Did you hear? Honolulu-based Mutual Publishing is joining the self-publishing business with its new SCRIPTA division.
Authors can submit their memoir, novel, private manuscript and what-not to Sripta, which Mutual then copy edits, designs, prints, binds and ships to the author. They promise the finished product will match “the quality of other trade books available in the marketplace,” which LL assumes means Mutual books in the Hawai’i market. The author then takes on the responsibility of distributing, selling and publicising the book.
It certainly offers local storytellers an easier avenue to get their stories down on paper, but I’d like to hear from anyone who has used it or has ideas for authors wanting help with the second part–distribution, pr and sales.
On another note, a Mutual rival of sorts has entered the market; Lo’ihi Press is headed up by Robert Barclay (of Melal fame) and will be publishing the late Ian MacMillan’s final novel this winter.
Literary Lotus 