The Publishing Contrarian

Contact: Lynne W. Scanlon
Cell Phone: 917-685-9128
Land Line: 631-907-9001
Email: Publisher@back2press.com
Website: www.back2press.com

BACK2PRESS BOOKS LAUNCHED

FOR

“THE 100,000+ CLUB”

—Authors with Books that Sold 100,000 Copies Can Apply—

—No Bookstore Sales Planned—

Why are authors whose books sold over 100,000 copies often not happy? Because many have asked themselves: “If my book could sell 100,000 copies, why not a million?”

According to Lynne W. Scanlon, founder and publisher of the new imprint, Back2Press Books, the answer is that it could have … and it should have … and it still can.

“The problem is that publishing companies are content, even ecstatic, if a book sells more than 10,000 copies, let alone 100,000. Rarely do they continue to promote a proven bestseller at the expense of the newer books currently in the pipeline. After months or even years of helping to fill the publisher’s coffers, the 100,000+ bestseller eventually dies an unnatural death from negligent homicide,” says Scanlon.

Back2Press Books is inviting authors or their heirs to submit books to be considered for repackaging and republishing. The provisos:

1. The book must have sold over 100,000 copies.
2. The rights must be held by the author or be able to be reversed.

(Back2Press Books can help secure the reversal of rights, if necessary.)

Back2Press Books was launched in 2007 by the author of Overcoming Jet Lag, a nonfiction book previously published by Berkley Books that sold over 200,000 copies and received thousands of testimonials from international travelers, including executives in The White House.

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I am so tired of hearing unpublished writers (I won’t call a writer an author until he/she can actually show me a bound book or a buyable online version) wail about not being able to find a literary agent or get published or get readers to buy direct. Last night I practically leapt across a dinner table to throttle a wannabe author because he simply could not or would not absorb what I was telling him—that what he desperately needed was someone to assess his book and let him know if it was good or bad.

Over the main course I listened politely to the very familiar saga of an 80,000 word novel that had taken three years to write and that was destined to turn his life around as soon as his literary genius was revealed to all. Over dessert I nodded encouragingly at the synopsis of the story. Over coffee I braced for what I knew was coming next. Would I read the manuscript?

NO! The answer is NO. I will not read a total stranger’s manuscript. I will not spend hours and hours curled up reading a manuscript or an online book unless I know the writer and for personal reasons want to make the time available to read his book. I consider reading a manuscript, any manuscript, A LOT LIKE WORK.

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