VOA标准英语2012--Writers Kick-start Career with Print-on-Demand

 

Writers Kick-start Career with Print-on-Demand

On a recent Sunday afternoon, there was a steady stream of visitors to a house in Alexandria, Virginia, where John Saul signed copies of his first published book, "Candle in the Window."

“It is a collection of verse that I have compiled over the last 40 years," Saul says. "There are 66 selections in the book. They range from humor to children to love and romance, kind of [a] large range of things.”

When the local housing market collapsed¹ a few years ago, the 64-year-old former construction manager felt the time was right to share his passion for writing with the world. Unfortunately for him, the traditional publishing industry didn't agree.

“After you get a dozen or so rejection² letters from typical publishers, well-known publishers, print publishers, you get kind of frustrated," Saul says. "You wonder, 'Is this not worth doing?' You kind of question yourself.”

Last year, Saul tried a different approach; he self-published his collection online as an e-book.

“It is surprising, the reaction I have gotten from online, because people all over the world can look at it, and read it, and judge for themselves," he says. "The sales online have been tremendous.”

But not everyone likes electronic books.

"I got a lot of requests from people that wanted to read a book in their hand and not through an e-reader," Saul says. "So I kind of wanted to appease³ those people.”

Saul found a solution at a local book store, Politics and Prose, and its Espresso Book Machine, which allows customers to print their own paperback⁴ books, complete with full-color covers.

“They can either bring in their Word document and we can turn that into a PDF, help them with the formatting," says Bill Leggett, a consultant⁵ at the store. "Or if someone is capable, they can bring in the PDFs of the cover and the book, and we will just print it.”

No project is too big or too small. The price starts at $7 a book, plus two cents a page and it takes just a few minutes to create. Since the store introduced the Espresso Book Machine in November, it has printed about 6,000 books.

“People have printed memoirs⁶, family histories, manuals, teaching aids,” says Leggett.

The self-published books are sold in the store and by the individual authors.

John Saul posted book signing flyers in gymnasiums, libraries and grocery stores. He also passed them out by hand in the community, which is how Phyllis Clover learned about "Candle in the Window."

“I haven’t sat down and read his book yet," Clover says, "but I do look forward to it.”

John Saul expects to be back at Politics and Prose at the end of the year - to print his next book. 

1 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

2 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

3 appease   

v.安抚，缓和，平息，满足

参考例句：

• He tried to appease the crying child by giving him candy.他试图给那个啼哭的孩子糖果使他不哭。
• The government tried to appease discontented workers.政府试图安抚不满的工人们。

4 paperback   

n.平装本，简装本

参考例句：

• A paperback edition is now available at bookshops.平装本现在在书店可以买到。
• Many books that are out of print are reissued in paperback form.许多绝版的书籍又以平装本形式重新出现。

5 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

6 memoirs   

n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数)

参考例句：

• Her memoirs were ghostwritten. 她的回忆录是由别人代写的。
• I watched a trailer for the screenplay of his memoirs. 我看过以他的回忆录改编成电影的预告片。 来自《简明英汉词典》