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Infinity Publishing Makes Waves with Innovative Program

P.O.D. Authors Can Make a Difference in Readers’ Lives
Every author believes their book will ìmake a differenceî in the lives of those who read it. Sadly, most books never find the market penetration and impact their authors hope for. Now, Infinity Publishing of Philadelphia has initiated a program to help some of the exceptional books theyíve published reach a wider audience.

ìWeíre recognizing books that have proven the potential to reach out to folks in positive ways with meaningful messages,î says John Harnish, Infinity Special Projects Director and Author Advocate. ìThese are books that have a high content value and are written in a way that talks to the reader in an easily readable style. Their authors write with a natural passion in uniquely informative and helpful ways. These authors deserve more of our support so their books will be able to help more people.î

Infinity Publishing launched the innovative publishing program, dubbed Authors Who Make A Difference, at The Virginia Festival of the Book (March 2003) with their flagship book, Breathe Better, Live in Wellness. This book by Jane M. Martin helps people with breathing problems win their battle over shortness of breath, take control of their lives, and discover a newly restored quality of wellness. The Authors Who Make A Difference imprint will showcase the work of this and other specially selected authors whose goal is to improve the lives of readers with specific problems by providing real-world focused help.

"Our objective," says Tom Gregory, President and CEO of Infinity Publishing, "is to support these selected authors and promote their books to the mainstream public through our collective efforts. Only a few books will get this imprint. We're being very discriminating with this in keeping with the high standards of the program."

ìThe selection of Jane Martin's book was based on the quality of her book as well as some staggering statistics. Pulmonary Disease affects over 100 million people in the United States," states Gregory. "It is one of the top four killers in this country. Jane's book reaches out to this population with help to improve the quality of the lives of our friends, parents, and loved ones who suffer from a chronic lung disease. It's a book and an important message we wanted to get behind."

Jane Martin, a Respiratory Therapist with over two decades of experience, works with people suffering from a variety of pulmonary diseases. Her book is an education in a variety of lung diseases, highlighting state-of the art treatment and methods of management, and steps toward cures. ìMost importantly, perhaps,î explained Jane Martin. ìBreathe Better, Live in Wellness provides a public platform for the voices of patients telling their amazing stories, thereby helping each other ease their struggle.î

The keystone of Infinityís AWMAD program is the selective alignment of author and advocate working together to create an exceptional second edition of the authorís book. ìWe want to embrace the once fruitful interactions between author and editor though Infinityís pairing of author and advocate,î said Harnish. ìWorking together, they take a good book and improve it into a great second edition. The Make A Difference Advocate provides the positive support a traditional publisherís editor might have provided to an author. However, a major difference is the author retains all rights to their book and has the final approval on suggested changes. Also, the author/advocate team shares a 70% ñ 30% split of the second editionís royalties.î

ìOur in house Print-On-Demand publishing enables us to always have an accurate count of how many books have sold, so weíre able to pay royalties monthly to all of our authors,î explains Gregory. ìAnd because we print books as they are sold and ship the same day, there is never a problem with unsold books being returned.î

Traditional publishers frequently based their publishing selections exclusively on projected sales and the recommendation of bean counters. Infinity authors chosen for the AWMAD program have a first edition book with an already proven history of sales and reader acclaim. The improved second edition, created by the author/advocate team, is enhanced and expanded to provide more direct benefits for the reader. For authors invited to be part of the AWMAD program, Infinity waives the standard $400 fee to add a new title into their POD system.

As a new twist on book pricing and marketing, the author/advocate and publisher want the folks who will benefit the most from the book to be able to buy the book at an affordable price. So instead of pleading with bookstores to consider handling the book and selling at an outrageous discount to the meddlers in the middle of the book distribution chain, Infinity will be going outside these costly distribution channels. Infinityís AWMAD marketing efforts will be carefully targeted, making Janeís book available to pulmonary support groups at a special discounted price direct from Infinity Publishing. In the case of Breathe Better, Live in Wellness, the target area includes pulmonary care providers and folks with a breathing problem. Thatís why for her participation in the 2003 Virginia Festival of the Book, instead of doing a traditional reading in a bookstore, Jane went directly to the target, to the need, presenting two in-service presentations in conjunction with the Martha Jefferson Hospital and the University of Virginia Hospital.

ìDeveloping this exciting new program came as a natural evolution while Jane and I were working together on her second edition.î Explained Harnish, ìWeíre certain our new publishing program will provide many opportunities for us to be more proactive in promoting worthy books we firmly believe inóand we know these selected non-fiction books will directly help the readers. Jane has certainly established a high benchmark of excellence to measure other candidates by.î

ìOf course thereís no guarantee that if you publish with Infinity you will be invited to participate in the AWMAD program as an author or advocate,î says Harnish. ìThe important part that publishing with Infinity provides is the bookís sales record. A book rises or fails on its merits and the efforts of the authoróthatís part of the evaluation. But it also takes an author/advocate with a special positive ëcan doí attitude that drives their commitment to make it happenóand then their sustaining dedication to keep it happening. Itís also a continuous learning process involving two experts weaving their knowledge and experience together with each wordsmithing stroke. Itís an aligning of thoughts and skills that come together to birth a helpful book.î

Infinityís Authors Who Make A Difference program is designed to:

* Gain the maximum benefit from effective author/advocate pairing
* Make full use of cost-effective POD publishing advantages to produce and distribute high quality books
* Provide readers with a great non-fiction book that will directly help to improve their lives.

This is how Infinity Publishing is working to become an innovative publisher that makes a differenceóone book at a time.


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