This book was never meant to be. Author Gordon Woolf started writing a few notes to accompany letters he received asking for advice on publishing, and it became a book, Not only that but it sold, in increasing numbers, embarrassing numbers considering it was produced by the methods it promoted, which were mainly suited to just a few dozen copies at a time. Libraries also started buying it, and it was soon being reprinted by the hundred.
But progress in short-run printing made it increasingly out of date, so now we have a new edition, printed using readily available short-run methods which suit print runs of a few hundred. This is an example of what an individual can produce using readily available systems. The individual cost per copy is slightly higher than traditional publishing but it is no longer necessary to have thousands of dollars tied up in unsold copies for long periods. Print what you expect to sell, then print more. As the author suggests: No one was ever made bankrupt by printing too few copies.
As with all Worsley Press books, there is a continuing email advice service to all readers.
About the Author
Gordon Woolf is the author or co-author of 6 current titles and self-published his first book after the initial publisher went into liquidation. If he was not going to make money out of books, he felt it should at least be his own fault, and no-one else's.
He has a background in journalism and publishing but has often detoured into other aspects of business, as varied as a convenience store and a share in a bookshop.
He shares that combination of printing, publishing and business experience in this book.
The Worsley Press now publishes the works of five authors and its books are distributed on three continents.
