Re: future of publishing

During the creation stage of Wallstone, we decided early-on that a 
review process was needed for virtually everything we would consider 
publishing.  I can't say the Review covers everything, because it's hard 
to rate artwork and music, other than stating what someone's opinion is, 
along with a censor rating.

Our objective was to rate the quality of the work:

* How good is the story?
* What's it about?  (Storyline/Genre)
* How well is it written?
* What editing level is needed?
* How well will it sell?
* What kind of artwork will the cover need?
* How finished is the work?
* Does it need index, footnotes, hyper-links, appendixes, etc.?
* Will the author permit us to include it with other works (for 
short-stories, poems, etc.)

There's a lot more to it than this, of course, but you get the idea.  
Each of the 5 groups is scored on the score-sheet from 1 to 10, with 10 
being highest.  It's very, very difficult (not to mention unbelievable) 
for a work to get a perfect score.  We add up the total points of all 
the groups as a combined score, so a perfect score is 50 (5 groups times 
10 points.)  "Plan 9 From Outer Space" would have had (in my opinion) a 
5 or 6; maybe even a 7.  A mediocre score would be 25.

We only use this for "Wallstone Originals", which is our stamp of 
quality on works we feel deserve it.  We do charge the author for the 
Review, but this is to offset the costs of the reviewer ($75).  If a 
work scores 30 or higher, it's eligible for the Editors' Choice Award, 
although that is ultimately up to the editors.  The winning works for 
both Editors' Choice, and the even more rare Publisher's Choice, are 
refunded the Review fee, and we market heck out of it.  Nominees for 
either award do get perks.  (Another award we have is the Readers' 
Choice, which is awarded to the author no matter who their publisher is 
on any works we sell.  This is simply the readers' opinion on the work, 
averaged against our sales volume for it.)

As publisher, I can override the editors, but I doubt I will.  Still, 
the winner for 2008 Publisher's Choice Award goes to Sandra Wallraven 
Stone (yeah, she was my Mom), for "While The Sun Sets".  This is a 
science fiction novel that will be in Abstract Reality Magazine's "Novel 
Exclusive" section when the magazine debuts in October.  There will also 
be a hardback edition available for those that don't want to wait on the 
monthly installments.  Personally, I really like this book....

The competition to get these awards from (mostly) unknown authors, along 
with the marketing drive we will use, is why I expect the system to 
work.  Nothing in life is flawless, and this is no different.  I expect 
many changes over the coming years as to how we rate different aspects 
of this reviewing process, but quality control should be considered 
mandatory for any publisher to be successful, be it as a pbook, POD, 
eBook, AudioBook, audio production, or even a movie.

Danny Stone
Publisher/Producer
Wallstone Entertainment

Chris Huff wrote:
>
> Disclaimer: All comments are my own and should not be
> taken to imply that Ooligan Press supports, endorses,
> or affirms these opinions.
>
> --- joseph harris <[email protected] 
> <mailto:smilepoet%40vfemail.net>> wrote:
>
> >
> > From: Jon Noring
> >
> >
> > Marion Gropen wrote:
> > > Jon Noring, ...transition from filter then
> > publish to publish then filter:
> >
> > <snip>
> >
> > > Do you think that the untrained will be able to
> > publish (as in
> > > secure editing, copyediting, cover images, and
> > text design/
> > > composition) as well as those with years of
> > experience and
> > > education behind them?
> >
> > Yes. <smile/>
>
> I have to disagree. I am not a "seasoned" professional
> with many years in the business, but just form the few
> years I do have under my belt I can spot atrocious
> design (cover and interior) and bad copyediting. I
> attended the EPIC event in Portland a few weeks back
> and there were a few horribly designed and edited
> books. There were some great ones too.
>


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