Customer Reviews

A Writer's Guide to Book Publishing: Second Revised Edition

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Why write it if no one will read it??? This is an absolutely essential book for anyone that wants to write a book and get it published. This is not a how-to on writing, but rather great practical advice and a road map for the process of getting a book to print. A MUST if you are serious about learning the business of the book business.

Richard Balkin does a fantastic job of describing how the publishing industry functions (and often doesn't function well). In my own book, Book Marketing DeMystified: Enjoy Discovering the Optimal Way to Sell Your Self-Published Book, Practical advice from the inventor of print-on-demand (POD) publishing, I quote this passage from Richard's book in this manner:

As a new publisher or self-publishing author, you'll often be substituting creativity and personal connections for the brute-force, expensive strategies employed by the large publishing houses. Here's a rather blunt assessment of conventional book marketing by Richard Balkin:
"Of all the major industries in the United States, surely book publishing
is the most primitive, the most disorganized, and the most
haphazard. Consider the following: What other industry would
launch a national campaign for an untested product whose lifespan is usually less than a year and whose chances of recouping
its investment are worse than one in three? What other industry
would manufacture so many competing products with only the
barest notion of which of them might succeed in the marketplace?
What other industry would sink a hefty percentage of its
capital into a variety of mechanisms designed to stimulate sales,
knowing full well that the most effective method - that elusive
'word of mouth' - is totally beyond its control? In many ways,
a publisher acts like a Hopi shaman praying for rain: They both
execute a number of rituals designed to convince themselves and
their followers that they can control uncontrollable events, and
then go home and cross their fingers. If rain doesn't fall, they
blame themselves or their acolytes for not adequately performing
some of the rituals, thereby angering the gods and spoiling
the magic. 'Go out and get some really smooth stones this time,'
they say, 'and let's try again.' [from Richard Balkin, A Writer's
Guide to Book Publishing, pp 199-200, Plume Publishers, 1994,
isbn 0452270219]
That sounds pretty gloomy and Richard didn't even touch on the
financially-suicidal practice of selling books on 'returnable' terms. But,
hey, don't get too discouraged by Richard's assessment. He was writing
about the conventional book industry, not what indie authors are now
accomplishing. [His book does have excellent information about the industry -- BUY IT TO LEARN!]
Remember: with a little knowledge and clever choices in your
14 P marketing mix, you can be more cost-effective at selling your book
than the industry pros. You'll create a world of possibilities so you won't
need those really smooth stones.

Every writer who aspires to be published will find some good advice and knowledge in this one, but it is a bit out of date. Since its publication, digital printing has become a big factor, newer software and format ideas and other advancements. I would suggest that the inquiring mind get this one, but also plan to buy a later version.

Richard Balkin does a fantastic job of describing how the publishing industry functions (and often doesn't function well). In my own book, Book Marketing DeMystified: Enjoy Discovering the Optimal Way to Sell Your Self-Published Book, Practical advice from the inventor of print-on-demand (POD) publishing, I quote this passage from Richard's book in this manner:

As a new publisher or self-publishing author, you'll often be substituting creativity and personal connections for the brute-force, expensive strategies employed by the large publishing houses. Here's a rather blunt assessment of conventional book marketing by Richard Balkin:
"Of all the major industries in the United States, surely book publishing
is the most primitive, the most disorganized, and the most
haphazard. Consider the following: What other industry would
launch a national campaign for an untested product whose lifespan is usually less than a year and whose chances of recouping
its investment are worse than one in three? What other industry
would manufacture so many competing products with only the
barest notion of which of them might succeed in the marketplace?
What other industry would sink a hefty percentage of its
capital into a variety of mechanisms designed to stimulate sales,
knowing full well that the most effective method - that elusive
'word of mouth' - is totally beyond its control? In many ways,
a publisher acts like a Hopi shaman praying for rain: They both
execute a number of rituals designed to convince themselves and
their followers that they can control uncontrollable events, and
then go home and cross their fingers. If rain doesn't fall, they
blame themselves or their acolytes for not adequately performing
some of the rituals, thereby angering the gods and spoiling
the magic. 'Go out and get some really smooth stones this time,'
they say, 'and let's try again.' [from Richard Balkin, A Writer's
Guide to Book Publishing, pp 199-200, Plume Publishers, 1994,
isbn 0452270219]
That sounds pretty gloomy and Richard didn't even touch on the
financially-suicidal practice of selling books on 'returnable' terms. But,
hey, don't get too discouraged by Richard's assessment. He was writing
about the conventional book industry, not what indie authors are now
accomplishing. [His book does have excellent information about the industry -- BUY IT TO LEARN!]
Remember: with a little knowledge and clever choices in your
14 P marketing mix, you can be more cost-effective at selling your book
than the industry pros. You'll create a world of possibilities so you won't
need those really smooth stones.