Julie Leibrich talks about the PublishMe Process

Julie Leibrich: Shadow Friend

I've had eight books published by "trade publishers" but decided to publish my third poetry collection - SHADOW FRIEND - myself. When I was thinking about how to do this, I came across publishme.co.nz on the internet. I noticed some names I know - people whose work I respected - amongst those who had used them to self publish. I also read some of the testimonials. It's for that reason that I'm writing this testimonial. I want to add my name to the people who think publishme.co.nz do a fabulous job! And if you are thinking of publishing your own work, I want you to know why I found them so good. Read on....

By chance, shortly after I saw the website, my husband and I happened to visiting New Plymouth. So I decided to "check them out in person" before making any final decision to self publish. I made an appointment with Ocean Reeve. Within minutes of talking with him, I knew that publishme was the firm for me. Ocean was so straightforward, open, friendly and competent. I felt he actually understood the emotional layers involved in letting go of a manuscript and that I could trust him to "look after" it. I left with a feeling of confidence in the book and in them.

At that first meeting he had told me exactly what to expect - and when - in the stages of publishing - checking the proof copy, ordering the print run, getting the book up on the website, and the arrival of the parcels of book in time for a launch even though it was tight deadline to do this just before Christmas.

He kept his word and it went like clockwork. The quality of advice about layout etc was great, and the finished product was gorgeous! It arrived, on time, and exactly as promised. Because of past experience with publishing, I checked every single copy. There was not one mistake in 400 copies.

Ocean was great to work with. It was that particular mix of being professional and positive that made this possible for me. All the way along, his approach was "yes, we can do that" and "we can do it now." He kept in touch by email and phone. I can't speak highly enough of how he dealt with my own project. We had only one hiccup in the whole process - but what is much more important than that is that Ocean sorted it out straight away! Despite his having many clients and books to deal with, never once did I feel that my book was anything less than special and important to him.

I had a wonderful book launch, with about 140 people present. I was really fortunate to get the support of my local library in Paraparaumu and "Friends of the Library" group. We sold 110 copies at the launch itself, and by the end of the first week had sold so many that I had covered all my costs and begun to make a profit. But best of all, SHADOW FRIEND was out into the world.

If you are thinking of self publishing, then think about publishme.co.nz! They are easy to deal with, completely reliable, do a beautiful job of printing, link you into their website with ease, and make the whole experience positive!

Julie Leibrich
20 December 2009