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LazyDay Publishing

LazyDay

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LazyDay Publishing is a new digital publisher that is focused on the future of storytelling.

All books will be on our site, but will also be available with all the leading third party distributors. Our books will be easily available in all leading formats. LazyDay Publishing will be a dominating presence in the future of the digital book.

LazyDay Publishing will be officially launching December 1, 2010! Please follow us during this exciting time by visiting our site as well as following us on Twitter.

Our initial web page is designed for the author, but will vastly change on December 1, 2010 to become a fully integrated online ebook store and digital publishing house that will be focused on the reader.

We are actively pursuing authors who want to be part of our team. Please see our submission guidelines on how to get published. http://www.lazydaypub.com
 

CaoPaux

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The link's working for me, FWIW.

Nice site, but needs info on the people behind this venture.
 

LazyDay

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Thank you for the compliment. I'm not sure what information you are looking for on the people behind the venture. LazyDay Publishing is owned by Mark McConnell and Staci Helling. We own 3 other businesses besides LazyDay. Between the two of us, we have a Masters in Business, and a degree in Liberal Arts. We have extensive business experience as well as marketing, public relations and sales.
We are entrepreneurs looking for businesses that we feel are going to be successful now as well as in the future. Our focus is to partner up with the creative (the author) and utilize our skills to get the books sold. We also have the financial backing needed for such a venture. We just brought on a copy editor and looking for another. We also have two cover artists ready to get busy. We have two other editors in charge of acquisitions. So our team is being formed and will continue to grow. If you follow us on twitter.com/lazydaypub you can read behind the scenes. We will also be blogging about it.
Hope this answers some of your questions. Wow, that felt like an interview :)

Staci
 

Chris P

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Hope this answers some of your questions. Wow, that felt like an interview :)

Staci

haha! It is, in a way. We can be a suspicious lot, especially those of us (okay, me) who've been taken in by a large and notorious publication scam. I hope you're not put off by our probing.

I liked your site, and your forthrightness here is encouraging. I'm not ready to try the ebook route yet, but I've not ruled it out. Best of luck to you, your business partners and your authors!
 

LazyDay

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mscelina - The team we have brought on does have experience in the world of publishing. I am confident that our skills and experience we bring to the table will far exceed all expectations. We are sales driven individuals, and our focus will be on selling good books.

Chris P - we are not put off at all. We expected to be scrutinized and researched. We're the new guys and we have a lot we need to prove. We are open to all questions.

Bottom line...we want LazyDay Publishing to be a success. Our focus is going to be selling, promoting, networking and frankly, making money. The author's job will be to write a good book.

P.S The submissions we have been getting are really good so far! This author community has a lot to offer!
 

eqb

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mscelina - The team we have brought on does have experience in the world of publishing.

Could you expand on that, please?

That is, what publishers have you worked for in the past? What roles did you play in those publishing companies?

In addition, what distribution have you lined up for print editions? (You mentioned those as being in the works, and it's not too soon to plan these things.) Also, how do you plan to market your books?
 

LazyDay

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Without writing a novel of my own as a response, I'll try to answer. :)
Our focus right now is on digital first publications and the launch of the site. Print is not ruled out for the future, but isn't where we are focusing our efforts at this time. We are overachievers, but can only go so fast. :)
Our staff so far ranges from a freelance cover artist who has designed for e publishers such as Carina Press, to a copyeditor that has edited text books and healthcare manuals (sounds tedious).
Marketing? We will of course be involved in all social media, blogs, online reviews, and setting up interviews depending on what genre you write for. We will also be sending out local press releases from each author's home state to add some extra buzz. Advertisement will be done on certain sites, again depending on what genre. We will also be doing some very creative and exciting things with Amazon, B&N, Borders and Google Editions that we don't want to reveal...competitors may be reading. :)
I hope this at least starts to answer your question.
 

mscelina

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So you've hired an artist and an editor with prior publishing experience--although the editor has not edited fiction--but you, the publisher, have no experience in publishing at all?

And your marketing plan is pretty much social networking and press releases and that's all you're willing to discuss.

You didn't answer the question about distribution for print.
 

LazyDay

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We are focused on digital releases at this time. Distribution of print is not being addressed at this time.
 

LazyDay

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As I mentioned before, we have not worked for a publisher. Our experience and expertise is in Business, Marketing and Sales...all of which is required to be able to SELL your book. If you are looking for someone who once worked as an editor, or agent or interned somewhere, then LazyDay is not for you. But if you are looking for someone who can do what it takes to see the sales figures of your book increase and actually make money, then THAT is what we can do. We are successful business people focused on making money. We can't make money, if your book doesn't sell. We may do things differently than "someone who has worked for a publisher" but to me that is something refreshing. If you want traditional - go traditional. Revenue is our focus. Success is our focus.
I understand doubt. I understand research. But understand that we cannot post our entire business and marketing plan...THAT would not be doing good business. :)
 

eqb

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Thanks you for answering our questions.

Please understand that we see a *lot* of new publishers who start with good intentions, but who fail because they aren't familiar with the business of publishing. So we ask about experience, and we ask about marketing plans, not just for ourselves, but for anyone else who reads here.
 

LazyDay

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I completely understand. We have started 3 other businesses from scratch and had to prove ourselves there as well. New businesses (especially in this economy) are always volatile. All I can say is that we haven't failed yet, and have no intentions to start now. With all the changes in how a consumer can now read a book, we feel digital publishing is the way of the future. Sorry traditional publishing!
 

eqb

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Just so you know, traditional publishing is a bogus term coined by vanity publishers who are pretending to be not-vanity publishers. (The correct term would be commercial publishing.) In your case, however, "print publishing" is a more accurate term, since commercial publishing includes both print and digital.
 
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LazyDay

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Note taken, and thank you! I don't ever want to be considered in the same category as vanity publishers.
 

thothguard51

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LazyDay,

Please take no offense. Professional editors specialize in genres, some in multiple genres. The fact that you have hired an editor is good. The fact the editor has no prior experience in fiction is disturbing to me. Good editing is about more than grammar and punctuation. A good editor knows the hidden rules within the genre's they specialize. They know when a writer is straying from what readers expect with the genre or need to add more. And a good editor is not the same as a proof editor as they have two different jobs...

Also, you state you are taking all genre's and lengths right now. Hmmm, does your graphic artist have experience in Fantasy Design? The cover is very important and I have seen so many poor graphic designs that I generally pass before even opening an excerpt on the book. Not sure someone who specializes in say Romance designs would do my Fantasy book justice...

Lastly, a few other questions...

1...Will LazyDay offer advances?
2...40-50% Royalty, based on what? Cover price or net.
3...What rights will LD want in the contract?
4...Will the contract have a time limit on these rights?
5...Will LD treat digital and print rights as separate rights?
6...Will LD get books reviewed in major trade publications?
7...How does LD plan to market?
8...What sets LD apart from the other 2000 small e-pubs out there. What will make readers sit up and take notice?

Not trying to be negative here, but your comments have all been generic so far. Right now it sounds like you are going to overstock a very small pond with any fish you find and then use the shotgun approach to fishing.
 

LazyDay

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Many of your questions can be answered on our site under FAQ's, so I will skip over those.
I agree with you that Cover Art is huge! We have a file of freelance artists for whatever genre if we so require. There are truly some amazing artists out there. I agree that not every artist could do Fantasy. We will cross that bridge when we find a good Fantasy, which we haven't got yet...I am reading a good Contemporary Romance though!

What makes us stand out from the rest? Experience in business.

*What makes you stand out from the rest of Authors? (Not an easy answer is it?)*

As for being generic with my answers...I'm sorry you feel that way. I feel that I have tried to be open and upfront to all who have questioned LazyDay Publishing. Let me tell you that it hasn't all been easy...you guys are a tough bunch!

As for your fishing comment...I have never been good with a shotgun. :)
 

jennontheisland

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Many of your questions can be answered on our site under FAQ's, so I will skip over those.
Questions 2 though 8 are not answered on your FAQ page.

It does not address rights, electronic or print, duration of contract, or whether pay is on cover price or net.


What makes us stand out from the rest? Experience in business.
So, nothing then.
 
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LazyDay

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Royalty and Contract questions are under About Us on our site.
But I will quickly answer:
#2 Cover Price
#3 Full rights
#4 Yes
#5 No
#6 That's the plan
#7 It has been answered on this thread
#8 Just because you don't like the answer, doesn't mean I didn't answer it.


Jennontheisland -Tit for Tat...I answer the same way you ask
 

thothguard51

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LazyDay,

Thank you for responding, but had I found the answers on your web site, I would not have asked.

Again, I don't mean to be negative, but the only answers I am getting are all pretty generic. Can you not be more specific?

I really want to believe LazyDay has what it takes to back up their claims, but so far I have not heard anything new from the others who have failed after a year or two. E-publishing might be new and exciting, but it's also a crowded field where anyone with a computer can claim to be a publisher...
 

thothguard51

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We must have cross posted. Thank you for answering.

Still, why does LazyDay want full rights when all you are planning is digital printing at this time. Most publishers are treating digital and print rights as separate rights. Also, why do you need ALL rights, such as foreign rights, or movie rights? Usually, if you want those rights, you pay for them...up front.

Forgive me, but this sounds like you're making a grab in hopes authors won't notice...

Lastly, just because you have answered, does not mean you have given the answer...
 

LazyDay

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thothguard51 - What would you like to hear? I am trying my best to answer all questions asked. I understand many have failed -as with any business in any industry. If my answers seem generic, it is because there is not always an simple answer.

We decided to post on this forum and actually respond to each comment because I truly respect the authors and this site. I have been following this forum and have viewed many of your own sites and blogs. In all fairness, I could have just posted, like many do, and moved on. Instead I have taken the time to answer in a timely manner. I have been respectful of the rules (posting pay on subject line) and so forth, and have tried to be upfront. Can all the e publishers that folded say the same? Maybe so.

I am interested to hear...what would you like the answers to be to your questions? I'm curious. Hmmm an idea for a thread possibly or a blog post. What does the Author want??? :)