The Self-Publishing Manual: How to Write, Print, and Sell Your Own Book

Publishing is a tough game. Little money, overwhelming competition, and no control. For an author who wants to take back control of her own destiny, the Self-Publishing Manual is the bible.

I used Dan Poynter’s 12th Edition as my guide in 2000 when I published [b:Death by Zamboni|1727710|Death by Zamboni|David David Katzman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1187463149s/1727710.jpg|1725151], and it helped me to achieve a reasonable degree of success. Cult success, perhaps, but success that gives me pride. At the time, I even neglected to follow his recommendations for landing reviews (a mistake I won’t make with my second book), and yet I’ve still sold over 1200 copies with about 50 left. The publishing process paid for itself many show more times over, although—obviously—not enough to support my lavish lifestyle.

Yes, the quality of your writing matters…that simply goes without saying…but if your world-changing book sits in a drawer for your entire life, then the world will never have the privilege of being changed.

This book is empowering. Don’t get me wrong, self-publishing isn’t easy, but it does take the power away from literary agents and publishing companies and puts it in authors’ hands. As I’ve mentioned in my blog, if you are published by an established company, and your book doesn’t sell strongly off the bat, then it will likely disappear and never be available again. The Self-Publishing Manual helped me get my novel out into the world, and I can keep it in print for as long as I desire. Until death do us part, dear book.

Making people aware that your book exists is the biggest challenge, but, with Poynter’s tips, a self-publisher can promote a book as well as any small- to mid-sized press can. And, depending on the audience for your book, possibly even better than a large publisher can. Don’t forget that authors published by established companies still have to do a tremendous amount of their own publicity. Just look at all the authors here on Goodreads trying to accrue massive friend lists.

Caveat: As Poynter and most writers on self-publishing note, a significant portion of their advice is relevant only to non-fiction authors. The audience for fiction is much more diffuse and not as easy to pinpoint as readers who would be interested in a specific non-fiction topic. For example, Poynter is also an expert parachutist and has self-published numerous books on parachuting. As you can imagine, it’s much easier to publicize books directly to avid parachutists than it is to find readers interested in, say, a family of circus freaks.

However, even as a fiction author, if you don’t set your sights too aggressively, then you won’t be disappointed by the Self-Publishing Manual. Poynter provides a thorough step-by-step guide that includes establishing your publishing company, designing your book, printing, distribution, tracking expenses and profits, and the “marketing” of your book. I put marketing in quotes, because it’s not about advertising, it’s about spreading the word primarily through reviews. Publicity and awareness.

At times, this book will feel like a guide to running your own business. Which it is. If you become a self-publisher, you will have to be an author and a business person to do it well. But the rewards can be great.

If I have to level any criticism at the Self-Publishing Manual, it’s the whiff of pyramid scheme. After all, it’s a self-published book about how to self-publish books. Kind of like how Amway tells you to sign up other people to sell Amway so you can get a percentage of everything they sell. And Poynter takes his own advice to non-fiction authors by listing numerous extra documents (spin-offs) available on his website for a fee. I will grant that it is helpful to have the most current contacts for reviewer’s lists, printing press lists and so on. And he offers specialized information beyond the scope of this book such as how to promote books in certain genres. But it did leave a mildly bad taste in my mouth having to pay extra for more detail. On the other hand, this book is a solid 439 pages, and it provides almost everything you need to know to do it yourself. Too much information can be overwhelming. So I suppose it’s up to the reader to decide if they want to invest more for a particular report. Overall, these misgivings are minor. His advice works, and this is a great book. DIY, baby.

For more on the pursuit of publishing, follow my trip in my Goodreads Blog of Doom. show less

13th Edition, USA focused, but good all round information.

Excellent resource book!