It's a 'Quantum' leap for self-published authors Times editor breaks through with help from Amazon.com
By Alex berkman
May 02, 2008 | 03:17 PM It's no surprise that, in the drive-through, instant-gratification world we lovingly call 21st century Western society, book publishing has come to this. We get pizzas and movies delivered by mail, or downloaded instantly through our computers and televisions (the movies, if not the pizza), so why not books? Amazon.com, arguably the Internet's most famous purveyor of books and movies, is riding the newest wave of printing books and publishing new authors. In 2005, Amazon obtained CreateSpace and BookSurge, two "on-demand publishing" enterprises that eliminate the need for warehouses and mass-quantity print runs, according to Amazon spokesman Andrew Herdner. Books (and music CDs and video DVDs) published through CreateSpace and BookSurge won't appear on the shelves of the massive bookstore at the mall or the local Blockbuster, but they are available online. The idea: A customer searches Amazon.com, finds a title he or she wants and orders it; one book, CD or DVD is printed (or produced) and shipped. If the customer orders five copies, five are printed and shipped. "The company's technology allows authors and publishers to make titles of all types available for sale through leading retail and wholesale channels, including Amazon.com," Herdner said. Gregory Zeller, editor of the Village Beacon Record, recently published his first novel using the CreateSpace service. Zeller learned of CreateSpace after entering his novel, "Quantum Acres," in Amazon.com's first Breakthrough Novel contest — sort of an online "American Idol" for unpublished authors. He didn't win the contest, but decided to self-publish through CreateSpace. It took some time and cash to get the book properly formatted for CreateSpace publication — "There are a few fees involved," Zeller noted, citing charges for proof copies and voluntary packages that create different royalty arrangements — but "Quantum Acres" finally "went live" April 9, the author said. "Quantum Acres" is a mystery/thriller told in the "X-Files" vein, combining real-life science happening right now at Brookhaven National Laboratory and myriad supernatural elements. It's "part ghost story, part UFO story," Zeller said, "scary and fun and a big adventure." The author was surprised to discover that once it went live, his book was available not only on his personal "E Store" (createspace.com/3336332) and on Amazon.com (by typing in the author's name, the book's title or keywords of Zeller's own choosing, including "UFO novel"), but also on target.com: The nationwide retail giant and Amazon share an online inventory search-and-ship feature. One of the best features of publishing through CreateSpace, Zeller added, is the author retains the rights to the work, meaning he or she is free to ship the book (or CD or DVD) to more traditional publishers or to sign a big deal when Hollywood comes knocking. "You can also edit the book after it's already sold some copies, in case you want to go back and change something," Zeller said. "As far as self-publishing goes, it's really the best of all worlds." Herdner declined to comment on how many books in Amazon.com's current catalogue are on-demand titles, but CreateSpace and BookSurge are hardly alone in the emerging world of on-demand publishing. Sites such as Lulu.com have become the vanity presses of the 21st century, offering unpublished authors a chance to share their work on the Internet at no cost, while OutSkirtsPress.com — another self-publishing service — offers various publishing options at different costs.