Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Reedsy, Take Two

Okay, thanks to comments by B.E. and Sheri, I might have more info on Reedsy, which is apparently an online service to collaboratively write, edit, typset and export books for self-publication. If their free writing/typset tool exports publication-ready files properly formatted for every type of digital platform, then it's definitely a godsend for indy authors (and me!) I'm not sure that it does yet, however, so I'm hanging onto my reservations.

The money for them evidently comes from hiring one of their freelance editors -- I'm thinking ala Upwork, where Reedsy takes a cut from every transaction. I can't confirm this. I had to watch a video simply to find out the editor thing. There aren't any rates for these editors listed on the website; you have to request a quote. They also limit the number of editors you can contact to five at a time (or possibly five period) for a quote. This is still beyond annoying to me. I also could be wrong about what I just typed, too.

You know what frustrates me most? That it takes me three days and about a thousand clicks to find out information that I'm still not sure is correct. A simple About page with the information printed in text would assure me that I'm not dealing with a bunch of college kids running something out of their dorm room. Bottom line, be careful. Read the fine print, that is, if you can find any.

5 comments:

  1. I never did take the time to check Reedsy out. Kinda funny when you think about it - I don't have time to learn a new time-saving thing. It's on my to-do list.

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    1. I just got an e-mail today from one of the Reedsy founders, who provided me with pretty much everything that should have been on the About page. I'm going to research everything he said and do a third post with more info, so stayed tuned for Reedsy, Take Three.

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  2. Take a look at this article: http://blog.nanowrimo.org/post/139605427811/now-what-producing-and-distributing-your-book

    I found a lot of the links very helpful.

    I'm like you though. If I have to dig to China to get the info, it's usually a no-go for me.

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    1. That is very helpful, Theo, thank you. I am definitely interested in alternatives to Amazon's services.

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  3. Interesting. The founder should thank you for pointing out the lack of an About page frustration. I use IngramSparks in addition to my Amazon (a necessary evil for me) Createspace use. Ingram is the most popular distributer for independent bookstore buyers to use here in San Francisco. Thanks for the post!

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