The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing: Everything You Need to Know to Write, Publish, Promote and Sell Your Own Book (3rd edition) [Paperback]

Tom Ross (Author), Marilyn Ross (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0898796466 | ISBN-13: 978-0898796469 | Publication Date: September 15, 1994 | Edition: 3

Whether you're an author, a professional, an entrepreneur, even a newcomer to the writing world, you certainly want to shape your publishing destiny. And you can - with the help of this book. You'll find this completely updated edition to be a resource of tremendous value. The book penetrates publishing's mystique; empowers you by revealing, in layman's terms, the range of self-publishing possibilities open to you - touching on novels and poetry as well as nonfiction; and validates your belief that selling information in book form is an ideal business because you have a unique copyrighted product. Better yet, you can self-publish no matter where you live. Here, Tom and Marilyn Ross show you how to publish your own work. And minimize risks. And maximize profits. You'll discover extensively updated, significantly expanded advice (woven throughout) on how to use your computer to save time and money; a new discussion of electronic marketing and how to handle electronic subsidiary rights; up-to-date case studies and examples of how other publishers have successfully handled challenging situations; production tips that can cut your design and printing costs in half; complete step-by-step guidance covering every aspect of publishing and marketing your own book; fifty-seven actual samples of proven sales letters, cover designs, catalog sheets, forms - everything you'll need to be successful; dozens of tips for publishing and selling books in Canada, plus a valuable Canadian resource section; information-packed appendices that list marketing contacts, government help, vendors - hard-to-find names and addresses; proven marketing strategies to get free publicity, reach nontraditional buyers andsell books! Scores of examples of what works - and what doesn't; an in-depth discussion of exclusive distributors - plus coverage of the increasing role of superstores and other changes in bookselling and thirty creative ideas for generating capital to launch a publishing company.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"Self-publishing," say authors Tom and Marilyn Ross, "is a perfect example of the American dream." The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing, then, is an aspiring self-publisher's dream. "This isn't a book of fancy theory," as the authors put it; "it's a practical handbook of state-of-the-art specifics." In 521 pages, it lays out everything you need to know to publish your own books, from start-up considerations to the possibility of selling to a big publisher: how to choose a name for your press, how to get an ISBN, what cover designs cost, how to find a reliable printer, how to price your book, where to find lighter-weight shipping envelopes, how to generate working capital. The authors' encyclopedic grasp of the ins and outs of self-publishing is matched by their natural good sense about self-promotion. Turn your signings into events, they recommend; get your books into a variety of venues; use the books as fundraisers for organizations; get online and get reviewed online. The price of this book is negligible considering the cost of proper self-publishing (between $12,000 and $25,000), and, oh, the headaches it will spare you! --Jane Steinberg --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

A handbook stuffed with essential information on how to get into print, and beyond . . books. With realism and extraordinary thoroughness, every practical topic is covered. -- Booklist

I commend you on producing publications that are truly as valuable as their advertising. All too often the product falls far short on the promise. Your books exceed the promise. Thanks for putting real value on the market. -- Bill Koch, Special Reports

Incredibly complete and easy to use. If you buy only one book on self-publishing, make it this one, You'll thank yourself all the way to the bank. -- Evelyn Kaye, Founder/President Colorado Independent Publishers Association

The newly revised Complete Guide to Self-Publishing is the best book available on the subject. Period. It's thorough, user-friendly, and full of tips to save you money and help you sell more books. -- Marilyn McGuire, Publisher NAPRA ReVIEW

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Writers Digest Books; 3 edition (September 15, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898796466
• ISBN-13: 978-0898796469
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (156 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,744,373 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

126 of 129 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A nice beginning book, but needs more., September 1, 2003

By 

Robert H. Westerman "Skypacer" (Sunman, IN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Complete Guide to Self Publishing: Everything You Need to Know to Write, Publish, Promote, and Sell Your Own Book (Self-Publishing 4th Edition) (Paperback)

When I first saw the title of this book, I thought the subject matter had to do with publishing your book through a POD publisher or a vanity press. I couldn't have been more wrong. This is a basic instruction book on how to become your own publisher and the cost-effective means of publishing your book. (In fact, Tom & Marilyn Ross devote only a few pages to PODs and vanity presses, saying that if you are looking to sell your book to the general public, these options may not be the best choices.)

This book takes you from the beginning of setting up your own publishing business (which is needed even if you plan on publishing only you own works), the different requirements for publishing a book (like obtaining an ISBN and EAN as well as copyright and Library of Congress registration), finding and selecting a book printer, how to go about distributing you books (which you can do yourself or by going through traditional distributers), and even how to market your book.

While a good starter book that whets you appitite about the book publishing industry, it falls far short of providing you everything that you need to know in order to do this properly. The authors constantly make reference to the Literary Market Place; a book that, while it is available here on Amazon, comes with a hefty ($) price tag. And while they do provide some inforamative lists, they admit that the lists is not complete and refer you back to the LMP.

The book does discuss e-publishing, but only in a scratching-the-surface kind of way. I had to look at other areas to find the information about e-publishing only to discover that I may not want to bother with that at this time.

The most disappointing aspect of the book that I found was that most of it (about 70%) is dedicated to trade or self-help publishing. If the book you are planning to publish is a fictional novel, this is going to be of little help to you. When I realized that a topic being discussed was geared for trade publications, I just skipped the topic to save me time.

To summarize, this is a great book if you are a beginner and want to explore the publishing world. It's even a great book if you are planning to publish a trade publication. However, I would recommend that if you have any knowledge or if you are seriously pursuing self-publishing you may want to look at other books in this topic to supplement this one, especially if you are planing on publishing works of fictions.

As of January 29, 2004: I had previously rated this book at three stars. After reading a number of other books, I have since upgraded this to 4 stars. The reason for this is that this book has been more complete compared to the other books that I have read, plus Tom and Marilyn Ross continue to provide assistance to others online. I am still withholding a star because I think they should have addressed fictional works as much as they did trade books.

72 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Overrated, July 21, 2004

By 

Thomas Reiter (Washington DC, DC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Complete Guide to Self Publishing: Everything You Need to Know to Write, Publish, Promote, and Sell Your Own Book (Self-Publishing 4th Edition) (Paperback)

Given the solid-five star rating in the Amazon reviews, I expected this book to be a real gem. Instead, while this book has some helpful tips, much of the book is composed of:
-common sense advice;
-self-promotion by the authors, including references to other books or organizations affiliated with the authors;
-no-brainers such as "use the internet for research", "try a search engine called 'Google'", etc.; and
-home-spun "witticisms" or "words of wisdom" in the form of quotes from various authors & publishers.

To wrap up, this book is decent, and probably worth the money and time to buy it and read it, but you need to wade through a bunch of verbiage to find the parts that are interesting and relevant to you.

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Some useful info. and a lot of fluff..., October 18, 2004

By 

SBrav "sbrav" (Southeastern USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete Guide to Self Publishing: Everything You Need to Know to Write, Publish, Promote, and Sell Your Own Book (Self-Publishing 4th Edition) (Paperback)

Tom & Marilyn Ross are experts at promoting themselves, and it shows throughout their book. They take every opportunity to hawk other books published under their label, and their consulting services, etc. There is some useful information in this book, but you have to wade through a lot of silliness to find it. Here's a ridiculous tip from the Ross's: "While at the airport, request that an announcement be made for [your name], author of [your book title], call..." I'm sure that's how Tom Clancy got started <sarcasm>.

This book is primarily targeted to writers of non-fiction. Logical, since non-fiction fares much better in self-publishing endeavors. About their biggest advice for novelists is to read Lawrence Block's "Writing the Novel." Along with such brilliant insights as "Good description elevates a book from the pack." Duh.

The authors are also nauseating in their praise of Amazon, no wonder Amazon gave them a favorable review. A friend of mine self-recorded (i.e. "self-published") a CD and listed it on Amazon. It was a good, professional product, but she found Amazon's service to be almost non-existent.

Dan Poynter's book on self-publishing might be a better buy. The truth is, POD technology is changing this field so quickly, it's hard for anyone to stay up to date. If you must read the Ross's book, get it from your local library. Save your money for a writing class, or perhaps a marketing class at your local SBA office or community college.