I shouldn't obsess about this but I do. There are a lot of smart and well-meaning people who believe that the publishing model that involves a publisher contracting with authors is doomed. Authors, they say, can publish themselves--and keep all the money. I read a post along these lines over at one of my favorite blogs, www.teleread.org/blog and responded there. I'll respond a bit more here:

1. A publisher is a stamp of approval. If you publish yourself, nobody knows if your book is any good. A publisher's imprint means that there was an editor/publisher somewhere who loved it. That's at least 100% more people than if you just loved it yourself.

2. A publisher provides editing services. I like to think that the output from BooksForABuck.com is far superior to the input. Not that I don't attract talented writers, it's just that writers can go blind to their work. A second pair of eyes, a professional pair of eyes, can make a big difference in catching story problems and writing errors. We also format into different formats, commission cover art, and generally make books look attractive.

3. A publisher publishes. It's our job to get your book into outlets. BooksForABuck.com books appear on the www.BooksForABuck.com website, Fictionwise, Mobipocket, and All Romance eBooks (for romances). We also promote our books, running banner ads, staying active on forums, sending out newsletters (and this blog), and industry groups.

Another comment on teleread is that authors and publishers are on opposite sides. Nothing can be further from the truth. Neither of us can win if we both don't win.

Since it's a weekend, I didn't do any writing. That doesn't mean I wasn't working, though. Which is what I meant by the title. I had some down time (Age of Empires) but I also did some editing, finished CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE SEXY KIND by Karen Kelley (this is probably the silliest book I've read in a long time but it was still surprisingly fun. My review is here: www.booksforabuck.com/rompages/rom_2007/close_encounters_sexy_kind.html . Now I'm reading THE RIVER KNOWS by Amanda Quick.

I'm going to make A FULL ENGLISH DEATH by Anthony Perham the www.BooksForABuck.com book of the day. Two London police detectives are sent to a small town in the north of England where a young woman's body has been found. They discover that small towns can hold their secrets--and some of those secrets can be deadly. The entire eNovel is only $3.99. Learn more, read the excerpt, or buy the entire eNovel here: www.booksforabuck.com/mystery/mys_06/full_english_death.html . Here's the cover (cover design by Rob Preece):

rob