Xlibris

Infobox Company
name = Xlibris

type = Publishing services provider
genre =
foundation = 1997
founder = John Feldcamp
location_city = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
location_country = United States
location =
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area_served = Global
key_people =
industry = Printing
products =
services =
revenue =
operating_income =
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slogan =
homepage = http://www.xlibris.com/
footnotes =
intl =

Xlibris is a Philadelphia-based self-publishingRachel Donadio: [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/books/review/Donadio-t.html?ref=books You’re an Author? Me Too!] The New York Times, April 27, 2008] and on-demand printing services provider founded in 1997.cite web
url=http://www2.xlibris.com/faq/faq_aboutxl.asp
title=FAQ: About Xlibris
publisher=Xlibris.com
accessdate=2008-04-08] In 2000, Random House bought 49% of the company.cite news
url=http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/07/16/bookend/bookend.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
title=No More Rejections
author=D. T. Max
date=July 16 2000
publisher=The New York Times
accessdate=2008-04-08] As of 2004, Random House still owned a minority share of 49%.cite news
url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E2DF163FF932A35750C0A9629C8B63&sec=&spon=&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
title=Got a Book in You? More Companies Than Ever Are Willing to Get It Out
author=Gayle Feldman
date=March 1 2004
publisher=The New York Times
accessdate=2008-06-30] As of 2000, The "New York Times" stated it to be the foremost on-demand publisher. The founder and chief executive is John Feldcamp.cite news
url=http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2000/10/39862?currentPage=all
title=Xlibris Expands Globally
author=M.J. Rose
date=October 31 2000
publisher=WIRED
accessdate=2008-04-08]

Overview

Xlibris publishes hardback paper books, which have the overall appearance of a textbook and cost around $20. As of 2000, it also published e-books in several formats. Authors do not relinquish their rights, and the company will keep books in print "forever". It is "nonselective" in accepting manuscripts, describes itself as a publishing services provider rather than a publisher, and considers a book's author its publisher. Beginning in 2000, the company expanded its operations globally, opening full-service offices in Europe and Japan.

As of 2008, Xlibris was stated to have 20,000 titles in print, by more than 18,000 authors.

The name is a derivation of the Latin term "ex libris" which means "from the library of".

Commentaries

In a New York Times article, D.T. Max stated that the quality of Xlibris's books was better than its competitors in the self-publishing industry: "It wasn't until I got to Xlibris that I found something to read." Sampling two titles, one of which had won an award in 1996, Max concluded that Xlibris "confirms that books worth reading do not always find a way into print." However, Max criticized the organization of the site, where books were only indexed by an alphabetical listing by title with bare descriptions of the plot and theme. He ultimately phoned a company executive for a recommendation and to place an order.

Science fiction author Piers Anthony was an early supporter of print-on-demand, and invested in Xlibris,cite web
url=http://www.sffworld.com/interview/1p0.html
title=Interview with Piers Anthony
date=2000-05-06
publisher=SFFWorld.com
accessdate=2008-04-08] as well as publishing books through the company. Anthony differentiates Xlibris from "notorious vanity publishing" because it "enables any writer to publish for a nominal fee", rather than being "taken for huge amounts". [cite book
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=D80-FKB5OfMC
title=DoOon Mode
author=Piers Anthony
year=2002
publisher=Macmillan
isbn=0812575423] The company says that it does not require authors to buy "box loads of books", and unlike vanity presses, will help the author sell books indefinitely.

Roland LaPlante, writing in "Harper's Magazine", noted in 2001 that Xlibris's predicted future output of 100,000 titles a year would equal the number of all books published in the United States in 1999, and worried these "mostly dubious" works would "affect American publishing in every worst way and obliterate what remains of a genuine book culture."cite book
url=
title=Developing an outstanding core collection: a guide for libraries
author=Carol Alabaster
year=2002
publisher=ALA Editions
isbn=0838908195] The company countered that "everyone has a story to tell" and its output preserved the "richness of humanity."

tatus as a Vanity Press

A vanity press, by definition, is a publisher that requires the author to pay up-front to have their book published. [ [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vanity%20press vanity press - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary ] ] While XLibris does charge fees up front for authors, they claim not to be a vanity press on the grounds of that ownership of the book remains with the author and that they do not force the author to buy copies of the book. On the other side of the debate, they do charge up-front fees without guarantee of sales [ [http://www.authorslawyer.com/l-print0.shtml ScrivenersError.com: Literary Scams: Printing Costs ] ] with these fees possibly significantly higher than average. [ [http://www.podpublishing.org/xlibris.htm Self Publishing Your Book ] ] [ [http://www.publishingbasics.com/newsletter/aug2005/askron.html Ask Ron ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.xlibris.com/ Company website]