I would like to have my fiancee's book published but only one copy of it for her Christmas present. Do publishers do this kind of thing and is it safe to do something like that? Do people even do that for a novelty kind of thing? I'm not trying to steal anybody's ideas of anything, I would just like to have her book in a book form.
It's called a vanity press. You can find publishers that will put anything into the physical form of a book, for a price. That price can be rather steep, but I know I've seen some that are intended for low volume gifts. I have no idea what kind of quality you can expect, or how costly the gift is.
If you can get it formatted, I can highly reccomend lulu, reasonable prices, good turnaround times, and you pay on a per-book basis. If you just do a one-off print for her, and don't make it available, it's not actually been "published" just printed in a fancy way for personal use.
Thank you for the information, the price has a limit but the legality is what I was worried about. I'm trying to keep this a secret so its hard to ask her questions, but I went on that site and it looks great. Does anybody know how long it takes for the order to be processed and shipped? The book is around 300 pages.
They have a pretty good turnaround time, they are print-on-demand, and should have something there about turnaround time, just can't remember where.
Your fiance being the author has the copyright. Therefore (I think that) technically you will need her permission. However being that she is your fiance and the fact that you're doing it with good intentions, I doubt she'd sue you. What do you think?
I don't think she would either, thats not the problem it would be some day seeing it being sold without her knowing. I just know that she has always wanted a book published and she is trying right now to finish that goal. I thought it would be cool to surprise her with her own copy "just one".
Silly question for sure, but do you think your fiancee would really like having her book published in such a fashion? What I mean is that some people might see it as a sign of failure ... ie, I couldn't get my own book published on its own merits. And while it may provide short term joy, she might view it as an unnecessary encumbrance to finishing the book. Or even still, she might be upset at your choice of the draft, thereby cementing errors she might have wanted to change. Or in the case of some writers, she might be upset at your acquiring the draft without her knowledge. What I'm saying is that you are opening a big can of emotional worms. I don't think such an intention would go down well with me as it's too distracting and it's a deed filled with false hope. But then again, I never let anyone read my first or second draft. Honestly, I think the best thing you can do to help her finish the book is to provide emotional support. But that's just my two cents. Mind you, I think the intention is pretty awesome.
pulpy's brought up some very important points that you need to consider very, very carefully, before going ahead, imo... as both a woman and a writer, i think the potential down sides outweigh your loving intention...
If she ever has hopes of sending it to a publisher to be published, I'd strongly urge you away from doing this. Find out first what her intentions are with it, or you could quite possibly end up having a major domestic. If you publish it through a self publishing place, she looses first publication rights and has to sell it as a reprint, which will be IMPOSSIBLE! Just some things you may want to mull over anyways.
After a finish I draft of a novel, I usually order a few private copies through Lulu so that my first readers can have hard copies to read and mark-up for me. I keep the book private (ie no one but me can view it) and just order a few personal copies. Usually they come out around 6-8 dollars each (I just throw a generic cover on, you could do a more formal one). No first rights are compromised (because I'm not making the book available) and my first readers get to have hard copies (and I get to have them once they're done). As long as you keep the book private, I don't see an issue. Now, whether or not she'd want a copy for herself, that's a whole other question. But you wouldn't be compromising the first rights of book just printing off a copy privately.
That's true actually. My partner had review copies of his novel printed off on Lulu, mind you, it wasn't him that did it, it was the publisher that did it...
Thats all I want to do is publish one book privately. There is no way I would have it published to the point where people can buy it or view it, its not mine to publish. It would be like a family photo album put in a nice binding, thats all "no the book is better than that, thats just an example". She can do whatever she wants with it, I look at it as a raw book.
i still have to caution you to not do this without her permission... it could backfire on you badly...
I agree. The more I think about this, the more I think that it's not a good Idea. Speaking as a writer. Our writings are our babies 'our little treasures' and we can be very protective and clingy towards them. Woe betide anyone that interferes with their 'upbringing'. If I were you I'd play it safe and buy her an expensive bottle of perfume.
What is the difference then between printing it on your own printer, at great expense, versus having someone else print it? That is the essence of this. There is all this panic over being "published", but it's not published if no one else can get access to it. I used Lulu to print out a book of photographs from a special vacation to Europe. Does that make me a published photographer? No! No one else can get to it, no one else can see it.
