Award-Winning Author Stephen Stark Chooses Lulu.com
Ads to the growing trend of authors self-publishing as opposed to going the traditional route.
December 6, 2011 (Raleigh, N.C.) – Stephen Stark, award-winning author of the New York Times Book Review “Notable Book of the Year” Second Son, and his publisher, Shelf Media Group, have chosen to release Stark’s latest work through Lulu.com, breaking from the traditional model he has used to successfully publish his previous titles.
The Final Appearance of America’s Favorite Girl Next Door, will be available exclusively as an eBook using Lulu.com’s self-publishing platform and released by Shelf Media Group, December 6th, 2011. Stark’s latest is a smart, sexy, and thrilling tale of America’s “it girl,” Ellen Gregory, and her escape from the bright lights of Hollywood and a harrowing encounter with a dangerous stalker. Stark and Shelf Media Group aim to capitalize on the convenience and speed-to-market eBooks offer and that Stark notes as going under-appreciated by bigger publishers.
“eBooks are not the future of publishing,” says Stark. “They are the present and they are an unsettling present for many. The ability to go from a PDF to having a fully published eBook in minutes is just incredible and the fact that there is a company like Lulu.com tearing down the barriers of entry – no matter what you’re trying to publish – fundamentally changes the industry dynamic.”
After being approached by Shelf Media about an unconventional deal to publish Final Appearance through Lulu.com, Stark decided against a traditional publishing contract and royalty advance because of the greater control and potentially higher revenue share self-publishing – or “direct publishing” as Stark calls it – might bring to an accomplished novelist such as himself. Indeed, Stark is so excited by Shelf Media’s work in finding a unique publishing solution and the opportunities Lulu.com’s self-publishing model provides indie authors and publishers, he plans to use Lulu.com to back his own imprint, GeekVoodoo Books.
“Suddenly all these people are publishing content on their own because they don’t feel they’ll make the same money or get the same value elsewhere and they’re right,” says Stark. “We’ve reached a point where authors and small publishers can make much more revenue by self-publishing through places like Lulu.com and are free to experiment in ways big publishers can’t. Self-publishing has become much like a new direct democracy as it bypasses an entrenched bureaucracy that is easily as beholden to its ‘shareholders’ as it is to its constituents - the readers.”
Stark plans to re-release his previous award-winning work, Second Son, as an eBook using Lulu.com. The Final Appearance of America’s Favorite Girl Next Door will be available for download on Lulu.com, the NOOK Bookstore™, iBookstore℠, and Kindle™ December 6th, 2011.
“We’re happy to add Stephen Stark’s remarkable works to the Lulu catalogue,” says Bob Young, Founder and CEO of Lulu.com. “Our aim is to help content creators, no matter their size or background, to sell more books. With our customizable end-to-end publishing solutions, anyone is able to find success at Lulu.”
For more information about Stark and his new work, Final Appearance, or for help publishing a work of your own, visit www.lulu.com.
About Lulu.com:
Lulu.com, founded in 2002, is a company that specializes in self-publishing. Founded by Bob Young, the company has 1.1 million creators and has 20,000 titles added to their collection each month. It is free to publish and creators keep up to 90 percent of the revenue when their works sell. Lulu provides anyone with the ability to publish books, eBooks, mini-books, photo books, calendars, cookbooks, and travel books. To learn more, visit the website at www.lulu.com.
About Stephen Stark:
Stephen Stark is the author of the novels Second Son and The Outskirts. Second Son was a New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the year, and a Barnes & Noble Discover New Writers pick. He is also a bestselling ghostwriter. His essays, short stories, and criticism have appeared in The New Yorker, Poets & Writers, The Washington Post, and the New York Times Book Review, among other journals. Honors include fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and Bread Loaf, where he has also taught. He has taught and worked in the administration of the creative writing program at the University of Houston. Stark currently lives in Virginia and is a graduate of George Mason University and the writing program at Hollins University.
About Shelf Media Group:
Shelf Media Group is an elite staff of editors and designers from a variety of national and international magazines, book publishers, and independent presses with a mission to create something that hasn’t been done before for a new generation of authors and readers. They accomplish this through their publication Shelf Unbound Magazine, which enables readers to engage with authors through insightful interviews and essays, view ratings, reviews, and exclusive previews – all optimized to your iPad®, laptop, or home computer. Shelf Media Group believes in books.
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CONTACT: AJ McDonald
pr@lulu.com
919.447.3290