International Christian Writers Report

Stanley Baldwin, Founder and Editor This is a sample of the free monthly email publication sent to members of ICW, ICW NET and ICW Prayer Fellowship. ARCHIVES: previous reports October 2006 1. A Glorious Creation in Darwin’s Shadow 2. Self-Publishing: A Look at WinePress 3. Brave Souls: The Veil 4. Personal Notes

A Glorious Creation In Darwin’s Shadow
by Jane Foard Thompson, ICW Communications Coordinator

Everyone said our summer journey to the Galapagos would be the trip of a lifetime. It was, beyond my expectations. For a week my husband, Jack, and I and thirteen other passengers lived aboard the Sagitta, a motor sailor with a crew of six, moving from island to island, usually at night. As required by Ecuadorian law, a certified naturalist, Greg, traveled with us, providing a wealth of information on everything from volcanoes and lava tubes to tortoises and sea birds. Anxious to show us everything possible on each island, Greg often roused us before dawn to go ashore, treating us to astounding sunrises, the triple masts of the Sagitta outlined against the glowing sky.
During a daytime crossing, my husband urged the crew to raise the square sails. While Jack fine-tuned the rigging he spied a whale. We spent the next two hours turning this way and that, sails flapping, with our captain following our whale sightings. As the sun set, painting the glossy sea in purples, rose and gold, we were surrounded with Whale sharks and Minke whales. Greg said he’d never seen so many at one time. Throughout the trip he was amazed at our remarkable sightings.
To me, it was simply our Lord giving us an extraordinary tour of creation. Most spectacular were the marine iguanas piled on the lava shore snorting salt, the Blue-footed Boobies in courtship, the day-old seal barking for his mama, and the tiny penguins perched on rocks just above the surf. I snorkeled over huge sea turtles as they grazed on moss-covered rocks, turned with playful juvenile seals, and floated frozen above a six-foot Whitetip reef shark. I missed the penguin zooming past me, but watched in awe as flightless cormorants blasted into the water close by and gulped fish without a pause.
There were so many highlights, I could continue for pages. Thanks to digital photography, Jack took 3,000 photos, and I took so many video clips we had to download twice a day. Once home, we bought a new hard drive and DVD burner to house them.
The only down side to our trip was the Darwin worship, as if Charles Darwin were personally responsible for changes in finches from island to island, or the adaptive behaviors of iguanas. Books and gift items in every shop reflected the constant evolutionary bias.
As far as I know, Jack and I were the only Christians aboard. For us, every detail of plant and animal life, as well as geological history point to a fantastic Creator who employs elaborate means to continue to create, who enjoys colors, sounds, and intricate details. In fact, with Jack (a Ph.D. in biology) and his fine photos and my 25 years as a Montessori teacher, I’m thinking of proposing a children’s series on the Galapagos from a Creationist view. We’d like to take back the Galapagos in the name of our God!

2. SELF-PUBLISHING, A LOOK AT WINEPRESS

Athena Dean writes:
Dear Stan:
As you know, I founded WinePress Publishing almost 16 years ago from a successful self-publishing experience. When I first started teaching on self-publishing and marketing and promoting your book at Christian Writers Conferences so many years ago, self-publishing was considered a bad word and rightly so. The only options that existed at that time were “vanity” publishers who took the author’s money and produced a poor product that had no hope of selling, appealing only to the author’s pride by putting his or her name on a published book. The standard of excellence we set as a custom self-publisher and the fact that we continue to raise those standards to meet industry expectations, has made self- publishing a viable option for many authors.

When I published my first book in 1995, I worked with a publicity firm who booked me on Christian TV and radio all across the country. I learned many things from that experience, including the importance of having your book available through distributors so that bookstores can order, having an 800# where customers can call and order the book they just heard about on the TV or radio, and how vital professional marketing materials and publicity services are to a successful book campaign. From this experience, many of the services WinePress Publishing Group now offers were developed. As an author I didn’t want to take phone calls, run credit cards, sort, pack, and ship orders, then follow up on lost shipments, bad card numbers, returned product, and a host of other details involved in making a book available on a large scale. Nor did I want to call radio and TV stations and ask to be on their show. If I felt this way, then I knew most authors would probably feel the same. I wanted to share my story, let someone else promote me as a potential interview, and not get bogged down with the administrative details.

While WinePress is a self-publishing company, not a royalty publisher, we offer all the services a royalty publisher provides to authors. We do everything from taking authors to the International Christian Retailers Show to developing national publicity campaigns for our authors; from warehousing books and selling to distributors and bookstores, to helping our authors refine their titles, cover ideas and manuscripts to make their book the best possible product. We manage and oversee every aspect of the publishing process from our offices in Enumclaw, Washington, but do not print on site. Our team of professional printers in the US, South America, and Asia print for the top Christian publishers in the US, and can produce the most complex product from the simplest book to full color, hard cover children’s picture books with professional illustrations. Our printers can also produce beautiful board books or specialty products. We can even print leather bound Bibles with gold gilded edges, ribbon markers, and indexing.

Over the past 16 years we have grown from a small home-based business into the largest and most well known Christian custom publisher. Christian publishers, editors, agents and industry professionals across the country and around the world recommend us to authors. We publish approximately 350 titles per year and employ 30 individuals with over 10,000 square feet of offices and warehouses in Enumclaw, WA. We’re proud to have helped many authors prove themselves to royalty publishers and get published by them as a result of their experience with WinePress. It truly has been encouraging to watch God work over these many years to bring WinePress to its current position in the industry. And with that, I’ll answer your questions!

How much should one expect to pay for a trade size book of 120 pages, and what services are included? If you have various levels of services, what are the options? I may not need copy editing, for example.
An author can either start with our large print run division (WinePress Publishing) or with our print on demand division (Pleasant Word). I’ll give the WinePress numbers first and then move on to the Pleasant Word numbers.

WinePress
We offer 4 different packages. As you go up from the least expensive, you have more publicity and marketing options included in the price. The most expensive is our Platinum package which includes media coverage and book signing for book buyers at the International Christian Retail Show, special advertising, and a combined national publicity campaign. Generally, I do an individual quote for WinePress projects on a case by case basis because there is so much customization to do. Often times an author wants to mix and match the different services and options and we always want to meet those needs. The following rates should give a good idea of the general range an author might be looking at.

For our least expensive package (Bronze) the numbers are as follows:

2,500 - $3.99 per copy
5,000 - $2.64 per copy
10,000 - $1.69 per copy

***Keep in mind, if a person starts with Pleasant Word (Blue Ribbon only) and then converts at a later date to WinePress (after the book is in print) we will give a “reprint price” (on the WinePress numbers) at 25% less than the above rates.

For a package that includes some publicity and marketing materials (our Gold package) the numbers would be:
2,500 - $7.30 per copy
5,000 - $4.29 per copy
10,000 - $2.70 per copy
This includes 60# paper, one embellishment such as embossing or spot gloss/matte lamination on the cover, warehousing of 2,500 copies, publicity and marketing materials, where the Bronze package is 50# paper, high gloss lamination only, minimal warehousing and no publicity or marketing materials.

All these prices, whether Bronze or Gold, have distribution through both secular and Christian distributors who sell to bookstores across the country, as well as having the book listed in the Christian Books & More database which is used by Christian bookstores across the country. Books are also made available on Amazon.com, Christianbooks.com, B&N.com, CBN.com, Walmart.com; Booksamillion.com, Parable.com, to name just a few.

In comparing to the POD numbers, the Bronze package numbers are more comparable since there are no publicity services or marketing materials included. Pleasant Word authors pay for publicity and marketing items “a la carte”.

Our entire publicity department was recently revamped so the services we offer there for both WinePress and Pleasant Word authors are an incredible resource…we now offer specific publicity packages like:

Radio/TV Campaign
Print/Internet Campaign
Speaker Introduction
Build Your Platform
Bookstore Print Campaign
Special Markets Campaign
Hometown Promotions

And we’ve developed a new “For Media Only” database where media can log on and find authors for their venues, as well as a tri-annual publicity catalog that goes out to media across the country.

Pleasant Word - Print on Demand Option
With our POD program, everything is based off the Suggested Retail Price (SRP), the author purchase price and the royalty paid per sale made through a distributor, bookstore, or from our website or 800#.

A 120 page trade size soft cover book retails for $13.99. All discounts are based on that SRP.

We offer 4 different packages. The low end packages, White Ribbon and Yellow Ribbon, do not require an edit or a proof read, but we do require that the author sign a waiver that they have chosen not to utilize our editing or proofing services. The Red Ribbon package requires an evaluation and a proof read (to insure that a proof read is adequate), and the Blue Ribbon requires both a copy edit and a proof read. (If the book has been edited by a professional, whom we know, with a good understanding of Chicago Manual of Style 15th edition, we are willing to waive edits and proof reads when appropriate). Our print on demand option is also available with hard cover binding and dust jacket.

The White Ribbon package has no distribution options, but the author may purchase copies at a 42% discount off the cover price, minimum of 5 copies purchased at a time. Basic cover provided from a choice of 4 templates. This package is great for people who are publishing only for their family and friends. 1 copy sent to the author upon publication. Submission fee $799.

The Yellow Ribbon has distribution options through Ingram/Spring Arbor, but does not have access to our 24/7 toll free order line. Basic cover provided from a choice of 10 templates and hundreds of images. The author may purchase copies at a 58% discount, minimum of 5 copies. 10 copies sent to author upon publication. Submission fee $999.

The Red Ribbon has distribution options, toll free order taking, and some publicity services available to them. An Intermediate cover is provided utilizing our CoverTool. TM The author may purchase copies at a 60% discount, minimum 5 copies. 15 copies are sent to the author upon publication. Submission fee $1499.

The Blue Ribbon has distribution options, toll free order taking, all publicity services available as well as an invitation to attend and sign books at CBA. An Advanced custom cover designed to industry standards. The author may purchase copies at a 62% discount, minimum 5 copies. 30 copies sent to the author upon publication. The Blue Ribbon author is automatically qualified to upgrade to a large print run with WinePress at a reprint discount. Submission fee: $1999.

Yellow, Red and Blue Ribbon packages are also available in full color picture books, trim sizes 8.5 x 8.5 and 8.5 x 11. These have higher submission fees and a critique, copy edit and proof read are required on all packages. The same distribution and publicity options are available as with black and white books.

The submission fees include the ISBN, Library of Congress Number, Full color cover (templates used in White and Yellow, Custom covers on Red & Blue), formatting of text, distribution as stated above, lots of advice to improve on the product. (for complete details please go to: http://www.pleasantword.com/default.asp?id=7959 <http://mail.winepresspub.com/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.pleasantword.com/default.asp?id=7959>

All packages also offer the option to have an additional edition of your book in hard cover binding, case laminate or with a dust jacket.

All possible levels of editing are available, from ghostwriting to rewriting on down to proofreading. Our freelance editorial team is comprised of some of the best editors in the industry who work for top Christian publishers. Basic editing required for Blue Ribbon and all WinePress packages consists of a copy edit and a proof read (2 different sets of eyes going over the manuscript at 2 different times, one before typesetting and one after). The price for copy edit is $3.50 per page and the proof read is $2.00 per page.

Picture placement throughout text are $5 each, the first 10 are free. Scans are $7 each.

Custom illustrations for picture books as well as fiction covers are available with a number of different styles (cartoon, whimsical, realistic, etc.). Many of our illustrators work for the big publishers so their work is top notch.

Authors are never required to purchase additional copies of their books, but they are able to at the discounts listed above. The books sold through bookstores, distributors, online stores, our web site and our 800# are printed one at a time to fill the order placed within 48-72 hours. Since the payment for the order funds the printing of the book sold, anything left over after the author price of the book and the handling fee is paid goes to the author in the form of a royalty. Royalties are very simple to understand and figure. Let’s use an example of the 120 page book at $13.99 with a Blue Ribbon author.

Direct sale by author:
$13.99 - $5.32 (APP Author Purchase Price at 62% discount) = $8.67 profit*
*This amount would be reduced by the shipping author paid to receive the order…probably around .35 per copy

Sale from Pleasant Word Site at standard 27% discount:
Book sells for $10.21 - $5.32 (APP) - $1.95 (HF Handling Fee) = $2.94 royalty

Sale from Pleasant Word Site if author chooses to keep full SRP listed:
Book sells for $13.99 - $5.32 (APP) - $1.95 (HF) = $6.72 royalty

Sale by Pleasant Word direct to bookstore at 40% discount:
Book sells for $8.39 - $5.32 (APP) - $1.95 (HF) = $1.12* royalty
*If more than 5 copies are ordered, handling fee does not apply so royalty would be increased to $3.07 per copy.

Sale by Distributor / Amazon at 55% discount:
Book sells for $6.29 - $5.32 (APP) = $ .97 royalty

As a side note, we also offer Audio Books and have a new multi media department where we can do promotional videos/DVDs for our authors. We do cooperative advertising in World Magazine and other publications as well.

I ask because I know writers who have used Publish America and the retail price of their books is way out of line too high. I believe this is basically a scam. The publisher gives the author a big discount off of retail but with the grossly inflated retail, the book is costing the author and unconscionable amount of money. I have seen some evidence that Publish America is not alone in using this tactic and I would like you to comment on your own practices in this regard.
That is something I have had to battle for the last 5 years, Publish America and other secular print on demand publishers charging $20 for a 100 page book and giving little or no discount to authors. We have attempted to find every point that has been a negative with companies like that and turned them around to be good for both the author and our company. All our books are returnable, we don’t make the author buy a huge quantity to get their high author discount, and we encourage good editing and improving on their ideas so that their book does not look or read like your typical self-published book.

The other challenge we face is that there are so many print on demand options out there who will just print whatever you give them and leave you looking foolish. We are not trying to compete with companies like that and urge our authors to do it right if they are going to do it at all, not skimping on editing, or any other aspect of the project.

Regarding our editorial standards, even though we are a self-publisher, we still turn down at least 10% of the manuscripts we are offered to publish due to questionable doctrine. Regarding this issue, our contract reads, in part:

PUBLISHER’S RIGHTS: Publisher maintains high standards and is theologically conservative. For example, Publisher avoids books that promote the Word of Faith/Prosperity doctrine, the Brownsville/Toronto “revival,” or women pastors in leadership over men. Publisher reserves the absolute right to refuse to continue to work on any manuscript if Publisher, in its sole discretion, determines that it contains objectionable material. Publisher allows Author a negotiable point of view. Objectionable (nonnegotiable) material includes, but is not limited to, the following: (a) Unbiblical theology (b) Challenges to the deity of Jesus Christ (c) Offensive language (d) Indecent scenes (e) Suggestive dialogue. Determination of objectionable material shall be within the sole discretion of the Publisher, however, Publisher shall provide Author with a summary of objectionable material and the reasons the Publisher finds it objectionable, and allow Author to modify, if possible.

If the author feels, after reading the above statement, that there may be an issue with their ms, we have a $75 evaluation or a $200 critique available. We do not flatter them so they will publish with us just to get their money. We tell them the truth about their manuscript and if it has potential, we encourage them to buy the editing services needed to bring it up to an industry standard.

Please also give a rundown on pros and cons of POD versus traditional publishing. Please be as specific as possible.
While offset printing is always superior, for most books not including photographs on interior text pages, digital POD printing still offers a great way to get a book into print with limited financial investment. At the same time, because our digital printer is owned by Ingram Distributors, the automatic distribution to all bookstore markets and online bookstores overcomes major hurdles for the new author and self-publisher and gives the author the opportunity for national or worldwide distribution that is essential for success. Let’s face it…people must be able to easily find your book. If they can’t, then the chance of getting it into their hands decreases dramatically. With the POD options WinePress offers through Pleasant Word, we increase the exposure and distribution channels for books that need a chance to prove themselves. Then if they do, the option to upgrade to the offset option with WinePress is a simple and cost effective process.

The biggest downside, or “con”, to POD publishing is the necessity of setting a higher than normal SRP in order for large discounts to be given to distributors, online resellers like www.christianbooks.com <http://www.christianbooks.com>, and others. To address this challenge, we now default the sale price on our website bookstore to an automatic 27% discount. That way, authors can feel good about sending customers to our site to buy the book at a similar price to what they will find online at Amazon, and the author makes about three times as much on the royalty when orders come through our bookstore compared to Amazon.

The other downside with many POD companies is no distribution to Christian bookstores or no stock showing in the distributor warehouses because the books are printed after the order is placed. For this very reason, we partner with Ingram Distributor’s digital printer so that all our books show 100 copies in the warehouse, even though it is really only “virtual inventory.” Because the book is printed within 24 hours to fill any orders placed by bookstores, and because the digital printer is housed in the same facility as the distributor, the books can legitimately show up as “in stock.” This is a huge benefit for authors who are promoting to the bookstore market since most buyers will not order a book if they have to back order it. We also distribute our POD books through two different Christian distributors so that Christian stores are able to order without a hitch.

While traditional self-publishing utilizing an offset press gives the author a better price per copy the more they print, the author still must come up with the larger investment to cover the cost of purchasing the high level of inventory. I have always felt that, for many first time authors, the less risky approach of starting with POD and then upgrading to the traditional option when sales take off makes way more sense.

I trust I haven’t overwhelmed you with too much information and hope that we can be of service to some of your members.

Warm Regards,

Athena Dean
Founder & Acquisitions Editor
WinePress Publishing
www.winepressgroup.com <http://www.winepressgroup.com>
www.winepresspub.com <http://www.winepresspub.com>
www.pleasantword.com <http://www.pleasantword.com>
800-326-4674
athena@winepressgroup.com

3. BRAVE SOULS WRITING CLINIC
MEMBERS: When you send in your manuscript for this feature, indicate whether you want it to be anonymous or with your byline. If with byline, include a brief bio, and if anonymous, you can still give a bit of information short of revealing your identity.
Here's how it works:
1. Send an original unpublished work of yours by email, preferably as an attached Word document (or send it pasted into your message) to scbaldwin2@yahoo.com . Any genre, length 800 words or less.
2. Sending a manuscript constitutes your request for a critique AND permission to publish the piece in the ICW Report, in its original version and with critique.
3. This is where the Brave Souls comes in; it's not easy for a writer to have criticism of his work published for others to see. But publishing both the original and the critique provides a valuable learning opportunity for other members. And if it's a humbling experience for you, that may not be so bad either.

How to use this feature as a tool for improving your own writing:

DO:
1. Read the document in its original form. Then take at least a few moments to think how you might improve it if it were yours. You may want to print it out to facilitate your own critique of it.
2. Note spelling, grammar, punctuation, and other such technical errors, but, more important, note substantive weaknesses: unclear meaning, poor organization, omission of vital information, lack of focus, unappealing style.
DON'T:
1. Concern yourself with poor spacing, uneven lines, font type or size. In the process of sending documents by email, proper formatting is often lost.
3. Think you must agree with the critique as if it were infallible. Writing is an art form, not a pure science. Often there are many good ways to write about the same content. Suggested changes don't indicate an article is poorly done; they are more likely an effort to elevate good to better.

THE VEIL
by Pam Pyne
“We Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord, (II Cor. 3:18 LVGB)
Folds of dark fabric press against her body in the hot wind. Holes cut into the shroud around her eyes, covered by thick mesh, barely allow her to see. To the observer, she is like any other woman of her faith, body and face hidden from view of the onlooker; yet, her veil serves a purpose. It offers protection from the searing sun and keeps sand and dirt away from her body.
My veil is different…It fails to protect me from anything. It covers who I am and projects who I wish I were. I sometimes think I can manipulate my life into my version of Christianity. It surprises me when family or friends resent my efforts to change them. Doesn’t everyone want to fly like an eagle, “run and not be weary…walk and not faint?”
When I fail to live up to the image I create for myself, I add more fabric and use heavier mesh over the eyes, until I can no longer see. I trip over stones of self-righteousness and tumble down crevices of pride. I claw at the ground of superiority and in smugness, I rise again, only to plummet deeper into chasms of my own making. I often find myself in the hole of human failure, struggling to let go of the shroud of a “Good Christian.”
Father, in grasping at Christianity as I see it, my hands come up empty. Help me to trust You with my emptiness. As I leave my veil of Christian expectations at Your feet, transform me into a mirror that brightly reflects Your glory.
Pam lives with her husband in Milwaukie, Oregon, where she works selling Real Estate to support her writing and traveling habits. Pam has three grown children and two grandchildren.
CRITIQUE:
This is an excellent analogy, especially given the timeliness of the situation described. The piece also shows a good use of language-good word pictures. It feels not quite right, however, probably because the analogy is a bit muddy.
It says the Muslim woman’s veil serves to keep the sun, sand and wind away from her face. This may be true but is contrary to the accepted belief that it is to hide her from view. The protection from the sand and wind function does not fit the analogy of our veil being something behind which we hide our true selves. Leave out the sand/wind copy; it detracts rather than adds. Use the space to do more with the veils you (we) wear.
I am also confused by the second paragraph which first refers to “manipulate my life” but immediately veers off to “my efforts to change” family and friends. If there is a connection between these two thoughts, it is unclear what that connection is. In sum, then, the thinking behind the writing seems to be a bit scattered. It would be much more effective if it were more clearly focused. The writing itself is a bit like a veil, keeping the reader from seeing clearly the message.
Bits and Pieces
Randy Ingermanson offers a fiction writing E-zine free to subscribers. I haven’t had a chance to check it out thoroughly, so if you use it, first satisfy yourself that all is as it should be. Randy promotes an interesting avenue for authors to sell their own books. <http://www.RSIngermanson.com>
Children Who Write: Do you know of any resources for children interested in writing? Do you personally work with any such children? If your answer is yes and you want to encourage others in this ministry, please email me.
Korean Version of Funny Thing: InterVarsity Press announces that my book, A Funny Thing Happened on my Way to Old Age will be published in Korean by Guideposts Korea Publishers. This is the first foreign language translation of this title. My most translated book remains Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness (Regal), which I co-authored with Jerry Cook in 1979. It is now in 11 languages and remains in demand in the United States as well as abroad, now 27 years after first publication.
Until next month, Keep Writing.
Stanley Baldwin, Director

Contact Stanley Baldwin at scbaldwin2@yahoo.com <mailto:scbaldwin2@yahoo.com>

For changes in e-mail addresses only, reply to this Report.
(Jane Foard Thompson, janesara@comcast.net <mailto:janesara@comcast.net> )

Copyright © International Christian Writers. All rights reserved. Revised: April 6, 2004