Writing, Self-Publishing, Book Marketing

Blogger Robin Raskin provided an insight into the do-it-yourself world of online publishers this week on Yahoo! Tech. Among the mentioned sites in the post is our very own self-publishing valentine: Wordclay. Needless to say, we’re thrilled that Wordclay broke through the thick tangles of the ever-growing Web and popped-up on the radar of such a notable blogger.

Raskin’s article, Wanna Be a Paperback Writer?, captured a benefit of Wordclay that no other online publishing site possesses: offline book publishing knowledge and experience that’s baked in to the site.

Let’s face it, with the book publishing technology available today, anyone can be a “publisher” (or claim to be) and simply print books. So, what’s the big deal about Wordclay?  

Well, for starters, the whole site was designed by people who’ve been in the publishing biz for years – people who have helped make self-publishing the success that it is today. Wordclay has used their publishing experience to simplify the whole publishing process for authors by applying book knowledge in the right places. “They’ve made decisions about things like book trim size and gutter width pretty easy to understand,” Raskin explains in her article.

While the Wordclay site and technology are new, the brain, experience and foundation behind Wordclay have been developing and evolving for more than 11 years – basically since the birth of self-publishing with on-demand publishing. 

Anther point which Raskin mentioned is that Wordclay offers quality, professional services as add-ons to the free do-it-yourself publishing. It’s true that editing, cover designing and marketing services are offered through other online publishing sites also; however, there is one huge distinction: Wordclay’s services are preformed by in-house employees and are guaranteed. And, well, I must say that the Wordclay pros are pretty darn good at what they do.

One aspect I did not agree with, however, is that in general most online DIY publishers don’t offer much in the way of marketing or distributing. While this might be true for Wordclay’s free, basic service, Wordclay is more than capable (and happy) to help any author distribute and market their book … just not for free. Unfortunately, the Wordclay executives still expect to make a little money from the site – SO demanding ;)

But hey, I can understand people wanting to try something out for free to test the water. The free service, however, just may not fit the needs/wants of all authors. But, it’s about the upgrades available. For example, most car buyers don’t just accept the lowest priced model, many want to upgrade to the power windows and cruise control.

In the world of DIY online, you can learn how to do just about anything. And now while you’re waiting for the grout to dry on your DIY, freshly retiled kitchen floor, you can become a published author while you’re at it!

-Angie