What I learned
about self-publishing with Xlibris:
The author must
have nerves of steel
People write for many reasons, and some take
the next step and publish what they have written. I like to write children’s
stories, and those close to me convinced me to publish them. It is nice to hold
a printed book and see vibrant illustrations. The characters finally come to
life!
All authors have the desire that readers will
like their book and hold the hope that they will fly off bookshelves like hotcakes.
I am not that naïve; I know the limits of self-publishing.
Self-publishing companies come to the rescue of
authors who want to see their work published. They promise to publish books in
a few months, and it sounds realistic and believable. After all, how long could
it possibly take to make a decent children’s book with a dozen illustrations?
Not that long, I was told when I originally researched self-publishing
companies.
I read some negative reviews too. I thought
these bad reviews were written by disgruntled people, authors who didn’t want
to be involved in their projects. Publishers are not mind readers, and the
authors must tell them how they envision their book. Little did I know that I
would become one of those people—an author who would write an article, this article, because of a bad
experience with a self-publishing company.
I’ve never considered myself a complainer,
nor am I a quitter. I thought I could handle anything, until I started working
with Xlibris’ representatives.
In January 2011, I decided to publish some of
my stories, and after researching self-publishing companies, I contacted
Xlibris. Their representative, who was a very good salesperson, convinced me to
try Xlibris. Everything he said sounded promising, and after more research, I
agreed and submitted my two manuscripts.
The first representative spoke with knowledge
and confidence. I asked him to read my stories and give me an idea which
package would be the most helpful. They were my first books, and as a beginner in
the book business, I needed all the help I could get. In my wildest dreams, I
would never have believed a self-publishing company could cause such nightmares
and leave such a bad taste about publishing that I must share my experience
with the public.
All my life I’ve run businesses, including my
own, and for many years I’ve worked with the public. I am all business when it
comes to making a good product. I think any self-respecting businessman or
woman would do the same. The rules are the same—you give your customers satisfactory
service and they come back for more. Business is business, and no matter what
kind of customers you serve, you want the same result: to keep your customers
happy. If you are lucky, they will spread the word about the quality services
you provide, and with that comes success and recognition. It is as simple as
that.
I am not sure if Xlibris’ representative read
my stories, but he advised me to buy one of their most expensive packages,
which he said would cover all my needs. I took his advice under consideration, and
in January 2011 I purchased their Executive package for two children’s books of
44 pages each, including illustrations and marketing services, for $ 9,300.00.
In the beginning I felt broke but relieved. I
naively thought the publishing process would be taken care of. I was dealing
with professionals! That was when I learned that money does not buy happiness.
The Executive package was to cover all services: editing my manuscript,
creating illustrations, then marketing would kick in, and everything would run
smoothly and peacefully. At that time, it sounded promising and encouraging. I could
take off my shoes, sit back, and enjoy the ride.
By nature, I am a businessperson. I always
take care of things and oversee the products I make. I pay attention to details
that are important to customers and me, especially when it comes to children. I
would never cheat little customers. My final product must look like one I would
buy for myself. If I am not attracted to my product, then why should anyone
else buy it?
Shortly thereafter, my manuscripts were
edited. When I received the manuscripts back, I found notes with a few
corrections and a release form attached.
“A few commas, a few wrong words, and so few suggestions.
Not bad for a foreigner,” I thought proudly. English is one of the few
languages I speak, and I relied heavily on the professional team to help me
with editing.
“That’s how a manuscript should look?” I
asked my representative.
“We have the best people in the publishing
field. If you sign a release form, the manuscript will be ready for the next
stage, and we will quickly move to layout,” he replied.
One day my daughter, who is a math teacher,
read my edited manuscripts and found many grammar mistakes that had been missed.
I quickly realized how poorly my manuscript had been edited and how many mistakes
had been overlooked.
“A math teacher against a professional team? Unfair!
Not an even battle,” I thought. I wrote a complaint, and their representative
promised me they would correct the grammar mistakes that their editor had
missed.
I honestly believed they would correct their
errors, and I concentrated on the illustrations. Things became progressively worse
when I received the first sketches for the characters in my book. They were
done horribly, as if a small child had drawn them. I kindly explained to the
representative that they should come up with better choices for illustrations. They
did, but they still looked immature, and none of them presented my story
accurately.
I rolled up my sleeves and went on the Internet.
For weeks, I searched for art samples and pictures, spending many hours
emailing, describing how I envisioned the mouse that was the main character of
my book. I sent many instructions on how to draw his face, his clothes, his
whiskers, but the artists still missed his whiskers on a few illustrations.
“To heck with whiskers,” I thought. “Children
wouldn’t notice them anyway.” I tossed in bed night after night. I could not
sleep for months.
“A mouse without whiskers? Insane!” I changed
my mind.
In the end, Carlo the mouse came out really cute
… after many sleepless nights, after searching for samples, pictures, drawings,
sketches, and after switching illustrators and representatives. I finally
complained to customer service and threatened to withdraw my projects.
When illustrator Juli Hasegawa came in to the
picture and saved my illustrations, she was by far the best illustrator I’d
worked with and came closest to what I had envisioned for my book.
My first book, Carlo the Mouse on Vacation, slowly moved ahead. The illustrations
were colored and the book went to the production stage. As I mentioned
previously, I am a foreigner, and I heavily relied on the competence of Xlibris’
professional team. That was why I bought a complete package. Correcting English
grammar is not my cup of tea.
After Xlibris sent me a galley to look at and
approve, I found that the production team had made more mistakes than I could
imagine. After layout, their correction team did not bother to check pages or
text. Illustrations were cut on each side, and words were smashed or ran into
each other. I made note of the corrections and sent them back to Xlibris, but in
the process of their corrections on the galley, they made more mistakes. The
galley went back and forth for months, but the correction team apparently never
reread what they corrected and sent the galley back with additional mistakes.
After months of struggling to get a clean, corrected
galley, I wrote another complaint, but there was no answer. Customer service at
Xlibris never took the time to call or had the courtesy to answer my concerns.
I wrote a letter to the CEO, Kevin Weiss, but it seems he ignored my problems
as well.
In the fall, we eventually reached the final
galley stage, but after a math teacher had found so many mistakes in the galley,
I did not trust Xlibris with grammar, and asked to check the manuscript once
more time. They said they would.
Before I signed the release form, I noticed
additional mistakes they had made, ones which I had previously directed them to
correct. I asked the production team to be sure there would be no grammar
mistakes in the galley and to be certain they used the final galley for
printing. The representative promised there would be no problem with the galley.
After reading my story so many times, I had
it memorized and could see it in my dreams. At that point, I should have given
up, but I was determined to finish this project. Xlibris would not break my
will and cause me to quit. I was almost there. I could smell my printed book. I
wanted the adorable Carlo the mouse to see the world. I had created that funny mouse
and I wanted children to meet him. Let the children judge and decide whether Carlo
would live or not. I signed the release form and got congratulations from my
Xlibris representative.
Finally, my first book was going to see the
world. My picture was printed on the back of the book, just as I had dreamed. Great!
I’m officially an author! Who would have believed it? I wrote the book in
English! Carlo the mouse will meet the kids!
The holidays arrived … too soon. Santa wasn’t
ready. Holding my first book, I suddenly noticed sticky tape on each corner. I
quickly flipped through the book and found that the production team never took off
the tape that held the pages. They printed my first book with tape on each page
corner.
Angry, I wrote another book about Carlo the mouse
struggling to survive a publishing company. This time the tape marks fit,
because the poor animals had to create the book themselves after their struggles
with Xlibris. Maybe Xlibris would be interested in publishing this book for
free, but for now I decided to concentrate on my first two books and let them
finish my projects.
All my pride and glory vanished when I saw that
the illustrations were cut on each side again and appeared too large. Someone
in the design department had messed up the size of the book, which should have been
8.5 by 11 inches. The pages were uneven and not centered. I was stunned at how
sloppily the book was printed, fuzzy and unclear. The grammar mistakes that they
had promised to fix had not been corrected. The design team had messed up the galley
and let it go to printing without additional checking. After complaining, I
received an explanation from my representative: “You owe us money to fix the
tape marks.”
I stopped breathing and turned blue!
Previously, many times on the phone, I had reminded the Xlibris representative
to remove these tape marks.
“We would never print the book with the tape
marks,” they reassured me.
If I could cry, I would, but I was in such a
state of shock that I had forgotten how to do so. I wanted to howl like a wolf during
the full moon…
“Did I place them there?” I asked.
“You signed a release form,” was their
answer.
Once again, Carlo the mouse was in jeopardy.
I happened to like my adventurous mouse and did not want him to disappear forever.
I swallowed my pride and wrote another complaint. Carlo the Mouse on Vacation was my first book. I had worked so hard
to give life to this funny, adorable mouse.
I contacted top management and the book was
sent back to the production team, but I had lost my trust in Xlibris and hired
my own editor, who did a great job by editing a new galley. Xlibris removed the
tape and did a new layout for an additional $300.00.
Meanwhile, the marketing team lunched press
and newswire releases, but the book was not available for sale. What was the
point of advertising something that wasn’t available for sale? What a waste of
money and time. The website wasn’t created either, and links that had been
advertised went nowhere. Oh, Xlibris!
The marketing team had little knowledge of
how the technical side of the Internet works. I hired my own website expert to
deal with the Xlibris Internet marketing team, and for months, he directed them
how to create a simple website, while he was working on my own website.
I don’t blame the representative. I didn’t
know much about the Internet myself. The difference is that I don’t work for
Xlibris! That’s why I bought an Executive package for almost $10,000.00. What
is Xlibris’ excuse? They claim to be professionals, but have so little to
offer. It took over two months and many emails to get a new galley redone.
After more than a year of working with
Xlibris on my book Carlo the Mouse on
Vacation, my adventure with Xlibris is finally over. The end of my
suffering … Carlo the mouse will live! Now I can celebrate my first published
book, Carlo the Mouse on Vacation,
which by the way looks amazing, bursting with color and fun. My nieces and
nephews love Carlo! They inspired me to write a series of ten adventures of Carlo
the mouse inside the hospital.
The first version of Carlo the Mouse on Vacation is available in print on Amazon and Barnes
& Noble and on most e-devices. I did not trust Xlibris with the e-book,
which they had promised to convert for free, and had it done by EbookIt, which turned
out to be an excellent company.
Hooray for Carlo the Mouse on Vacation! I hope my little readers will like this
tricky little mouse. One thing I can promise Xlibris: Carlo the mouse will live
and travel the world. I will make sure, because he deserves to be heard and
seen.
After a year of fighting for cute Carlo the
mouse, I have grown a very thick skin and have fought hard for my second book, The Trees Have Hearts, which has a
special place in my heart. While working on TheTrees Have Hearts, I oversaw every word and every stroke in each
illustration. No more mistakes!
For many months, I worked hard, but Xlibris
was the best school I have ever attended. The experience I had with Xlibris taught
me a great lesson: I learned how to make good books.
Now Xlibris has finally published my second
book, The Trees Have Hearts, which
looks amazing, bursting with vibrant colors and printed on quality paper. Once again,
special thanks to Juli Hasegawa, a talented Filipina artist, who saved my two
books.
I have been more
than patient over the last year, but after struggling with Xlibris, I had
no other option than to write this blog post and explain everything
that has happened in my interactions with this company. If I can
help at least one author to avoid my mistakes, it was well worth it to write
this post. I am right here, one e-mail away.
Although I was exasperated, I would not give up
before my project was completed to my satisfaction. I am not a nightmare—I
do not go away.
What have I learned about the publishing process
with Xlibris?
1.
I wrote another children’s book.
2.
Xlibris taught me how to make my own book.
3.
Xlibris can hire me as a consultant if they wish.
4.
Now I know what not to do and can help others.
Authors are not mean people. They write books,
and most of the time they are harmless and depend too much on self-publishing companies,
which promise to help and to create a good product. Authors pay them for their
services and have the right to expect professionals who care.
I would like the folks at Xlibris to open
their eyes and see what’s happening. They can compete with other book
publishing companies if they are willing to pay attention, listen to customers,
and learn from their mistakes. They produced two great books for me, Carlo the Mouse on Vacation and The Trees Have Hearts, which can easily
compete with any publishing house. Our names are written next to each other,
and now we can both be proud of the product we created. I am not a complainer,
or God forbid, a quitter. I just like to write children’s stories and quality
books.
Here is what I learned after working with
Xlibris for almost a year:
1)
Xlibris could be a capable company if its teams learn how to communicate
with each other and the writer.
2)
Xlibris could do much better if it hired qualified, well-trained, caring
professional workers.
3)
Xlibris has talented people, but they are lost between
representatives and authors.
4)
Xlibris could provide a higher quality product if it did not use cheap
labor.
5)
Xlibris could print vibrant books if it used good printing subcontractors.
6)
Xlibris could stand up to any publisher if it provided the
services it promises.
7)
Xlibris must learn to provide help for the author, not the other
way around.
8)
Xlibris must take an interest in selling books and have a better
marketing department.
9)
Xlibris must learn how to direct authors, not make them do all the
work for their representatives.
10)
Xlibris could produce the best books if it reads its bad reviews
and learns from them.
Authors, take note! Never give up, do your
homework, and don’t be afraid to stand up to your publisher. Remember, they
work for you. You pay them your hard-earned money. I am a beginning author, but
I am not a beginner in business. People shop with their eyes. The product that
looks the best sells the best, and both parties benefit.
