Start Your Own Self-Publishing Business [Paperback]

Entrepreneur Press (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2003 | Series: Start Your Own Self-Publishing Business

Learn the nitty-gritty, hands-on tasks, tips, and tricks of successful publishing. Their stories and hard-won experience smooth the road for those whose dream is to become a published author.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"I should write a book." If that thought has ever crossed your mind, there is no better time than now to put fingers to keyboard. Emeril wanna-bes write recipe books, mechanics write auto repair books, travelers right travel guides, and anyone has the chance to write the next Great American Novel. In the past, that's as far as it went. Today, however, new print technologies make it easy for individuals to write, edit and produce their own book-and either get it published by a small, independent publisher or publish it themselves.

Every year there are more and more opportunities for self-publishers to reach the reading public. Seventy percent of American Publishers-about 42,000-are small independents who are often self-publishers. It’s a hot industry today and growing hotter all the time.

The editors of Entrepreneur magazine have interviewed leaders from the front lines of the industry to learn the nitty-gritty, hands-on tasks, tips, and tricks of successful self-publishing. Their stories and hard-won experience can smooth the road for you in the $24 billion-a-year industry.

Here are a few of the topics covered:

Evaluating ideas for books

Developing effective marketing ideas

Getting your book reviewed

Avoiding common, "new author" mistakes

Finding nontraditional places to sell your books

Tapping the potential of online publishing

If your dream is to become a published author and you like the idea of doing it yourself, this guide is written for you.

About the Author

McGraw-Hill authors represent the leading experts in their fields and are dedicated to improving the lives, careers, and interests of readers worldwide

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Entrepreneur Press; 1 edition (December 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1891984829
• ISBN-13: 978-1891984822
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #348,437 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay, but no cigar, May 7, 2006

By 

Barbara Hudgins "author of "Crafting the... (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Start Your Own Self-Publishing Business (Paperback)

This book is well organized and the writing is fairly smooth, but it is basically second hand material. You're better off reading one good book about publishing and one good book about self-publishing. There's lots of material here gathered from various self-publishers, gurus and organizational heads in the field, but the author has obviously never self-published and really does not give you a good sense of it. Some glaring errors: the assumption that every self-publisher either lays out his own text in Adobe (InDesign at this point) or Quark Xpress or hands over a Word document to a printer who typesets it for a fee. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way and thousands of self-publishers use the services of typesetters or book designers to format their work before they ever approach a printer.
Other gaffes: 1. a complete misunderstanding of the difference between POD printers (which any self-publisher can use as an alternative to offset printing) and POD publishers like Xlibris.
2. A statement that endcaps and dumps are only given to big publishers with best- selling titles. Didn't anybody clue this guy to the fact that the big chains charge publishers for those endcaps and that if a group of books with a theme (romance for Valentines Day or vacationing in summer) is mounted on the endcaps a bunch of publishers will be paying some segment of the price for that exposure?
The book is well organized and has several worksheets but this is like reading a travel guide to Japan written by someone who has interviewed 12 travel writers and read up on basic research. Most of the information is correct, but it's just not the same as a book by someone who has actually visited Tokyo and Kyoto.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Should Have Listened to the 3-Star Reviewer!, May 24, 2006

By 

Monica Main "Monica Main" (Valencia, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Start Your Own Self-Publishing Business (Paperback)

I have to say that most of the time I'll disagree with the one guy who thinks a book sucks when many others have 4- and 5-star reviews. However, unfortunately, this wasn't the case for this book.

I should have avoided the book based on the fact that it was published by Entrepreneur Press. I've had plenty of doses of their extremely dry-as-dust home-business manuals (that they sell from their magazine) and this book was no exception. Not only was this book boring but it offered little useful content.

It's interesting because I've been looking into self-publishing for years and, out of everything I read, the ONLY thing that gave me the most information was a book that I got for FREE from Infinity Publishing (infinitypublishing.com) who prints self-published books.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent - Great Book!, November 15, 2003

By 

Darla Kesller (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Start Your Own Self-Publishing Business (Paperback)

I accidently came across this book at our local Barnes & Noble. The cover really caught my attention and as I leafed through the book I just knew that I had to own it.

Having been dissappointed with other similiar books, it was refreshing to buy a book written by three authors who really have mastered their craft.

If you want to get into self publishing, this is the right book for you. You won't be dissappointed.