Groundbreaking New Service For Authors, Publishers & Producers Locks The Gatekeeper Out

June 25, 2009 - PRLog -- Authors, publishers and content producers are unhappy with the current “gatekeeper” system used in the acquisition of literary material. It’s wasteful, inefficient, and error-prone. Plenty of quality manuscripts fall through the cracks, and plenty of poor ones are passed on to publishers, producers and consumers. In response, publishers and producers increasingly limit their acquisitions to seeming blockbusters and 'sure things' to reduce their risk, while consumers, informed and empowered by web 2.0, increasingly complain of a lack of variety and quality in books, films and other media.

Meanwhile, self-publishing is exploding into a true “indie author” movement. Occasionally a self-published book becomes so successful that it becomes newsworthy, at which point the rights are easily sold because the book is that rare thing publishers and content producers most desire: a proven quantity, the closest thing to a sure thing they will ever see. They would prefer to acquire the rights before a book breaks through, when it's trending positively but not yet on competitors' radar, but until now there was no way for them to identify such books. For their part, many (if not most) self-published authors have self-published specifically in order to prove themselves and their work worthy of mainstream attention—but their books are lost in the sea of the internet.

Into this void steps the Publetariat Vault (http://vault.publetariat.com), a new service for indie authors and acquisitions pros that eliminates the failings of the gatekeeper system, reduces risk in acquisitions and opens the door to a wider variety of books, all by capitalizing on the burgeoning indie author movement and leveraging the power of the web, author platform and new media.

Says site founder and designer April L. Hamilton, “The Vault is a searchable database of indie, or self-published, books for which the author still owns all rights free and clear, and is interested in selling those rights. Instead of passively waiting around for a manuscript that suits their needs to come in from gatekeepers, and then risking huge quantities of time and money developing and releasing a product they can only *hope* will succeed, acquisitions pros who use the Vault can approach their task proactively and locate books that are *already* succeeding because the Vault provides all the usual catalog information, plus actual sales figures, author platform, publicity and reader review data."

"Publishers and producers can search for indie books that meet their specific content needs, then click through to the detailed listings to see how those books are actually performing in the marketplace. This allows them to quickly and easily identify books on the road to becoming breakout hits. Also, since there's no charge for them to search the Vault, there’s no downside for publishers and producers in giving it a try. A similar service already exists for spec screenplays, The Inktip Executive Index, and it's been very successful for screenwriters and producers alike for years even though it exists right alongside a traditional gatekeeper acquisitions system in that industry.”

When asked about the benefit to authors, Hamilton replied, “Instead of spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars mailing out author copies for review, attending pitch fests and publisher conferences in an effort to get some mainstream attention for their books, indie authors can get a Vault listing for just $10 per 30 days---and the first 30 days are free, to provide a trial period. For the Vault's grand opening we're extending that free trial period to 90 days for the first 300 listings."

"Indie authors who list their books in the Vault have the opportunity to get their books directly in front of the people who are actively searching for their type of book, without having to go through the usual gatekeeper treadmill or hope and pray their book becomes a surprise hit. While authors will still need to retain a literary agent or attorney to assist with negotiations if an offer comes through, since the Vault provides a listing service only, by the time they seek out that agent or attorney they’ll already have an offer in hand.”

The Vault is now open for authors to create listings and estimates it will open for searches next month. To allow authors to try the service for free as well, the Vault is offering its first 300 published listings 90 days’ free listing time. Visit the Publetariat Vault at http://vault.publetariat.com

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The Publetariat Vault is a searchable database of independent literary works for which the authors own all rights free and clear and are interested in selling those rights, with accompanying sales data and reader reviews to take the guesswork out of determining commercial potential in the mass market.