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behind the curtain were, for all of the palavering to the otherwise, precisely that. Even a mere writer can get his/her work into the catalogs. Of course, several POD houses made a fatal error along the way by making promises that not only could they not keep, but never intended to in the first place. Among both the traditional publisher and the POD concern, money still flows TO the author. Charging "reading" fees, or "set-up" fees and the like merely created yet one more opportunity for a not-so-moral business concern to take from the writer's toil. These POD firms charged the writer for virtually everything. It was a very bad business model. It was also as apparent as the Wizard's Curtain, and writers were driven away en masse, much to the glee of the traditional publisher. "I told you that you couldn't make it on your own!"

But, in these past three years, POD concerns have come to see something of value in their work that nobody ever suspected. Honest interaction with good writers yielded everyone a fair buck. Writers did self-publish, and not just so Aunt Fannie could have a copy, either. Writers came to these houses because they fully intended to be successful-as writers. Marketing and Public Relations were tasks to be learned-but they could be. They were, and POD houses were suddenly making money. Writers were becoming authors, and their books were selling. Publishers were busy smelling the snifter at the club, and simply failed to notice. Shame on them.

POD houses today are an entirely different breed. They ARE in the Ingram's catalogue (much to the chagrin of the traditional houses) and Barnes and Noble's IS cataloging their ISBN! Even these major distributors are relenting on the return policies a bit. They miss the irreverent disregard some noteworthy distribution channels have made a long practice. This is a change FOR the writer. Who could possibly have imagined that a mere twenty-five years ago? Writers are publishing, marketing, and actually selling their work to a never-sated public consumer base becoming, every day, more aware of options for access to written words. Amazon, Lulu, and other firms are changing their business model-not to accomodate the "Big 5". That will never happen. And, it shouldn't happen. Traditional publishing houses still maintain their lofty position atop the mountain.

However, today's world is showing all writers that there are many different paths to the view from the heights. Publishers just cannot ignore 20,000 copies sold-especially when their imprint is not on the spine. Yes, it is much more work. No, there are no crazy advances. yes, you must learn more about this craft than you might ever have suspected. But POD firms are creating a rich environment for the writer determined to be an author. It's about time. I can't hope to earn out an advance today. But, let me bring you my 20,000 sold copies, and let's just see who has the prime position in this negotiation.

Both traditional publishing concerns and POD operations can provide a rich, and rewarding career for the writer. The business concerns actually remain the same for the writer, regardless of the avenue of approach. Wouldn't it just be something if the writer were being stalked by the drooling Agent. Could we deal with that?

You bet we could. One thing the publishers always knew, and the POD houses are fast discovering is very true. It is the quality writer that makes their business possible. Both need us. The only difference now is, we have a choice.

Learn more about this author, Buddy Blair.
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