Welcome to the future.

The year is 1455. Johannes Gutenberg has just printed 180 copies of his 42-line Bible, better known as the Gutenberg Bible. His moveable-type machine changed forever how we communicated not only the Gospel, but news, philosophy, real-life adventures and stories from the depths of man’s imagination.

Welcome to the future 2.0.

Thanks to revolutionary inventors such as Sir Timothy Berners-Lee, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Jeff Bezos—and just possibly with a little help from Al Gore—we are now in the midst of another seismic shift in the way we communicate ideas with one another. We are now transitioning from hard copy put on paper to ideas transformed into bits of information, able to be shaped, formed and transported in many different forms.

Goodbye Gutenberg. Hello iPhone®, Kindle® and myriad other devices that allow us to read what has been published electronically.

Electronic publishing may not sound revolutionary, but that is because the wave has just begun to rise. Once it reaches its crest, you are going to want to be on top—otherwise you are going to risk being washed away.

Ok. Enough with the metaphors and history lessons. Just what does e-publishing offer you, the author? Good question, one that requires several good answers.

• In the traditional book publishing model, you need (with the help of an agent) to submit your proposal over and over to editors who often take up to six months (and sometimes even longer) to respond to you. All that time you wait. And wait. And wait.

• When you submit your proposal to eMoon, we strive to give you an answer within two weeks—sometimes in only a couple of days.

• If your proposal is accepted by a traditional publisher, it will be 18-24 months before you and any potential readers see your book in print. Yes, sometimes topical books can be rushed, but this is very rare. For most projects, you will celebrate two Christmases before seeing your book on a bookstore shelf.

• With eMoon, we will have your book available for purchase within one month after we receive a signed contract from you. You can write a manuscript over the Thanksgiving weekend and still have it available for Christmas!

• Traditional publishers deal with two sales figures: “Sell-in” and “Sell-through.” Publishers sell-in books to retailers who put them on their shelves for customers. When a book is purchased in the store, it counts as a sell-through. Books that don’t sell, however, can be returned to the publisher for a full refund to the retailer. Knowing that any books that have been sold-in can be returned, publishers reserve some of the royalties you earn to cover future returns.

• In electronic publishing, returns are a thing of the past. When a customer downloads an eMoon book, the author gets money in their account. None is held back. Why would we do that?

• And your money is paid quickly! After an initial four-month set-up period, your royalties are paid monthly!

• The traditional publisher sets a word count for your project, based on the page count the sales team thinks they can sell. That concise teaching on prayer you have now that comes in at 25,000 words? Add another 25,000 and they might consider it. And your 150,000 word epic historical fiction? Cut it down to 75,000 words for them to even look at it.

• With eMoon, write the script as long or as short as you think is best. Making your book the best it can be is our goal, not coming in at a certain page count for marketing needs. (When asked how long a script should be, we like to answer with the “women’s skirt rule:” It should be long enough to cover the subject, and short enough to keep our interest.)

• Finally, with a traditional publisher, you must negotiate and compromise with editors regarding the final script. That illustration you think is vital to your teaching? It may get the axe—possibly to meet a word count.

• With eMoon, we want your book to be your book. We might make some editing suggestions, but it is your story. Tell it as you want it told.

Are you ready to plug into The Moon?