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POD; An Excellent Way to Begin Your Writing Career
by Linda J. Alexander

It's very true that POD authors will have a more difficult time than "traditional" authors in their effort to become recognized in the overwhelming number of books brought to the public each year. It's not  a coincidence they're both considered TRADITIONAL. And while it might be frustrating to regularly hear some POD publishers give the rather  overworn, pat response, “Oh, but POD books are being stocked every day by  big-name bookstores” to the, "But we can’t get our books in these stores"  problem, I'm inclined to believe that's the best they can say right now.

Consider this: The reason many new writers are published today is predominantly because of POD. A relatively new technology, POD is rarely embraced by mainstream because it endangers the fabric of what the industry has become. And what that industry has become is based on mass marketing, cookie-cutter, stamped-out books created by authors who are essentially told what they can write and when they need to write it.

POD has given writers a chance to break out, to find an emerging voice in an industry more and more owned by conglomerates that have NOTHING to do with books. Viacom (an entertainment giant) owns Simon and Schuster. Time Warner (a mess of all sorts of companies) owns Little, Brown, & Co., and who-knows-who else. Read the following article. It'll make you sick. You might begin to realize how unfriendly the publishing industry can be to new talent, and how un-book related that industry has become in today’s market: http://csf.colorado.edu/pen-l/2000III/msg03190.html

My point: If a POD publisher—and I mean publish on demand, a publishing house that requires no money from you to put your book into circulation—were to tell you: yes, it's darned near impossible for you as an unknown entity to place your books in major traditional bookstores but, alas, you'll probably get little opportunity to publish otherwise so, instead, let us publish you. Let us give you that useless chance. That way, we’ll make  some money and you, the writer, will realize your dream. . . .

Would those of us published with a POD house be any less frustrated? Would we continue trying? Many of us would not, and that would result in a sad loss of some extraordinary written works that otherwise would never see the light of day. It's in these POD publisher’s best interest to put on a positive face, to address the fact that, indeed, there ARE traditional brick & mortar bookstores stocking POD books, more and more, though never as  fast as any of us would like.

It's in our best interest as new and emerging writers to accept the limitations of this groundbreaking technology and to work with it and  the POD publishers that use it—to work around the issues, work over the  issues .. . but keep working. Keep writing. And keep publishing with these reputable, upwardly-mobile POD outfits because it's the likes of them that'll change the face of the industry, if it's ever to be changed.  And it will be their authors, not the comfy but frustrated traditional authors that will be involved with, and carrying forward, that amazing publishing revolution, right alongside the companies that dared to print them.

It may not always be great right now, but it's not all that wonderful in the traditional publishing world, either. In my current position in the writing food chain, I'd rather fight this fight and be allowed to keep my creative control than to be added to the cookie-cutter world of conglomerate publishing. If I ever get to the place where I have the luxury to decide which side to be on, I'm confidant that I’ll be far enough along to also effect change.

CONTROVERSY CORNERSTONE OF CAREER

Multi-racial author Linda Alexander has lupus. Her books include one about a porn star, another about Messianic Jews, and a novel. Besides writing books, she has appeared on the Oprah show, and interviews entertainers for print publication.

“Until Next Time, ” a novel about good versus evil, debuted in November 2002 with POD publisher, PublishAmerica. “Dorothy From Kansas Meets The Wizard of X” originally publised in 1999 and now set to reprint later this year, also with PublishAmerica, looks into the lives of X-rated film insiders. “The Unpromised Land,” published in 1994 with Lederer Publications, a traditional small publisher in Baltimore, MD, told of Messianic Jews attempting immigration to Israel.

A letter about psychological child abuse in 1991 put Linda on the Oprah Show. She has written for magazines and newspapers for over 15 years,  and her interviews have included: actors Jim Varney, Robert Stack, and the late Michael Zaslow, and oldies singers Gary Puckett, Lou Christie, and Tiny Tim.

Copyright © 2003 Linda J. Alexander. All Rights Reserved.

UNTIL NEXT TIME -- ISBN #: 1-59129-679-X DOROTHY FROM KANSAS MEETS THE WIZARD OF X: recently contracted, available late 2003, both thru all major book outlets & publisher: http://www.publishamerica.com
My websites:
http://www.authorsden.com/lindajalexander
http://www.authorsden.com/rf.asp?a=9014
http://www.ineedabook.net/Alexander/UNT.html
http://www.i-am-america.net  (Under Construction)
Editor for: http://www.author-me.com
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/writing_erotica