Thursday, June 14, 2012

AUTHOR SPECIAL..PUBLISH YOUR BOOK WITH A FEW CLICKS


PUBLISH YOUR BOOK WITH A FEW CLICKS
Authors  believe that finding a publisher for their books is the toughest part of their job. And if you find one, it might be expensive and out of your reach. So what's the simpler option? Log on to self- publishing websites like Pothi.com The initial motivation to start the website was personal. Jaya Jha, co-founder, writes poetry in Hindi and has a decent following on her blog. She thought of publishing the poems as a book.
When she started looking for options, she realised that getting pub- lished is a tough task. So, she started looking at the options of self-publish- ing and realised that there aren't too many in India -- particularly with Print on Demand. She discussed this with Abhaya Agarwal, a friend who was in the US at that time. Thus Pothi.com came into existence.
On demand Pothi.com is a publishing platform backed by Print on Demand (a print- ing technology with which you can print even one copy at a time). It pro- vides tools and services to individuals and organisations who want to pub- lish their books in print. Its aim is to make publishing accessible to everyone by reducing informational, opera- tional and financial barriers.
The initial days were tough. Both the founders came from technology backgrounds and had no idea about publishing. A lot of time was spent in learning the ropes of the industry.
“Our finances came from savings and some friends and family funding. We were learning new things everyday about running a company, dealing with vendors and addressing customers,“ says Jaya.
To avail of their services, authors prepare print-ready files and upload them on the website. But some people need help in book preparation part itself. This may include help in editing, typesetting, cover design, illustrations etc. For this, paid services are available on the website. Each service needs to be paid for individually. They are reasonably priced. The typesetting costs start at Rs 15 per page and cover design at Rs 1,500.
Looking ahead Future plans include getting into e-books, self-publishing and more distribution options for print books.
“We are currently working on a couple of manuscripts, where children have found out about their parents/grandparents' writings and are now using Pothi.com's platform to publish them.
It means a lot to the parents to be cared for by their children and of course makes for good family memorabilia,“ says Jha.
OTHER SUCH WEBSITES
Lulu.com
Selfpublishing.comlurb.com
Wordclay.com
Mypublisher.com
(HT100425)

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