my authors. It was my way of forcing myself to have an up-to-date record, rather than just updating some spreadsheet on my computer once a month or at royalty check time. When you have somebody else looking over your shoulder, you get to keeping things more tidy. At least I do.

I also use it for any organizational items that require input from both the author and me (e.g. who should galleys, what venues should be approached for readings, etc.)

6) WordPress
WordPress is super adaptable blog software. It’s free and easy to install.

Marketing

1) Sticker Guy
It’s my high school punk rocker coming out: I love vinyl stickers. Sticker Guy has great prices and produce a solid product. When I have a book that I think will benefit from a more guerrilla marketing technique, I always order up some vinyl stickers.

2) Mad Mimi
Mad Mimi is an email marketing service. I don’t send out email newsletters often (once, maybe twice a month) but my email list is pretty large. Mad Mimi offered the best value for the service I was looking for. They’re incredibly easy to use and their tracking stats are very helpful.