[J m HofMarN]

Also even at the risk of sounding like an exclusionist twat I think you should close your company to submissions until you get everything figured out and just work with people you know and people who are refered to you. You definately dont need to see fifty letters a day asking you to read fifty books a day.

By the way, will you publish Chyldren's literature? Haha!

[Heccubus]

I have an idea for a book in the wings. I'd like to do a collaborative effort with people who, like myself, have suffered through the ordeal of working in fast food. Just a collection of journal-style pieces recollecting on experiences (both bad and good) within the industry. I think it'd be an interesting read, but haven't had any takers for contributors.

[J m HofMarN]

Let me see what I can get together. What's the tone you're looking for? Is it going to be humorous memoirs or is it going to be more like "The Jungle" cuz really it could go either way. Click on my profile and contact me on one of my many messenger services, we'll do lunch.

[Chyld]

As far as mkaing a book goes, I'm going to wait until I've actually got a manuscript to hand to make. Like I said, long time yet. But having worked out all the maths of the matter, all I really need is some size B4 card, like you mentioned.

And I was just going to try selling off of the 'net to start with, lets me take PayPal and all. Although what I might do is take a few submissions from people in Hull and try and sell a few here. Helps, see?

[J m HofMarN]

It would be far better to put some blank paper together and try to make a book now than it would to do it later with someone's life's work only to find that it falls apart because you used the wrong glue.

[barend]

and for those whos stories dont go long enough, you can use really thick paper to fatten the books up.

[Despondent]

Like those board books? Why not. I'm staying around 500 words, myself

You might want to try working with a book publisher, print shop or letterpress shop and get some practical experience putting books together. And there are classes in bookmaking also.

With Apple computers, you can order an ibook which will be mailed back to you with glossy paper, color pics and a hard back cover. There are plenty of short-run publishers out there too. Maybe you can probe them for questions.

best of luck.

[njamilla]

Publishing your own book is the way to go ONLY if you have a way of properly marketing your book. For example, if you have a business that tells people how to improve company moral. You already have a regular circuit of speaking engagements that are dependable and reliable and sell your book at these events.

If you don't have such an opportunity, it is extremely unlikely that you'll sell your first printing unless the idea is so good and so compelling and/or you get some quirk of publicity that people suddenly want to buy your book.

My own experience with Shimmering Sword: Samurai, Western, and Star Wars Sword Fighting, which was printed by a company and I am the owner of the company, as well as author.

1) It's prohibitively expensive to pay for proper advertising. You have to get it some way. I did one TV talk and a series of about a dozen book talks at B & N and Borders. Even advertising on theforce.net costs a minimum of $600.

2) Amazon.com is the only marketing avenue I have at present. I've been selling a larger number these days because they have programs which link purchases and previews of similar books. For example, if you looked at a sword fighting book and a SW novel, the next time you went to Amazon.com you'd find my book listed as a purchase suggestion. I'll tell you that my sales have doubled over the past few months, but I'll also tell you that the doubling of a small number of book sales is still pretty meager.

3) The bottom line is that even with the advent of such a movie tie-in, it still takes a lot to drum up sales.

Yes, I've got a plan to market my book in anticipation of the new movie, but it takes a lot of leg work, organization, and money (out of my own pocket).


So, take your novel with whatever plot and whatever interesting take on literature and think about how you would sell it. You have to ask yourself first -- am I as good a writer as the best in my field?

If your are, you NEED to get an agent or find an established publisher. That's the way to get credibility. I'm not saying you can't go with a small house for a niche market, but unless you are a marketing major (which most writers aren't) you have to understand that self-publicty is a lot of work.


Finding a distributor is also a pain in the butt. Book distributors (those companies which send books to the major book chains) don't just accept any book. They have to be convinced that someone is going to buy the book, and sales have to be regular or else they drop you.

So marketiong -- getting people to buy your book -- is key.

Again, as I said before, you have to have someone -- an agent or an editor -- who is extremely enthusiastic about your writing. Otherwise, they won't work very hard to promote your book within their own company, much less to the public.

I'm not saying you shouldn't publish and market on your own, but asked yourself if you can affort the time and the money (my print ran $10,000 lent to me by friends), and if you have the marketing skills, connections, and tenacity to sell your book.

I published and formatted my book entirely on WordPerfect. It looks better than many smaller publishing house printings. The key to success is finding an audience who will pay for your book. (And I'm not talking about family members.) Also remeber that once a person buys your book, they're not going to buy it again.

If you have a niche market book, then find a niche market publisher. If you want to be famous, you have to find a larger publishing house.

BTW, buy my book!

This post has been edited by njamilla: 06 March 2005 - 07:49 AM

[Chefelf]

Yes, buy his book! It's fascinating!! If you are a Star Wars fan or someone who has an interest in the history of the warrior/war then you are doing yourself a disservice if you do not read this book.

The only thing I've ever sent in for publishing consideration is a Sci-Fi book that Paul and I wrote in 1993.

We haven't heard back yet but we remain optimistic.

[Despondent]

We haven't heard back yet but we remain optimistic. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Love that optimism.

Maybe you could write saying you'll withdraw your proposal if they don't act quickly.

[SimeSublime]

Although I love reading, I never buy books. Instead, I go to the bookstore, make a list of what I like, then go to the library. I'm such a tightass.

[J m HofMarN]

if you're that much of a tight ass, why not just skip the bookstore and save gas?

[barend]

forums are such a great place to meet people who will
a. borrow your book.
b. download your music.
c. wait till your film is on TV.

[SimeSublime]

To be honest, I grew up with free media. TV had always been free. They only brought payTV in about 10 years ago. My parents got all their books from libraries(hell, it's not often that you read a book twice), and pirated software was the norm on the Amiga. I didn't even realise that you were expected to pay for such things until I was getting towards high school. It's not that I was brought up thinking it was ok to steal things, I just assumed that such media were part of the public domain. Now that I know a bit more about the real world, I just worship libraries as the last legal representation of my ideals...the internet woul be the illeagal version.

[barend]

that's quite an assesment.

LIBRARIES: the refuge of well-read free-loaders!!!