The Self-Publishing Manual; How to Write, Print & Sell Your Own Book [Paperback]

Dan Poynter (Author)

Book Description

Series: 11th ed | Publication Date: December 1, 1998

You have all the ingredients to be a successful, published author. This book is your recipe. You will discover how easy it is to: . Write. Use the easy step-by-step system for producing a commercially-successful book. Apply the simple organizational plan to research your subject and put your thoughts down on paper. Publish. Get your book into print quickly and easily by going direct and cutting out the middlemen. Copyright your own book. Set up your own publishing company and take the tax breaks. Sell. Learn the secrets of low-cost book promotion, the shocking facts about advertising and how to set up your distribution system. Find out how to promote your book with feature articles and radio/TV interviews. Then spin off electronic editions: sell your information on-line and on CD-ROM.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The bible on self-publishing. Highly recommended by virtually everyone in the industry -- even other authors of books on the subject (many of whom probably followed the advice in Poynter's previous 11 editions). --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Follow the author's step-by-step advice on how to produce a commercially-successful book, get it into print quickly and easily, and learn the basics of book distribution through this fine guide. You have to do it all yourself, of course: but that's the purpose of a guide which tells how to not only break into print; but how to exploit the special strengths of self-publishing. -- Midwest Book Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Para Pub; 11th Rev edition (December 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568600593
• ISBN-13: 978-1568600598
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (296 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,226,714 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dan Poynter is an author of more than 100 books, has been a publisher since 1969 and is a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP).

He is an evangelist for books, an ombudsman for authors, an advocate for publishers and the godfather to thousands of successfully-published books.

His seminars have been featured on CNN, his books have been pictured in The Wall Street Journal and his story has been told in US News & World Report.
The media come to Dan because he is the leading authority on book publishing.

Dan travels more than 4,000 miles each week to share, inspire and empower writers, publishers and professional speakers through keynotes and seminars.

Dan was prompted to write The Self-Publishing Manual because so many publishers wanted to know his secret to selling so many books. Dan is one of the publishing industry's most energetic, experienced and respected leaders. He lives in Santa Barbara.

See http://ParaPub.com

As an author and a publisher, Dan Poynter sometimes reviews books that will be useful to others. He does not review books he can't recommend with a full five stars. He reviews books about his loves: book writing, book publishing, book promotion, parachute equipment, skydiving and (occasionally) business.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

148 of 164 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't jump into self-publishing without this manual!, January 23, 2001

By 

Rebecca Johnson "The Rebecca Review" (Washington State) - See all my reviews
(COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Self-Publishing Manual: How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book (Self Publishing Manual, 12th ed) (Paperback)

If you have ever felt that self-publishing is similar to jumping out of a plane without a parachute, have no fear! "The Self-Publishing Manual" is your parachute! On your way to "landing" your first published book, you will learn everything you need to know.

I think of Dan Poynter as the ultimate "how-to self-publish" expert! He will teach you all the tricks of the publishing trade. As an author of more than 80 books, he also has a proven track record of success. He will convince you that you too can succeed.

The strength of this encyclopedic reference is the author's experience in publishing. Dan Poynter is also on the leading edge of technology. He welcomes the new era of book publishing and prepares writers by giving a "New Book Publishing Model."

If you are looking for a complete reference on writing, printing, publishing, promoting, marketing and distributing your new book, look no further. Whether you just have the concept for your new book or have already advanced to the promotion stage, the information you will need to make your efforts more successful is here!

The "Your Book's Calendar" section is like a true gift for the busy author. This section is vital to keeping your goals and progress in check. It will allow you to digest volumes of information in small sections. You can start with what you have started to accomplish, check the suggested readings and then check off your goals as you reach them.

I especially enjoyed reading the section on professional reviewers. The glossary of publishing terms was so revealing. The "resources for publishers" section was detailed and informative.

This source book also has a companion web site. You can find information kits, great book promotion mailing lists, links to useful Web sites and hundreds of downloadable documents.

If you are still searching for an agent, sending out manuscripts to publishers, or writing those endless query letters, it may be time to take off that seat belt which is trapping you in that airplane seat! Then, read this book and jump! There are people who want your book. There are people who need your book. Believe it! Then, free fall to success!

~The Rebecca Review

111 of 123 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Publish Profitably, July 31, 2002

By 

Cathy Stucker "IdeaLady.com" (Sugar Land, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Self-Publishing Manual: How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book, 13th Edition (Paperback)

Publishing can be a tough business, but with the advice of Dan Poynter you can make your book a profitable reality. 'The Self-Publishing Manual' includes great nuts-and-bolts advice and lots of helpful resources for getting your book written, produced and distributed.

The templates and forms Dan includes are useful, for everything from permissions requests to requests for print bids to discount schedules. Even if all you use are the lists of publishing web sites, printers, distributors, reviewers, etc., you will more than get your money's worth from this book.

Dan's information helped me produce a quality book on a tight timeframe. Not only did I get the book done quickly, it was profitable within one month after release.

I teach a course on publishing, and 'The Self-Publishing Manual' is the text I use. If you want to learn about publishing, this is the place to start.

173 of 197 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars How to be rich and famous. Or at least rich. Maybe., June 7, 2004

By 

Michael K. Smith (South Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Self-Publishing Manual: How to Write, Print, and Sell Your Own Book, 14th Edition (Paperback)

Poynter is the guru of a certain type of self-publishing author: The writer/hustler who is interested, first and foremost, in making money -- lots and lots of money -- not merely in making information available and earning enough back to make the effort worthwhile. I've done a certain amount of self-publishing over the past couple of decades (mostly genealogical research materials and local history), and while I'm always interested in what he has to say, I've frankly never found a lot of useful material here. All the way through, especially in the early chapters where he's trying to hook you (and remember that his background is in marketing), he insists this writing-publishing thing is easy. All you do is get an idea, read everything about it, put it all in a notebook (rather quirkily for a technophile, he seems to believe in first-draft writing on paper), edit it into a new shape, and Presto! You have a new book, and it's gonna make you rich! Or something. Among other problems, he seems to have only a hazy idea of how the acquisitions process generally works in a large library system. Not to mention comments like "library loans may hurt sales of fiction," and "libraries tend to do most of their ordering around the beginning or end of their fiscal year." Puh-leez. Then there's this, regarding the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998: "Now, anything printed prior to 1922 is safe." Say what? (Even Cotton Mather?) He also seems to think book-indexing need involve only the "indexing" feature in Microsoft Word. Finally, on the very last page (before the omnipresent order form, that is), he says it doesn't matter who the publisher is: "Who is the author? Is she a credible person? No one ever asks, 'Who is the publisher'?" Au contraire, Dan, the credibility of the *publisher* can be *very* important, especially in technical books. Would you rather buy, unseen, a computer book from O'Reilly & Associates, or from Joe Blow Kitchen Table Press? However, even very narrowly market-specific titles (like genealogy) require some advertising and notification of potential purchasers, so his chapters on publicity and marketing are worth reading, as is the material on cutting-edge electronic publishing, both via CD and online.