The time-honored way of publishing, which more often than not takes an inordinate amount of time before a book is published, is receiving competition from a relative newcomer in digital self-publishing.

FastPencil, a self-publishing enterprise, produces the brainchild of an author in no time, making inroads and gaining popularity in the industry.

“You shouldn’t have to ask anyone’s permission to write and publish your own book! We have removed the hurdles inherent in traditional book publishing by combining amazing advances in print on demand technology with a sophisticated online workflow system,” said FastPencil on its website.

The world is the limit. Despite having entered the digital arena of producing and publishing, FastPencil has not thrown the traditional hardcover book or paperback into the wind. Even selling one’s books at a quaint bookstore or door-to-door is still an option.

“Just as there is no single best way to write and publish your book with FastPencil, we don’t assume that everyone has the same distribution goals in mind,” the firm explains.

FastPencil specializes in e-publishing through social media and online retailers, such as eBay Inc. and Amazon.com.

It “gives you an easy means of online distribution and a bigger revenue slice, but you can also publish to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and thousands of other online retailers,” the company says.

“Although FastPencil is known for its e-book option, we don’t discourage print books. We think authors should have access to both versions, so we don’t market e-books any differently than we do print,” said Steve Wilson, the CEO and co-founder of FastPencil, in an e-mail interview.

Digital self-publishing has found friends in foreign countries. Authors from around the globe are using e-publishing to get their products out to the customer.

“We were pleasantly surprised to learn that we have a presence across the globe. It’s estimated that 15 percent of our authors are overseas, with many of the authors living in Germany, Australia and the United Kingdom. We even have writers using FastPencil in Asia,” Wilson said.

Powerhouse in Digital Publishing

To achieve its goal of getting the product out fast, FastPencil is breaking with tradition by giving authors the power to publish a book at their own pace, which could mean just a week from the day the product enters the process.

“All we are trying to do is simplify the process for writers, while offering them higher royalties with their book sales,” explained Wilson when asked how he looked at his way of doing things.

What can’t be argued is that the FastPencil environment gets the product out faster by providing editing, marketing, illustration, and other services, using the latest technological tools.

“FastPencil’s author services team can also assist authors with publishing services and bundled publishing packages that encompass everything from custom cover design to editorial review and marketing packages,” the company says.

Although FastPencil has not released statistics as to how many traditional books, e-books, and other types of publications have gone through its walls, it has attracted well-known names to its clientele list.

These names include cartoonist Guy Gilchrist, who authored the comic strips Nancy and The Muppets; the best-selling children’s book author Angela Sage Larsen, author of The Adventures of Petalwink the Fairy book series; and pet photography studio owner Jim Dratfield, who takes photos of famed people’s pets and has written a number of illustrated books about pets.

In the end, FastPencil doesn’t think that the traditional way of publishing will disappear, although such publishers are seeing a reduction in book sales. Actually, the established firms are testing the waters by looking at possible mergers or other business combinations.

Traditional publishers are not looking for a fight, but hope to find ways to make it work in both worlds of established and new technology.

“We have had many publishing companies and entities in the landscape approach us for partnership opportunities. ... We’re not trying to eliminate the traditional way of publishing, but rather offer aspiring and/or established authors a new and diverse outlet to write,” Wilson said.

From the Author’s Viewpoint

“I love the immediate way my book gets to that readership,” cartoonist Gilchrist said in an e-mail interview.

The major shortcoming when working with traditional publishers is that it takes an inordinate amount of time to see the proofs of his work, according to Gilchrist. He was amazed that after proofing the material with FastPencil, the e-book and paperback versions were put on sale within a day.

With traditional publishing, it could take around three months to get the book to the bookshelves and then one had to wait around for the customer. Not only that, there are the fees to be paid to those who handle the books, which eat into bottom-line earnings.

Gilchrist values the old business models still in use by the established publishers, as they helped him get started. “They struggle with publishing in this new age of iPads, iPhones, and Kindle, though,” he said.

Working with companies such as FastPencil means cooperation and collaboration and it is more like a partnership, which has made a difference to Gilchrist’s earnings.

Author and illustrator Larsen and her husband published her first Petalwink series on their own and took a lot of time to pay off debt and find a readership. Next, she went through a traditional publisher, which made her books known throughout the U.S.

“Now our books are available on an even more massive scale electronically; it’s mind-boggling,” Larsen said.

“It [FastPencil] allows a lot of flexibility, access, and opportunity to co-create and shape the destiny of the marketing and distribution plan,” said author and photographer Dratfield. “It allows me to stay focused on my work and let them do what they do best in terms of publishing my work and distributing it into traditional, new, and emerging forms of technology. It’s all very exciting and I’m thrilled and honored to be part of FastPencil’s Premiere Authors.”

A Trial for Conventional Book Publishing

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