No, it's not The Lost Symbol or The Shack.
At least in some sense.
It's print on demand publishing.
According to Bowker, there were more books published through print on demand than there were with traditional publishers. That's amazing when you think about it.
Some traditional Christian publishers are wanting a piece of the action. After all, traditional Christian bookstores are struggling. While it may be true that some Christian books (like The Shack) have been making it to the mainstream bestseller list, Christian publishing as a whole is struggling.
So, evangelical publishers like Bethany House have added a print on demand option for aspiring authors who could not make it past Bethany's traditional gatekeepers. This morning Michael Hyatt of Thomas Nelson announced that Nelson is adding a POD option for authors who couldn't make the coventional cut. The Christian publishing market (just like the secular market) of course, follows the money. But then again, many of your recognized Christian publishers are owned by secular companies.
I have immersed myself in the world of POD options the last three weeks. POD publishers are creating a buzz in the industry and in some media outlets. In a recent AARP, article, the writer described the POD alternative as an "earthquake" shaking the publishing industry.
If anyone would have told me four weeks ago that a future option for Sacred Unions, Sacred Passions would be print on demand, I would have said, "Huh? What is that???"
As a matter of fact, I did say that.
The hottest trend in the book publishing industry is indeed, print on demand publishing. Dive into the subject a bit more and you'll find all these new authors doing POD. The overwhelming majority of the these authors don't sell many books though; most of the authors never sell more than 50. There are reasons for that which I may explain in my next post.
But you can crunch the numbers. All the "successful" POD companies are making their profit on the upfront charges these aspiring authors pay for particular packages. This includes Christian POD alternatives. It's another way to make a profit in a sagging economy. I don't hold it against anybody for trying to make a profit on their hard work.
But in order to persuade first-time authors or aspiring authors to choose POD, these companies have convince them it's cool to invest in them. The phrase self publishing carries with it so much baggage and stigma--especially when the author has to pay to get her book published. So, it's a bit of irony that traditional Christian publishers are now advocating first-time authors to publish through nontradtional methods. Of course, these publishers are charging for their packages and face no risk for publishing with print on demand.
But print on demand technology has opened up a whole new world for first time authors. For me, the first couple of weeks was like buying a used car. I have had plenty of phone conversations with sales staff pitching to me why I should buy their package.
I am confident that Sacred Unions, Sacred Passions is going to be published. It is going to be with POD technology. A small publishing company named Faith Dance publishing is going to take it on. :-) I am really excited about it.