Authors Take Charge, Launch Lucky Bat Books, a Publishing House Run by Authors for Authors

PORTLAND, OR, March 11, 2011 (Press-News.org) Two authors, inspired by the confusion in the publishing industry, have launched Lucky Bat Books, a new kind of press for a new world of publishing, proving again that what is chaos to some is inspiration to others.

Lucky Bat Books launched with authors already queued up and eager to get their novels, short stories and non-fiction on the market. Some were new authors; some were well-published and stepping into e-publishworks whose rights had reverted to them. All submitted their works to Lucky Bat Books in hopes of reaching their readership on the Web. And reaching them in a professional manner.

"Some of the players who stand to lose the most - or gain the most - in the current e-book revolution are published authors," says Cindie Geddes, co-founder of Lucky Bat Books (http://www.luckybatbooks.com) and author of magazine articles, short stories, essays, and ghost-writer of nonfiction books. Geddes teamed up with Judith Harlan, a journalist and author of nine Young Adult nonfiction books, to give writers the kind of publishing house she and Harlan would both want for themselves.

"We create a collaborative atmosphere in a publishing house authors," Geddes says, "and we do it all without taking a percentage of the writer's book sales. And that is revolutionary!"
Under the old model of publishing, most writers had little say in cover art, promotions or distribution of their books. But with the huge growth over the years of Website bookstores Amazon and social marketing sites where writers personally market to their readers, and now with the advent of the Kindle and other e-readers, the world of publishing is forever changed.
The change is not just about electronic rights; it's about distribution and how readers are connecting with authors. And that changes everything.

Publishing from an Author's Point of View

Under the tagline, "Authors Working for Authors," Lucky Bat Books provides a publishing house built on writers', not publishers', needs. Authors whose works are accepted by Lucky Bat Books their own publishing destiny, experts and professionals whose mission it is to see that the authors succeed.

Instead of giving 90 percent of the cover sales price to the publisher, authors pay upfront, and just for the services they require. Some writers want full editing, some just line-editing. Some have marketing skills but need press kits or coaching on SEO (search engine optimization) or Website refreshes. Whatever the need, Lucky Bat Books brings together a team to fit the author.

"Part of the key to the value for authors is that they remain in control of their work," says Harlan. "That can have an enormous effect, bottom-line, for writers. Once they pay for our services, they are done paying. They own every dime that comes to them from Barnes & Noble, Amazon or others. That beats the heck out of getting a few percentage points off the cover price."

Authors Benefit from E-Publishing

Much of Lucky Bat Books' business is aimed at e-books. Thording to Geddes, though print books are not going away. To satisfy the print need, Lucky Bat Books publishes print on demand, too.

As the sedate, traditional book publishing industry scrambles to catch up with readers who are downloading their favorite books on Kindles, Nooks, iPads, Droids, and smart-phones of every ilk, new publishing companies like Lucky Bat Books are popping up and making sense of the new world of publishing.

Authors, meanwhile, can feel as if they are caught in a house of chaos. Traditional publishers are trying to grab e-rights to books for the same price as they have secured print rights in the past - a small percentage. Authors are questioning the value they are getting for the 90 percent of cover price they pay their publishers. And now that distribution channels are open through Amazon and others, they are asking, even further, why pay such a major percentage to a traditional publisher.

"The traditional publishing model will continue to work for some writers," says Geddes. "But for many - in fact, I'd say for most - a new model is forming, one that is much more writer-centric. We think Lucky Bat Books is that model."

Lucky Bat Books, (http://www.luckybatbooks.com) a partnership of Flying Hand Writing Services and Harlan Editorial, Inc., was founded in 2010. It is a formal press, requiring traditional submissions and acceptances. Under its imprint, Lucky Bat Press, it publishes works outside the formal submission process. Lucky Bat Press provides authors with a full range of services. Contact owners Cindie Geddes and Judith Harlan via email: luckybatbook@gmail.com