Recently I had my first book published by Xlibris. I would not recommend this company's "services" to any writer. It became obvious to me (after they had my money) that the staff knows almost nothing about the art of writing and even less about the English language.
The twenty-four phone calls that occurred between me and company representatives during the publishing process were torturous exercises in excruciating futility. I could not understand what they were saying as they fumbled about with both my language (English) and the script from which they were reading. If I had a dollar for each time I had to say, "I'm sorry, I didn't understand what you said.", I would now have back the money that I naively handed over to them.
Whenever I tried to explain my work conceptually or attempted to express my desires for my book's appearance, I received a "That's great!" from my representative, and the whole time I was thinking that it was not great because you do not have a clue about what I just said. I thought I was going to develop a working relationship with a company that cares about artists and their works, but was sadly disappointed. I guess I should have known better than to try to mix art with capitalism.
When I originally researched Xlibris before beginning my book project, I discovered that the company had as its president and CEO, Kevin Weiss, a 1979 graduate of Princeton University. This impressed me and I thought that Xlibris must be a company based in value and integrity. I think my impression of the Ivy League and the kinds of people it produces is deteriorating by the second.
I was led to believe that I would have "full control" over the creative process. I asked if this included book pricing and was again told that I would have "full control" over my book project. I guess once you get a sales person off-script, she will tell you anything to get your money. Xlibris book-pricing is absolutely ridiculous and I had no control over setting the price. The books are priced not to sell and this is not a company concern because Xlibris is making its money off of writers - not readers. Xlibris is in the business of exploitation. For an artist, having a dream can be a costly undertaking. I am proud to be an artist and I don't pretend to understand business, but I have to hand it to Mr. Weiss - brilliant marketing strategy.
I don't have a recommendation for fellow writers about how to pursue your dreams professionally. I can only definitively tell you not to waste your hard-earned money on Xlibris. However, I'm not going to give up on my dream and you shouldn't either. Keep exercising your craft. Write something every day even if you don't think it's any good. Express how you feel and at the end of the day I promise it will make you feel better. There has to be someone out there who still cares about art - even in America. Write on!
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