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The Publishing Game and How It Has Changed
Some might say that the imprints on the spines of our books are an Author’s dream: Random House, Simon and Schuster, McGraw Hill, Penguin.
We have been lucky enough to be published by the largest publishers in the world, and we appreciate all that these “big houses” have done for us. They have sent us on national book tours, they have advertised our books in national publications, they have helped us line up speaking engagements all over the world, and they have managed to get our books on best seller lists, including one that went to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list.
But times have changed. Big publishers crank out more and more books, and it is easy to get lost in the crowd. Celebrity books rule over serious books by thoughtful authors. Bookstores have changed too. It used to be that we could walk in any Barnes and Noble and find 20 or so of any of our titles prominently on the shelves. Now (if you can even find a Barnes and Noble) there might be one or two, because there are too many new books to carry them all, and the stores can order in new copies overnight if they have to.
So a few years back, we switched from our latest “biggie” Penguin Books, to a smaller, California based publisher named Familius. We made the switch for at least 3 reasons: 1. We liked Familius’ emphasis on Families. 2. We liked their people and liked that they could get books into places like Costco and Walmart and Whole Foods. 3. They agreed to work with us to give special pricing and shipping of our books to friends, family, and people who read our columns and come to our speeches.
It’s this third one that we want to focus on here.
A Special Deal for our Readers and Friends at Meridian
We were able to come to an agreement with this new publisher that allows Meridian readers to get any or all of our latest 7 books at our author price (half price) and to have free shipping.
As Christmas approaches, we thought the best gift we could give our readers at Meridian would be a quick, easy, cheap way to do some of their Christmas shopping. We have written well over 100 articles on Meridian in the last few years, and so many of you have helped us with your comments and encouragement. So it is our privilege to give you the special access code of MERIDIANFRIEND which you can type in at www.familius.com/eyre-special and have all of our newest books pop up with a little capsule description and a 50% discount with free shipping.
We were with some friends the other night, and we were all bemoaning how much Christmas shopping we had to do—not only for family but for friends and associates. We all agreed that BOOKS often make the best Christmas presents, and that buying them on line saves so much time and effort.
Why are books the best Christmas presents? Here are a half dozen reasons you might enjoy:
1. Books are easier to wrap than footballs. 2. Books don’t need batteries. 3. Books never come in the wrong color or size. 4. Books are easy and cheap to mail. 5. Books don’t need ironing and don’t need to be assembled. 6. A book is a gift you can open again, and again, and again.
And, as Neil Gaiman said, “Books make great gifts because they have whole worlds inside of them. And it’s much cheaper to buy somebody a book than it is to buy them the whole world!”
And why is online, half price, with free shipping the best way to do Christmas Shopping?
Well, we don’t need any reasons for that, do we? Other than the fact that it saves time and money! And those are two things we always need to save—particularly if we are busy parents or grandparents or aunts or uncles or siblings or friends who have a lot of gifts to give and who want them all to be meaningful.
Let us take this opportunity to thank you for reading Meridian Magazine, and specifically for reading our articles here over these many years. And let us thank you in advance for being interested in our books and in the cause we all share of strengthening families. This is the essence of why we write and the motivation we have for trying to make these books more easily and more economically available to you.
Just go to www.familius.com/eyre-special and type and type in the access code MERIDIANFRIEND, which will get you “in” to the brief book descriptions of each of the 7 books and access the 50% Author’s price discount and free shipping. You will want to act quickly in order to receive them in time to get them to friends and family well in time for Christmas.
In the meantime, we will continue to write for Meridian and invite you to keep reading, commenting, and staying in touch. Merry Christmas!
