Author Solutions Inc. Expands (Again)

Per a press release issued yesterday, POD publishing service juggernaut Author Solutions, Inc. continues to expand–this time, into the Spanish-language market.

Its new brand, Palibrio, is targeted to Spanish-speaking authors. “Palibrio authors will work closely with a team of Spanish-speaking designers, consultants, marketing professionals, and customer service experts to transform their manuscripts to finished books efficiently, affordably, and professionally.”

The Palibrio website has the same cheery, upbeat look as the websites ASI has set up for the commercial publishers for which it runs pay-to-publish services (Cross Books for LifeWay, West Bow Press for Thomas Nelson, DellArte Press for Harlequin, and Balboa Press for Hay House), with vibrant colors and photos of happy authors. Prices for publication packages range from $599 to $6,499, and there’s the usual a la carte menu of add-ons, from editing to marketing.

Where will ASI expand next? Stay tuned.

9 Comments

  1. Author Solutions just closed its UK office, moving all the work and the jobs to the Philippines. They recently did this with the Trafford imprint they purchased. Writers, beware. ASI is NOT an American company, not interested in American jobs and definitely not interested in helping you succeed.

  2. Thanks for the update. POD companies really aren't a blip on the radar anymore. I stopped using them years ago and haven't looked back. I now use Lulu for draft copies (to catch errors) and Lightning Source for sale/review copies. I saved a ton of money and now I'm a legit self publisher.

    Anyone with decent PC skills in Photoshop and Acrobat can create a quality paperback for $272 at Lightning Source and get it on Amazon. Anyone can establish themselves as a "publisher" on Lightning Source; in fact this is where all the POD companies go to print their books and pass the mark-ed up the costs for fees onto authors.
    Lighninig Source fees break down like this:
    $35 for the upload of the text
    $35 for the upload of the cover
    $12 for the maintinence fee
    $40 for the first proof of the first book (after that all books published are just print cost)
    $150 for the ISBN and the barcode.
    0.013 per page and .90 for a cover per book. Comes out to $4-$6 A book.

    Errors can be corrected for another $35 upload fee of the text. POD companies charge hundreds of dollars for this. They also charge $800-$1000 for things like returnability, which is FREE; it's just checking off a box on the publisher's ISBN title on the list.

    While there are some tax issues (you have to fill out an I-9) Getting a Lightning source account is Much, much cheaper than submitting to POD companies charging $350-$1000 and $15-40 mainitenence fees. Learn how to lay out a book yourself (Most POD companies do NOT GIVE YOU ENOUGH WHITE SPACE) and publish yourself!

  3. Oh, how the heart aches for these people…lotsa money spent for printing books that will go nowhere fast.

  4. Perhaps they should consider opening an imprint for the market in Gibber… they already print a lot of Gibberish.

  5. Thanks again for keeping us update
    on POD and all the other types of publishers & agents that only want "what's in our wallet."

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