Ebook4kids.com

Funny. Some mavens are skeptical about e-books for kids right now because they say the adults are hogging the PDAs and the rest. And yet here’s Ebook4kids.com, specializing in juvenile e-books. Good luck to ’em! But I do wonder about a news release’s reference to “low-cost startup fees for never before published authors.” At traditional publishers, print and electronic, even novice writers shouldn’t have to pay. That’s my take. But see an update at the end of this post with Ebook4kid.com’s prompt reply. (Via eBookAd.)

What concerned me is that the FAQ says: “On average the cost of publishing with Ebook4kids.com up front will be between $75 and $500.” Money apparently will go for artists and other expenses, but I’m still of the mind that serious writers should aim to make money from books from Day One, or at least go with a place that doesn’t charge for “startup” and take 50 percent of royalties. If you want to test the publishing waters and intend to avoid the slush-pile-or-agent routine, you might fare better at a print-on-demand place that can also give you a paper edition, not just an electronic one.

Lulu.com, a POD service that a friend of mine tried happily and that Robert Nagle wrote up favorably, has no setup fee and upfront price lists for services such as children’s-book formatting. It lets you keep 75 percent of revenue. What’s more, you don’t have a restrictive publishing contract to enslave you in case a major house shows interest in both e- and p-editions. Plus, Lulu has a community-oriented approach, which I love. And the Lulu site actually looks better than most sites for major publishers. I’ll welcome pros and cons from readers about Lulu or POD rivals. Is this a fair assessment? Any complaints against Lulu?

Now back to Ebook4kids.com. The Web site, put together with Yahoo Site Builder, is rather thin right now, and the site and news release apparently provide no information on the people running the company (maybe I’m overlooking something–especially in the a brochure, which I didn’t open because of the file’s .exe extension). Also, just what’s meant by the statement that “New authors will have an opportunity to get their work noticed that is unprecedented in recent history”? I’ll drop President Matt Flebbe a note and see what he has to say. Hey, for all I know, maybe he’s an old pro and really can offer writers a terrific deal with awesome PR. Let’s hold off until we know more.

Full text of Ebook4kids.com press release follows.

RIDLEY PARK, Penn., June 20 /PRNewswire/ — Ebook4kids.com, LLC, announced the launch of a new electronic publishing business today aimed at returning the children’s publishing market to the once author-friendly way it was almost fifty years ago.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania-based company plans to differentiate itself from the competition by offering timely turnaround time on manuscript approvals and publishing agreements. Ebook4kids.com is offering low-cost startup fees for never before published authors and 50% royalties to the author on all electronic books sold.

“I am proud to bring forth such a revolution in children’s publishing,” said Matthew Flebbe, President of Ebook4kids.com. “New authors will have an opportunity to get their work noticed that is unprecedented in recent history.”

“I am looking forward to finding the hidden talent that goes unnoticed by the traditional publishers.” Flebbe went on to add that Ebook4kids.com does not require an author to hire an agent.

Ebook4kids.com has capitalized on very exciting software that allows them to create books that have a three-dimensional feel and can be very interactive for young minds.

Ebook4kids.com has been accepting manuscripts for review over the past couple months and plans to have a grand opening of its electronic book store for children no later than September 1, 2005. In addition to its own online bookstore, Ebook4kids.com is considering other resources for the distribution of its authors’ work.

Electronic books, also known as e-books, are a growing phenomenon among adult Internet enthusiasts and promises to increase in popularity in the children’s segment as well in the coming months.

“Our plan is to cultivate new authors and make them very successful in the
industry. If we can do that, then we too will be infinitely successful,” said Flebbe.

You can find more information at http://ebook4kids.com or write to
Ebook4kids.com at P.O. Box 96, Ridley Park, PA 19078.

Companies interested in advertising in e-books sold by Ebook4kids.com or
on the Ebook4kids.com website should contact Matthew Flebbe at
matt@ebook4kids.com or 610-745-8595.

Contact:

Matthew Flebbe
P.O. Box 96
Ridley Park, PA 19078
610-745-8595
matt@ebook4kids.com
http://ebook4kids.com

This release was issued through eReleases(TM). For more information,
visit http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE Ebook4kids.com, LLC
Web Site: http://ebook4kids.com http://www.ereleases.com

//////////////////////////

Update, 5 p.m., June 22, 2005: Here’s the reply that Matt, to his great credit, offered in just a few hours. While I’d do things differently from Matt, I think his heart is in the right place. In any event, whatever your business model and means of promo, it’s difficult to cut it as an e-publisher, and I wish Matt and his wife luck. Meanwhile I’m impressed by the $50 cancellation costs–it’s clear they’re not trying to enslave writers. Meanwhile, if Matt is looking for seasoned editors to help out him and his wife, perhaps this posting will help people connect. Needless to say, it also will be interesting to see how his 3D kid-oriented software works out. While eBooks4kids isn’t Knopf in editorial power, I find it interesting that Matt’s wife has a serious XML background. Let’s see if the software reflects this–and in general what new ideas come out of eBooks4kids.com. Good luck, Matt! – DR

Mr. Rothman,

Thank you for your interest and support. I am happy to answer all of your questions and concerns.

We are very much a startup at this point, but expect to grow and we have to start somewhere.

I would like to explain what the startup costs are to a new author and why they are assessed.

Perhaps startup costs is not the right terminology to use. We are offering services to get a book ready for publication. Typically, a never before published author will incur approximately $500 in service charges to get their manuscript ready for publishing.

Itemized as follows:

$300 – If their book is not illustrated. This is an illustration service that includes 10 illustrations and 1 cover artwork.

$200 – For editing and book preperation. The software we use to produce the ebooks can be fairly labor intensive. It takes approximately 20-40 man hours to produce a book that is 30-50 pages long. This equates to $5-$10 an hour.

$100 – Publishing agreement. We do make it easy to get out of this contract, if the author decides to market their book to other entities. We only ask for $50 to cancel the contract and 60 days written notice. We also only limit the electronic edition of the book and not any print editions. We are very much an advocate for the author in our business and do not want to limit their success. I’ve put a lot of thought into having a contract, and would very much like to not have one. It’s solely there for that small percentage of bad folks that may want to take advantage of us in some way.

$100 – For processing the copyright application. We looked around at what other companies are charging for this and decided our price in regard to that.

We are offering a 28% discount to all authors as a thank you to supporting us in the beginning.

That being said, if an author provides a finished product that requires no additional service besides us putting our stamp of approval on it, we’ll charge the minimum $75 fee to offset the labor involved with creating the ebook.

There’s a good possibility that we will be able to pay for some of the production costs through other means in the future, but right now we are comfortable with our proposition.

I do want to differentiate us from the POD houses because we are going to provide much more than that in the way of PR and finding distribution for the ebooks on a larger scale than just our own website. Also, we aren’t accepting every manuscript that comes our way.

As far as the .exe electronic brochure on the website, I do have an alternative that I will add to the site in the coming days. We decided on the .exe version because there is no need to download any additional ebook readers when we package the ebook as a .exe file. I will add a link to the reader and an alternative file.

In regard to the statement that authors will have a chance to get their work noticed in a way that is unprecedented in recent history, it is a forward looking statement with the end product in mind. I expect the software that we are using to generate quite a buzz as it is very unique and adds a lot of flair that is essential to capture the attention of the children. I don’t believe kids will be interested in a PDF file or power point type ebook reader. Our software is three dimensional and fun.

I hope that answers your questions.

Let me tell you a little more about myself:

I am 28 years old and am launching this business with my wife, Kasia.

I have vast experience in many different industries. I’ve done everything from mowing lawns in high school, to professional firefighter/emt, to running a multi million dollar business for the nation’s (USA) preeminent consumer electronics retailer.

I have a very strong sales and management background.

I have a passion for reading and writing and an even greater passion for youth.

I have a daughter, Kaitlyn, who is just over a year old and is probably 90% of the inspiration behind the business.

My wife is a Polish immigrant who is 29 years old. She has a bachelor’s degree associated with XML programming and is taking on most of the load as we get started.

I truly believe that we can create a stronger market for children’s electronic books.

I’ll admit that I’m not an “old pro” in the publishing game, but I see that as a big plus. I’ve done the market research and new authors are not getting their work seen by the big publishers. We’re not in this to squeeze every dime out of the organization to gain a nickle on our stock price or to take advanatge of people to further our business.

I would like the general public to view us as an honest company. We want to do right by our authors and customers 100% of the time.

It will take time to gain marketshare and credibility. I hope this is a step in the right direction.

If I can be of any more assitance, please don’t hesitate to write again or give me a call.

Respectfully,

Matthew